After talking with some people on this site and doing a little research I'm thinking about getting an Animal Plastics T8 for my bp. I figured I'd buy it with the flexwatt and just hook that up to a thermostat. I happen to live in an extremely variable climate (MI) and the temp of my apartment fluctuate a lot.

I'm trying to find a relatively cheap way of keeping the temps up on the cool side during the cooler months. Any ideas? What about a standard uth with a dimmer, I can adjust it based on the seasons. There is also an option to get a circular screen put in the top so I could put a small lamp, but it seems like that would be bad for humidity.

Also any suggestions on substrate? I really like the natural look, I only have a couple snakes and don't mind the extra time I put in for cleaning. It sounds like thin substrates work best for these, but I would rather not have a substrate like newspaper.

Thanks for the advice! Just trying to get it right