Rant: Light fixtures

[MNGuy]

WARNING: If you don't want to hear a rant, please leave now...

Can you humor me for a minute? I just started keeping a snake in July, and have not kept a reptile since I was a child, so a lot of things are new to me. Lighting is one of those things. I have my young eastern in a small tank now with a great but small combo lighting fixture that sits on the screen lid.

I recently upgraded to a 40 breeder, and I'm a little shocked by the lack of structurally solid lighting fixtures for these hot basking lights that are supposed to be on several hours each day when no one is home. I bought a clamp lamp and was a little surprised by how flimsy it felt once I assembled it. And what exactly is it supposed to clamp onto when your tank is covered with a screen? (I know some people clamp theirs onto a shelf above the tank, but that's not a conceivable arrangement for everyone.)

As someone who has worked around and witnessed a lot of house fires, the whole thing really put me off. I had to return the clamp lamp and find a stronger way to light my big tank. I was surprised with the few options we have to suspend basking lights over tanks. I bought one of those Zilla stands with the plate that goes under the tank, but even then, the domed light hood just hangs onto a hook.

Why aren't basking light fixtures more solidly made to avoid accidental tipping/falling/etc.? Wouldn't it be easy to make one like a gooseneck desk lamp but for tanks? Why isn't there a track system to secure onto the top of your tank that a domed light hood could slide into/attach to?

Coming from the world of freshwater and saltwater fishkeeping, where there are a million well-designed lights that fit onto tanks in myriad ways (and while I know that you can find substitute light fixtures that were made for other purposes), I can't understand why the reptile lighting scene hasn't come along further.

Logically I know that these reptile lights sitting on screen tops and hanging off hooks are mostly safe, and that many other electronics cause house fires every day, but viscerally, I can't shake the feeling I get when I look at how these reptile lights are structured, made and used compared to every other type of lighting fixture we use in our homes.

Anyway, thanks for listening.

[Eddie]

Use under tank heating and forget lights. It will set you free lol

[MNGuy]

Use under tank heating and forget lights. It will set you free lol

I'm probably going to use both come winter -- a basking light during the day and the heat mat for nights. I like the idea of a basking light for a garter since they like to bask in natural sunlight.

All I want is for someone in the reptile products world to catch up with the aquarium light business! The ideas, products and arrangements are already out there -- they just need to be adapted and co-opted for reptile keepers!

[MNGuy]

OK, to lighten this up a little, here’s my girl in her new tank under her new light.

[guidofatherof5]

She's beautiful.

[Eddie]

Very pretty snake!!

[MNGuy]

She's beautiful.

Very pretty snake!!

Thanks! Credit goes to a forum member I bought her from. I do like the “wild” types, too, and just got a normal baby radix that’s in her own enclosure until she catches up in size and can be cohabitated with the eastern.

[Snakemom]

After having two lights topple over and break while moving the screen to add food (the bulbs were not the expensive kind), I went to the hardware store and bought small springs - I used a set of needle nose pliers to open the ends to form a hook and hooked the light to the screen top. I used two springs per light- Tiffany's cage was a Zilla set up that came with the springs in the kit. No more toppling light fixtures - I have dome light fixtures on all my tanks right now.

Beautiful snake, BTW.

[Ambaryerno]

I use the ExoTerra MHD fixture. It uses glue/double-sided tape to hold it directly to the glass, but this is VERY strong when properly applied, (I'm sure it would have to be replaced if you need to move the fixture, and isn't restickable once removed) and the fixture itself is very sturdy without a lot of wobble. The downside is that while you can adjust the height, the arm length is fixed length so you're a bit more limited as far as where the spotlight is going to fall.

I pair this with a Current LED bar for my plants, and the setup works very well.

[MNGuy]

Smart idea. I'm still hoping for better light fixtures one day.