Caesar does the quick breaths too but usually only when he is out and about on me. Like he's huffing in my ear lol. I used aspen for years and it worked. Then did RpetiChips which worked good too except I couldn't find pisses very easily and it was a nightmare for the boas as they buried poop and piss like cats. I switched back to Eco Earth which so far is working well plus it's cheap so I can just throw out Caesar's stuff every month and the boas every 1.5-2 months.

For water bowls, check out the Tractor Supplies Co 5 QT camo dog bowls. I use them for the bog boas and Caesar and they work awesome.

And lol to the poop on the floor. Hopefully Caesar doesn't do that lol.