Night Lighting

[dragonmetalhead]

What's the best red bulb to use to provide some nocturnal illumination without raising the temp too much? I tried using a Zoo Med 100 watt infrared but since my snakes' new tanks are enclosed and not screen-topped anymore they retained WAY too much heat using this bulb. It really bothers me having the two dark tanks at night where I can't observe what my pets are doing (especially my sand boa).

 

[BillieJeAn]

why don't you try a lower watt light?

or, if you have a lowes near you, they have colored lights (pink. yellow red, etc) and they don't give off heat.

 

[AP27]

I use 50watt NightGlo's in my 5x2 snake cages. Keeps the warm side around 75-80 degrees at night and lends a neat purple light to the cage.

 

[Khoilie]

From what I understand, it is best for reptiles to just leave it dark at night and to not use any type of "night lights". And apparently the Infrared bulbs harm their eyes. I was using a 50w zoo-med Infrared light at night to keep up the temps and to have a "night light" because apparently reptiles cannot see that light wavelength but I got rheemed out on this forum because of how dangerous they are. If anyone has any definitive scientific data on this topic it would probably answer questions for alot of us.

 

[dragonmetalhead]

From what I understand, it is best for reptiles to just leave it dark at night and to not use any type of "night lights". And apparently the Infrared bulbs harm their eyes. I was using a 50w zoo-med Infrared light at night to keep up the temps and to have a "night light" because apparently reptiles cannot see that light wavelength but I got rheemed out on this forum because of how dangerous they are. If anyone has any definitive scientific data on this topic it would probably answer questions for alot of us.

I've been using infrared bulbs as heat sources for 20 years and have had no issues. How can the light hurt their eyes if it's not even visible to them, assuming they're not staring directly at the lit bulb at point-blank range? I always liked infrareds to ceramic heater because it's easier to tell when they burn out; I know too many people who have lost animals because they didn't realize the ceramic was out and it got too cold.

 

[laurarfl]

Awesome article from a veterinarian researching light requirements of reptiles. I don't know if the bulbs are dangerous, harmful, etc. But they are definitely unnatural.

http://www.reptilechannel.com/reptile-health/reptile-natural-artificial-light-2.aspx

Some excerpts:

"Some nocturnal geckos, such as Hemidactylus turcicus, lack the red-sensitive cone. Although they may not be able to distinguish red from green, they can certainly see it just like colorblind humans can.

Geckos have superb color vision in other parts of the spectrum. For example, they can distinguish blues from browns in extremely dim light where humans see no color at all. See figure 4."

"Allow reptiles to set their patterns. Reptiles rely upon a distinct day and night to set their circadian rhythms. Day must be light; night must be dark. Use timers to provide the correct photoperiod for the species. If nighttime heat is required, ceramic heaters or heat mats mounted on a rear wall are more suitable than night lamps."

 

[dragonmetalhead]

Great article, Laura! Thanks for posting. Khoilie, I wasn't calling you out or saying you were wrong, I was just surprised by that info. I had never heard of infrareds being bad for reptiles and I thank you for bringing that to my attention. I am aware a red bulb isn't "natural," but neither is any aspect of keeping a reptile as a pet if you come down to the real nuts and bolts of the matter.

 

[laurarfl]

I've also heard that red bulbs are damaging to eyes but never found concrete evidence to support that claim. I think it falls into that fuzzy area of things not yet learned about. They may be fine, maybe not, how do we know for sure?? Rhetorical question....

 

[reptastic]

Is this for display purposes? I use to use a black party bulb when I had my crested gecko, didn't provide relatively any heat as they are only like 15-20watts

 

[laurarfl]

Party bulbs are often made in China, are not really "regulated", and can emit UVC. Perhaps that's were the eye damage info came from.