Royal pretty much handled it all, but I'd like to add to the cleaning issue. I spot clean daily, disinfect the water bowl and change water. A full/total cleaning and disinfecting should be done on some kind of regular basis. For me it depends on the species and their substrate as to how often I do this. But what is important is to realize that you must clean and you must disinfect for maximum benefits. There is a difference between cleaning and disinfecting. This page is a great resource on the topic:

http://www.anapsid.org/cleaning.html

Hot soapy water is what you use to clean
To disinfect you can either use a bleach/water combo, or Nolvasan (aka Virosan) which is diluted with water. I prefer the later because it is totally safe for reptiles - no need to worry about possible residuals as with bleach.

So is your mom excited about getting a snake?