If you are thinking about egyptians...here is what I use.
I have 5 egyptians, All U.a.a. I did have 1 Microlepis subspecies but he recently succumbed to an illness.
I use playsand- the washed playsafe stuff you find at home depot.
There is a great deal of debate on playsand and other substrates, so I would advise you to read past posts to get a full and inclusive list of possible alternatives.
Paper towels have long been used with sick and quarantined animals. They have also been used with young animals to prevent impaction problems and other maladies.
Lifespan is approx 15 years, longer under best conditions.
Differentiation of the two is dependent on various physical identification, not limited to physical size, patterns of coloration, color in general, presence of tubercles.
The differences are a source of major debate in taxonomic circles. As far as the pet trade, I mostly see U
a.a. as opposed to U.a.m.
The best advice I could give about the cost and the abundance of captive bred(supposedly) is use a reliable dealer. Do the home work. Call the dealer ahead. The good ones are very busy this time of year, but usually will help you make a right decision.
Good luck.
Ed
p.s. if you decide to get 3 egyptians please be advised that they will all need separate caging of the medium to very large size very quickly. Do not keep them together-in my experience- they are very strong animals and can do significant damage to a submissive animal.

>>Well I've been thinking about getting a Uro for over a year now. I finally found some captive bred babies, but at $225 they were out of my price range. I did find recently some Egyptians I could afford (one . . .two . . .or three).
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>>I've done my research, but any advice or sources you could refer me to would be appreciated.
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>>Three questions I have at the moment are . . .
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>>1. What substrate do you use? What substrate has the lowest impactation risk or is that really even a concern with these guys. I've switched to paper towels with my other lizards, but I keep nothing that likes it hotter then 90F really.
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>>2. What's the typical lifespan for these guys or expected at least.
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>>3. I read on another post here that there are two species of Egyptian. Any diagnostic characters to tell them apart?

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