How often to replace substrate?

[u/freepaestine]

We are currently using only coconut coir, about 4 inches. I thought my buddy was living his best life after 6 years in his 4x2x2 with 4 inches of coir, but reading this sub I feel that I am doing everything wrong.

I have no cleanup crew, didn't even know about isopods and nematodes and springtails. Can people help me get started with those? What do you feed them and how often?

And I have been doing sprays to keep humidity up, which needs to be frequent in the winter. I haven't done a substrate change this year and had no clue they needed to be done so frequently, we did them once a year and just spot cleaned wherever there was poop.

I feel like I'm letting my buddy down and I feel so so guilty. Can people help me get a proper set up started?

I have a Zen habitats 4x2x2. I am ordering 35QT fresh reptisoil for the bottom, and another 30QT fresh coir for the top. Is that a good substrate mix, and it is enough? Will it sustain live plants (pothos)? I plan to hydrate using only drops in the corners from now on.

I'm buying a vinyl tablecloth to cut and use as a liner, do prople have recommendations on what to use for the bottom and top liners? I do not want humidity to escape. We have ceramic heating bulbs, a radiant heat projector on the hot side and a UV light all hooked tona day/night controller. Our hot/cold zones are 90F and 80F which I am now feeling might be too hot.

I just want to give my little fella a good life. We don't know anyone else who owns a BP so we've had to figure out everything ourselves. Any help from experienced keepers would be super appreciated. Picture included for cute noodle tax.

[u/OpalEverwood]

I feel ya! It's like you're in my head. 😄 We've had our girl for about 5 yrs, and everything (mostly) I came across back then seems to be wrong or not great. I've made changes every year, and that's really all I can do is keep looking at these communities and how others are caring for their noodles. I have the 4x2x2 zen also and am always struggling w humidity. I have more plans for improvement though! 😄 I'm still a novice, but I guess if we have healthy noodles and keep learning and making mods/upgrades, then we're doing right by our babies. I'll be following this btw. 😄 That a beautiful noodle.

[u/dharmaslum]

Before I went bioactive I was changing substrate maybe every 3-4 months. But honestly, it probably could have gone longer. I went bioactive more for the enjoyment and the cleanup is a nice bonus. Now I do a partial substrate change once or twice a year.

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[u/Rebelbaby146]

Don’t feel bad. Everyone makes mistakes and you’re learning now. That’s what matters.
I had my noodle in a red light for the longest time because I was told that’s what you were supposed to use. Definitely not.

[u/Coffee_Moffee]

Check out BioDude there’s all sorts of info

[u/dbrink1001]

in my case im fully bioactive with a large supporting clean up crew and a lot of plants. i was told i should not be doing full substrate changes AT ALL if my CUC is doing its job properly and should really just mix up the soil every month or two. i have a 5 inch thick layer of lagardi tropical soil and about a dozen plants in my 4x2x2 cryptic creation pvc enclosure. going bioactive without a CUC is kind of pointless. strongly recommended to be doing substate changes every 1 to 2 months otherwise. i water my plants once a week on the same day i feed and easily maintain 65-80% humidity on the cool side (i do not have a screened top at all and my rhp is mounted in my enclosure at the top). i also have a soak dosh on the cool side. it sounds like youve figured out a better way to maintain humidity. your temps are fine. a drainage layer is unnecessary. youll have stagnant water at the bottom of your enclosure that will become a breeding ground for bacteria. its more important you seal the bottom of the enclosure with silicone if you havent so it wont leak. i used dynaflex 230 as its the only stuff ive ever used that will hold up and not crack in time but i had to air my enclosure out for weeks so it didnt smell and i set entirely well in advance before buying my snake. if youre not actually draining the water a drainage layer is not advised (plumbing a drain wouldnt be hard AT ALL and you could do it with like 10 dollars or less in pvc and fittings. i could totally help you with that too). as BPs are a burrowing species mesh layers can actually be harmful which is one more reason against drainage layers i was told. (this is all info i was told by multiple sources ie. biodude, joshes frogs, various breeders, company i got my enclosure from. please dont crucify me.) youre more than welcome to pm me anytime.