Lighting question

[Lori P]

So, do most of you use the red lights for night time heat? I found a blue "moonlight" heat bulb the other day and bought one to try it... I like the way it looks in the one tank I have it on... I'd kind of like to get away from the red, glowing, devil-resides-here look that my whole house takes on at night now... any input on that??

[adamanteus]

I can't help on this one... I don't use lights for heat.

[Lori P]

Oh, right, you use the heat tape. I'm still figuring out what will work best long term for me and my guys...

[adamanteus]

You get get those ceramic bulbs that throw out heat but no light. Have you given that any thought?

[Lori P]

Uhhmmmmm.... nope. Not really. Hmm. (Now thinking about them!!!!)

[GarterGuy]

I use heat lamps for heat, but I turn everything off at night. I've found that the garters do just fine with night temps. into the 60's with out any bad affects at all......as long as they can then heat back up during the day. I've even heard that it's good to have them "cool" off at night and have some down time. My room has gotten down into the low 60's and everything's done great for me.

[Stefan-A]

So, do most of you use the red lights for night time heat? I found a blue "moonlight" heat bulb the other day and bought one to try it... I like the way it looks in the one tank I have it on... I'd kind of like to get away from the red, glowing, devil-resides-here look that my whole house takes on at night now... any input on that??
I don't provide nighttime heat (not for snakes, anyway.) Then again, garters don't really need it either.

[Lori P]

Thanks guys. I guess I was thinking more of the other snakes, not the garters. I don't use nighttime heat for Curious and Reed, but I do for M & M because they are near the sliding glass doors and there always seems to be a draft. But think the balls & kingsnakes would be ok without it too?? The house gets into the low 70's at night. Oh, and the skink (he's a desert skink)??

[drache]

Sean swears by these new knds of bulbs that are just heat emitters (no light)
he says they're fire safe, which is a big issue
Sean's main partner in the rescue lost her appartment and much else in a fire started by a heat bulb
this is the link to the product page
T-Rex Heat-Safe Heat Emitter - 60 watt (http://www.reptilesupply.com/product.php?products_id=621)
they are a bit pricey, but I just got a couple and will let you know how I like them

[Lori P]

Thanks Rhea, will check into them also. Yeah, fire is bad.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

ceramic heaters are NICE, I keep two on my 75 gallon enclosure with the carpet python in it. The thing is, they are really expensive and when you have 66 snakes they just wont cut it. since i have custom built caging and they are solid units, the light below one tank warms the bottom of the one above it, and so i only need to use very low wattage bulbs to efficiently heat my enclousres. anything too high, and my snakes would fry :(

I don't use heat on any snakes at night except the carpet pythons. I've never had a problem and when compared to their wild habitat, my snake room is still warmer at night than what it would be outside in summer!

[Lori P]

The ceramic heaters are pretty pricey, I checked last night. But then I'm wondering how long they last... if they last at least 4 times as long as the regular bulbs, then it would be worth it. Any ideas??

So I've been using the devil-bulbs (lol) on the kingsnake, milksnake, balls, and my skink at night. Think it's not necessary as long as the temps stay above 70 in the house??

[GarterGuy]

Not 100% sure about the balls, but the others should do just fine with out night heat. Sorry, but I forget, what type of skink do you have?? I know my blue tongue does fine with out any heat at night, and it drops down into the mid 60's.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

my ceramic heaters say tehy'll last about 4 years. so far, this has held true. one lived to 5.

[adamanteus]

I have always been a bit paronoid about snakes burning themselves on ceramic bulbs.... how do you guys get around that?

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

they can't burn themselves if they can't touch the bulb, mine sit on the screen on top of the enclosures. you just need to make sure there is adequate height between the heater and the ground so that the ground under the bulb doesnt turn into a hot plate

[adamanteus]

That wouldn't really work for me, as my vivs are generally 'multiple' units with no space to between the floor of one enclosure and the top of the one below.

[Lori P]

Oh wow, if they have a four year life span, that's well worth it then!!! And yeah, they would sit over top of the screen tops so the animals can't touch them. Thanks for the info Shannon.

Roy, he's a Schneider's skink (desert skink). I know it gets pretty cool in the desert at night...

[GarterGuy]

Roy, he's a Schneider's skink (desert skink). I know it gets pretty cool in the desert at night...

Oh yeh, he should be just fine....just make sure he can warm up in the day. I honestly think that the night drop is actually good for them. Gives them some "down" time to just rest. That and it's really cool to see everyone out basking the next morning too.:D

[Stefan-A]

I could be wrong, but I think the temperature drops pretty significantly in their natural habitat. I agree with Roy, it's probably even good for them.

Perhaps the nighttime temperature is more of a problem for rain forest species?

[GarterGuy]

Perhaps the nighttime temperature is more of a problem for rain forest species?


Yeh, I'd think that forest floor inhabitants wouldn't really experiance too much of a temp. swing, but stuff in the canopy probably would. I know true chameleons actually do really well with night time temp. drops.

[Rook]

I have thought about it, but no. Rook just has his heat mat at night, that keeps the tank warm enugh for night time, during the day he has his lamps as well. I sometimes worry about how cold it gets at night, but it doesnt seem to bother him any, so I opted to just let it be.

[goatse]

the moonlight bulbs are really not for heat, tho they do put out some, its not very much. they are specially coated to simulate natural moonlight and won't disturb a snake or other reptiles day/night cycle. if you have a nocturnal its really cool because you get to see all the action you usually miss. a red or other colored bulb just makes the cage brighter (as reptiles cant see color for the most part) a 40 watt red bulb might as well be a 40 watt white as far as the snake is concerned. personally i use under-tank heaters with a thermostat, and a ceramic overhead that i can raise or lower depending on what temp i want (day/night/post feed), tank lighting is room ambient or fluorescent during the day, but doesn't really seem to matter to my snakes. again all of mine are nocturnals, i don't have a garter yet (waiting for the right Fla. blue stripe to come along, and knock my socks off).
Mike

[goatse]

oh one more thing, moonlight bulbs look exactly like marijuana grow lights to nosy neighbors and cops. found that out the hard way. and to cops all snakes are venomous.
M

[GarterGuy]

oh one more thing, moonlight bulbs look exactly like marijuana grow lights to nosy neighbors and cops. found that out the hard way. and to cops all snakes are venomous.
M

LOL...had the same issue when I had chameleons in my apartment. My bedroom window faced the parking lot and you could see my big screen cage with all the fluorescent lights overhead. Didn't help that I had an umbrella tree growing inside the cage, so it REALLY looked like I was growing pot.:rolleyes:

[Lori P]

LOL!!! When we moved on to our property 12 years ago, we found some very interesting plants gowing in a clearing in the woods. Sadly, my goats also found them and they are no more!! (But the goats had the wicked munchies for a week) LOL