paper towels all the way for me. no risk of ingestion, easy clean-up, cheap and i never have to search the cage for eggs--females are provided with a lay box and don't dig or bury eggs elsewhere. since i have a lot of cages, natural looking substrate isn't a huge concern. my large adult cages are somewhat naturalistic with bamboo and foliage which i like, but i still use paper towels for them. i have tons of kritter keepers of all sizes for hatchlings and juvies and anything other than paper towels isn't even an option for all of them.