Extreme newbie wanna-be here....

[OhhWatALoser]

I've been reading a lot of "care guides" and recommendations for enclosures, and pricing all of the required setup costs. It seems that is the biggest expense aside from some rare or unforeseeable vet costs. Am I accurate with that assumption?

depends, my animals cost way more than my housing lol. I'll put it this way, you could make a perfectly acceptable enclosure for a hatchling for under 50 bucks. thermostat being 35 of that. Price goes up from there.

1. Enclosure - Half of what I read says aquarium type is okay if you cover the top to keep humidity in, others say PVC is the way to go. Is one really superior?

PVC is superior, however you can get glass tanks to work. I know someone posted a guide for glass tanks but I can;t seem to find it right now, perhaps someone else could post a link.

2. I only have a few places locally that sell snakes. Petco, and a little place that doesn't keep the cages of their stock very clean, so I don't feel the snakes are very well cared for. I have seen much prettier and cheaper snakes online at breeder's websites. Do these snakes handle the shipping process okay, or should I stick with something local? There is a nearby reptile expo coming up this weekend that I hope to check out... maybe I'll luck out there.

expo would be your best bet, you can see your animal before you buy it, talk to the breeder who produced it and with you being new you can ask a lot of questions. However if nothing appeals to you there, snakes ship over night just fine and there are ton of reputable breeders to buy from.

3. Cost - I can't say that I have a set amount of money to spend, but at the same time, I don't want to spend $700 if I could have gotten something just as practical for $300, in terms of an enclosure/accessories/supplies. PVCCages seem to be pretty nice... like their T8, I believe it was, but it's only 12" high... does that make it hard to access the snake or clean?

As they age they will go through a few different size enclosures. I start mine in 6 qt tubs, some people move them to a 15qt but I jump straight to 28qt, then if they get huge, ill move them to a 41qt. Those will give you an idea of the floor space they require at different ages. Tubs are by far the cheapest route to go, but don't look all that aesthetically pleasing. My suggestion would be to get a 6 qt tub to start them in, move them to a 15qt, and once they outgrow that, then start looking at what you want for their adult enclosure, T8 size would be great for an adult and 12 inches high isn't that bad with the cage only being 24 deep, thats within most peoples reach.

4. I saw a bit of conflicting facts on light requirements for the BP's. Some say if the heat is sufficient, no extra light is needed unless you want it for display purposes. I like the LED's to light up the cage. Is additional UV lighting required BP's?

no lighting requirements at all. if you want to use it for display, just make sure you turn them off at night.

5. Substrait - It looks like a lot of people just use paper... like from a big roll of butcher's paper or brown craft paper that you can buy by the roll. Is that really all you need in the bottom of the cage or is something like reptile cage carpet better?

disposable is much easier for most people, paper or one of the many bedding options. I use cypress. holds humidity, smells good, and i can spot clean it (just pull the clump of soiled bedding), take out the dirty, put clean in. find the bedding that suits your needs. reptile carpet can be cleaned and reused... but it does start to get pretty nasty. I wouldn't suggest it.