Substrate / tank cleaning questions from a newbie.

So as some of you may have seen, I'm switching tanks to a larger tank. And the one I have now the (specialty) pet store girl sent me home with, and it's a typial sub-par ten gallon 'starter kit' which of course I regret. So. I'm starting over. And want to know what substrate I should buy. I have a few questions about it.

1. Which substrate do you use / prefer? I know some are toxic to snakes, and the fear of ingestion is real. But which are the best and most reliable?
2. I'm trying to find one that helps with humidity. Which are best for retaining moisture without just getting soggy? I also *think* I've seen things about 'wetting' substrate? Am I making this up or is this a thing? And what does that mean? Like pre-wetting it before putting it in the tank?
3. How deep should the substrate be ideally? Of course I want UTH to do it's job well, but I also don't want so little that it may as well not exist, so what's the perfect middle ground?
4. When spot cleaning / replacing substrate what should one look for, and what's a good time-frame for full-tank cleaning?
5. And last, how do you all clean your tank and it's accessories? What can I use without hurting my baby girl? And should I just put her in a seperate container while I'm cleaning?

Thank you all so much in advance! I'm slowly learning from my mistakes and want to get my baby the best home she can have! Even getting her from a reptile / invertebrate specialty pet store the employees still interacted in a very detached, 'here goes another snake to another probably-
terrible temporary home' attitude and weren't the most helpful. But I'm keeping her for her entire decades-long life no matter what, so I wanna do her life well. :)

Cypress and coco coir are my favorites for retaining humidity. Cypress comes in larger chunks while coco coir has a soil like consistency. I like to do an inch or so around most of the enclosure, but you'll want it thinner over the hot spot so your snake can reach the heat. Both of the aforementioned substrates start out moist, but if they dry out you can always give them a gentle spray witha spray bottle to increase humidity.

Poop is usually pretty easy to find and so are urates, for liquid pee just look for a dark wet spot in the substrate. Replace everything that is soiled as soon as you see it. How often you do a complete cleaning will depend on several factors, like how often your snake relieves itself and how well you spot clean. When it startes to smell no-so-fresh it's time to do a full cleaning.

I usually dump out substrate and then wipe the cage down with disinfecting wipes. Nothing fancy, but it works for me.

There's no single "best" substrate, it depends on what you're keeping. For humidity I like orchid bark and sphagnum moss. Many snakes that need some humidity can get by using a good-sized humid 'hide-box" with moisture retaining substrate while the rest of the cage is dry.

Mostly I keep colubrids these days, & I prefer to use a mixture* of clean paper shreds mixed with Care-Fresh. Care-Fresh alone is very clumpy (not the fluffy product it originally was years ago); it also is hygroscopic, so I find it works best mixed about half & half with clean paper shreds (from my own shredder- clean paper only like bills etc, not outer envelopes that may have contamination from mail processing, or anything with ink that I can smell as it may be toxic. Newspaper ink is supposedly safe & I shred newspapers too, or brown paper bags.) Mixing Care-Fresh with paper shreds not only adds fluff, but also economy, & neither poses an ingestion risk, though I recommend feeding on a "plate" of some kind anyway. The Care-Fresh/paper mix is highly absorbent, but for ease of cleaning, I line the cage first with paper towels; when it's time to clean, I just roll up all the substrate in the paper towels & toss.

How deep any substrate should be depends what kind of snake you're keeping, or even their age: some snakes love to burrow, & some babies start eating better when they feel "secure" (as by hiding-burrowing). When I raised rosy boas, they LOVED tunneling in several inches of Care-Fresh. Do make sure your UTH doesn't over-heat though...some substrates really "insulate" the cage floor (& don't allow the heat to rise very well where you need it, in the cage). All the UTH that I'm familiar with has instructions to allow some air flow...on a glass tank, that's easy to do. I use peel & stick weatherstripping (from hardware store) on the bottom edges of the tank, leaving several gaps for cross ventilation. If you happen to live in an earthquake area, as I used to, the weatherstripping will also help keep your tank from sliding off the stand. It goes without saying that all UTH should be regulated by thermostat or rheostat for safety too.

I often spot-clean a time or two, then do a full cage clean out when it's needed.

I have plastic 'critter cottages' for my snakes, where I put them while I clean their cage. I use white vinegar to clean water bowls (it disinfects & also dissolves hard water deposits); I use a weak solution of chlorhexidine in a spray bottle to wipe down (disinfect) the cages. (no need to rinse it, just wipe dry) Avoid using bleach, as it's very toxic & hard to remove the irritating smell (which would hurt your animals) if not rinsed so that NO smell remains.

Too bad you got such a negative vibe from the store: they have no room to talk if they aren't part of the solution to educate new owners. Sadly many pet stores are just minimum wage jobs with un-committed personnel...& many times you're better off without their (often incorrect!) advice anyway.

I use coconut fiber substrate for my bp (the brick type from ZooMed). I have him in a PVC tank with a Radiant Heat Panel and after wetting it, it expands to a soft soil-like substrate and keeps his humidity up with ease.

About once a month or so I will "deep clean" his tank. Sometimes it does start to smell funky so I know it really needs done (oops!) Usually I just notice the bedding won't hold moisture anymore and needs replaced. I actually have a small tub to keep him in while I clean, complete with a spare hide, heat mat, clean paper, and moss for humidity. To clean, I pull out all his decor and throw away his old bedding. I wash everything with water and dish soap, rinse well, sanitize (I use Chlorexidine, some use F-10) and rinse very well again. I usually do this on a Saturday, so he has time to "recover" before feeding on Monday.

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

How deep any substrate should be depends what kind of snake you're keeping, or even their age: some snakes love to burrow, & some babies start eating better when they feel "secure" (as by hiding-burrowing). When I raised rosy boas, they LOVED tunneling in several inches of Care-Fresh. Do make sure your UTH doesn't over-heat though...some substrates really "insulate" the cage floor (& don't allow the heat to rise very well where you need it, in the cage). All the UTH that I'm familiar with has instructions to allow some air flow...on a glass tank, that's easy to do. I use peel & stick weatherstripping (from hardware store) on the bottom edges of the tank, leaving several gaps for cross ventilation. If you happen to live in an earthquake area, as I used to, the weatherstripping will also help keep your tank from sliding off the stand. It goes without saying that all UTH should be regulated by thermostat or rheostat for safety too.

I often spot-clean a time or two, then do a full cage clean out when it's needed.

I have plastic 'critter cottages' for my snakes, where I put them while I clean their cage. I use white vinegar to clean water bowls (it disinfects & also dissolves hard water deposits); I use a weak solution of chlorhexidine in a spray bottle to wipe down (disinfect) the cages. (no need to rinse it, just wipe dry) Avoid using bleach, as it's very toxic & hard to remove the irritating smell (which would hurt your animals) if not rinsed so that NO smell remains.

Too bad you got such a negative vibe from the store: they have no room to talk if they aren't part of the solution to educate new owners. Sadly many pet stores are just minimum wage jobs with un-committed personnel...& many times you're better off without their (often incorrect!) advice anyway.

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Awesome this is so helpful thank you! I have a BP girl who hatched in October. The tank I have is an extoterra and the bottom trim of the tank makes - how would I put it - an arch throughout the length of the bottom sides so that there’s a lot of ventilation under the tank. Kind of like
|__/—————\__| hahaha there’s the illustration.

Today is the day I’m going to buy a thermostat and stuff! And get her new tank dialed in! What is s good thermostat that’s mid range?

I've been using Eco Earth, and I love it. :)