With any new snake, it's a good idea to start off using white paper towels anyway...because mites show up easily on them & for the sake of your snake, you want
to be sure there aren't any...THEN (after a couple weeks) by all means switch to the substrate of your choice for appearance & humidity sake. You can't be too
careful, mites reproduce exponentially & can seriously harm (even kill) a snake, & they can be easily picked up in a pet store or expo from other snakes.
Welcome to the forum...and congrats on being a new snake-mom.