Substrate is the bedding of the tank; i.e., aspen, reptibark, cypress mulch, etc. What do you use?
Preferred hide boxes are dark, tight fitting areas. Cardboard boxes will actually do fine. I got sick of looking for decent hide boxes so I got mine from Reptile Basics
http://www.reptilebasics.com/Hide-Boxes-p-1-c-282.html
The acu-rite is not at pet stores... I got mine at wal-mart, but they're also at Home Depot, Target, Lowe's, etc. The unit itself measures ambient air temperatures and humidity, and there's a remote probe running from it with which you can measure the hot side of the tank. They run about 13-15 dollars.
I don't know anything about rheostats, I only use thermostats.
The stick on thermometers and hygrometers just do not work. You should get the acu-rite![]()