How often should I change the bedding

[Ra]

That really depends on a few factors.

1) How big & messy is your animal?
2) Is the substrate "living?"

When I say, is it living, I mean do you have plants growing directly in it? Do you have tank janitors like springtails or terrestrial isopods? I plant stuff directly in my substrates, and then I introduce springtails & sow bugs to clean up mold, waste, etc. I spot clean by taking out large droppings, and I rely on my tank janitors and plants to make use of whatever other waste products end up in the substrate. Using this method I only change my substrate once or twice a year. I just run my fingers through it and smell it to guage how dirty it is. If it smells nice and earthy (like Heatheranne mentioned) after a few months that means the tank janitors are doing their job and the substrate is filled with beneficial bacteria. If the substrate smells foul that tells me the tank janitors aren't able to keep up and I need to manually change the substrate and start over.

If your substrate is not living I would change it every 3 months or so, like Grif suggested. Like heather said, stir it up every once in a while to help keep it fresh.

Are you talking about a pacman frog set up?

[KingCam]

Are you talking about a pacman frog set up?

I'm talking about any setup with a bioactive substrate and live plants. But apparently pacmans pee too much to make bioactive substrates a good choice? Meh, I'll stick with my treefrogs XD