Day/Night Cycle?

[gozetec02]

Ok my two bp each have a 20gallon tank to them selves. I have my tank kind of in a dark place in the apartment and i dont open my blinds because people can see in. Any way would a day light help with the day night cycle. I know that these have UV is this beneficial for the snakes and will it create a better day night cycle? And how many hours should these lights be on with the timer like what time should it come on and what time it should go off?

[Mike]

im assuming your just using heat pads then? they dont NEED UV so you dont need an expensive bulb. the light in the room should be good enough to show whats day and whats night.

[gozetec02]

I do have the night time bulbs and those stay on all the time. What about just a regular light bulb during the day?

[Mike]

if you wanted to, theres no reason not to. just make sure it doesnt get too hot. oh and as for the timer... 11-13 hours of light should be good. that would mean turn it on around 7 AM and off at 7 PM. give or take an hour on each end.

[gozetec02]

Are you saying its ok to use a regular light bulb or one with UV? What i was thinking was setting up a timer to turn off the night bulbs at like 6:00 am and then the day bulbs will turn on at around 7:00 am, then the the day bulbs will turn off at 7:00pm and the night bulbs will turn on at like 8:00pm.

[Mike]

sounds good. have you looked at the prices of UV bulbs? if you have the extra money layin around to buy a UV bulb, go for it. if youd rather go the cheaper way, a regular lightbulb is fine to have a day/night cycle. your times sound good, but why not just have one go on at the same time the other goes off? also, what are you night time temps? do the temps just stay the same all day and night? if so, thats not bad. but for a most realistic cycle you would want the temps to drop at night.