light question

i have a few lights for my snakes and i was wondering if i could keep on a red light all the time in my snakes cages because it is a hastle turing of daylight bulbs and switching to red a night and the morning.

Ethan,
I would suggest that you utilize a full-spectrum light during the daytime hours (although their benefit to boas is not proven) and do away with the red light at night. Supposedly, snakes cannot see the red light wavelength, but as the bulb ages, the coating will break down and you may be interrupting the daytime / nighttime phase for your animals.

Is there a specific reason that you need the red lights on at night?

I have noticed alot of the redbulbs out there put off a great deal of light.. A che is probably the better option for you...

Mike has you noticed the colors of your animals being more vibrent(sp) with the FS lighting?

I can't say that I have noticed any discernable difference in the coloration of the animals exposed to FS lighting, but then I have never really run any tests or tried to compare animals with or without it.

I don't use them on individual enclosures, but rather for general lighting within the snake room. This is supplemented by some natural lighting.

Thanks,

hey mike the reason i need red lights on at night is that my house gets very cold at night for saome reason and i want my herp's cages to stay at the right temps at night

Originally Posted by madragon

hey mike the reason i need red lights on at night is that my house gets very cold at night for saome reason and i want my herp's cages to stay at the right temps at night

Wouldn't it be ok to just have the Light on in the daytime, and have a UTH at night? I don't have a snake yet, but I'm buying my setup little at a time. I just bought a heat lamp and a UTH.

I've used the red bulbs for years and don't see any discernable difference in the snakes as far as attitude or feeding or activity. This is the first year in many years that I actually tried to get my boas to breed and it seems to have worked on one of my BCC and a couple of my kenyans, all of whom have had red lights for years.

I do have one male suriname, a 10 footer I've raised from newborn,who is simply uninterested in breeding at all and too has always had a red light. My smaller albino male was horndogging everything he could and has had his redlights for the 2 years I've had him.

As far as feeding, aside from individual preferences, I don't think the light will make a difference. Of the three big boas I have, one is an absolute pig, one is a pretty good eater, and one is really picky. The kenyans all eat all the time.

I am also really bad about turning off the overhead lights, which are full spectrum and are frequently on for days at a time. Even so all my colubrids produce well and regularly. We'll see this year for the boas, now that I've got a horndog in the group.

I've used the red bulbs for years and don't see any discernable difference in the snakes as far as attitude or feeding or activity.

I agree with Wes. I've used red lights in all my older melamine caging for years. In fact there isn't any other lighting besides what comes-in from the fluorescents mounted in the ceiling of the rooms. Also, I find that I have to replace the red bulbs before the coating could wear off and they are on 24/7. Some day all my caging will match and be pre-fabricated set-ups with heat panels, but for that to happen I would have to stop buying more snakes...