Substrate, Stress, Onboarding (This one is a bit complex sorry) HELP

[beefontheboard]

Strap in this ones a doozy... LOOKING FOR THOUGHTS, COMMENTS, AND ADVICE!

I want to preface this with the fact that I've done a crap ton of research in prepping for my new BP, and that his husbandry is tight; ambient temps 78-79, cool hide sits just under 80, warm hide sits at 86-87 w/ hot spot of 91, humidity doesn't drop below 70% but nothing is wet in the enclosure (aside from the water dish).

I set up my enclosure for my incoming snake about two weeks in advance and had heard people were liking eco-earth and I liked how similar it was to dirt, which seemed to me most natural. Had all the husbandry right and then when the snake came in (Wednesday, April 7th) we were ready to go. Little dude seemed good - was using his hides during the day and coming out to look around at night.

I noticed on Thursday that he seemed to be getting substrate stuck in his mouth, I figured he was drinking and getting eco-earth stuck to his wet mouth. After researching what I should do to help him, it seemed like folks said to let him handle it himself. So I let him work on it and didn't wanna bother him during the first few days he was getting adjusted.

Next day (yesterday), he comes out at night with substrate still stuck in his mouth and he's rubbing against the walls of his clear tub and yawning, which to my understanding is a sign of discomfort. Now I'm concerned because he has to breathe with his mouth a bit open to get air in past the substrate he's got caked in his mouth (now wet). I order some redichip (cocohusk w/ those bigger pieces you see in breeder tubs), and start researching how I can help this guy because I don't want him to be uncomfortable or to develop some sort of respiratory issue.

This morning (Saturday, April 10th), I took him out, tried to wipe some of the substrate out of his mouth w/ a Q-tip, and gave him a couple gentle sprays w/ a stream from the sprayer I use for water. Little dude is under 6 months old and likely under 250gs but was fighting me HARD. I felt terrible trying to restrain him and he was really giving it everything he had to get out of my hands. Reminder this is LITERALLY DAY 4 THAT HES BEEN HERE. There is no doubt he's insanely stressed and not at all comfortable, and I haven't even considered feeding him (I'll likely offer food Monday, April 12th or Tuesday, April 13th).

After I tried to get the substrate out (I got most of it but there is definitely still some in his mouth), I didn't want to keep restraining and stressing him. After trying to clean his mouth I put little dude into a separate tub while I cleaned his main enclosure and changed the substrate to the new stuff. I know he can breathe as I briefly listening to his breathing while trying to clean his mouth (no wheezing, crackling, gurgling, or hissing for that matter), so I figure some alone time for the next few days will do him some good. Knowing that he can't get those big pieces stuck in his mouth is relieving as I know he won't get MORE stuff stuck in his mouth, but I'm still stressed and wanna make sure my boy will be okay. Theres no doubt he hates me now and I'll probably spend the next year trying to build some trust back but that's its own issue.

If anyone has any XP w/ stuff like this I wanna make sure I'm doing things right and making the right choices here. Please throw down your thoughts in the comments as well as potential next steps and things to look for in the next days. I really don't wanna poke around his enclosure at all for a while as these first few days at his new home have probably gotten 0/5 star reviews. Thanks for reading all that - I'm just trying to determine what the best next steps are or if I'm absolutely neurotic going crazy over nothing.