Newbie Questions About Heating, Lighting, Brumation, and Substrate

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Notafish
Bluey Beginner
Bluey Beginner
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Oct 24, 2022 5:55 pm
Country: USA
Location: Oregon

Newbie Questions About Heating, Lighting, Brumation, and Substrate

Postby Notafish » Mon Oct 24, 2022 10:25 pm

Hello! I've decided to adopt a Northern BTS, and have done as much research into proper care and equipment as time allows, but still have some questions. This is my first time ever owning a reptile, and I want to make sure I do it right, so forgive me if any of my questions are redundant!
1. Is one incandescent bulb and a heating lamp okay? I'm concerned about being able to control temperature vs light. I read on the general caresheet that the temperature should be kept from 60°-70° at night, then looked somewhere else where I was told to turn off the light at night to give my BTS the opportunity to rest properly. Should there be a seperate heating and lighting source? Or am I just being ignorant?
2. I want to supply my skink with proper UV lighting - could I just use a UV light bulb instead of an incandescent one? Or do I need to get a seperate lamp? Does anyone have any recommendations for UV ray-supplying bulbs that I should use?
3. How deep should the substrate be in the tank? Does it differ based on how tall a tank is?
4. Should I have hides on both the warm and cool side, or just the cool? I've seen conflicting statements on this and want to get further opinions.
5. Where I am in the world (Northwest USA), fall is just beginning - do I need to do anything different in terms of lighting, heating, or handling than per usual due to brumation?
Hopefully this wasn't too many questions for a single topic, and thank you so much for taking the time to hear me out :helpme:

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