Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I posted this before on thursday and looked on friday to find it gone. Ok, here goes the questions: I've heard that letting the ambient temperature in a bts cage drop below 80f can cause feeding and activity problems. I was wondering how to keep the cool side above room temperature.And what about lighting? Is uv lighting really that neccesary? or could I use plain flourescent bulbs? What about something like vita-lite or would I need to use something with higher uv like reptisun or murcury vapor bulbs? Also, in your opinion what is the best substrate for a blue-tongue:
paper towels
newspaper
reptile carpet
astroturf
play sand
calcium sand
coconut fiber (coir/bed-a-beast)
aspen shavings
orchid bark
or cypress mulch?
thanks,
~chase
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Mice, mealworms, waxworms, crickets, and cockroaches - Thanksgiving dinner.

I have all of my BTS set up in a large walk in closet in melamine cages. The heat from all 4 spot lamps actually heats the room to about 85 in the cool parts. If in a bigger room id considering heating pads. I prefer newspaper as a substrate since it is soo easy to clean and effective. I have noticed problems with long BTS nails so I trim mine about once every 2 months or so. I hope this helps,
justin