Do dimmer switches cause lightbulb to burn out/check my husbandry

[mtag]

Ok, so my new snake is here tomorrow and I have had my set up running for a few days now. I was having an issue with the UTH not bringing the ambient temperature up enough so I hung a zoomed red infared heat lamp up above the enclosure in the closet to bring up the temperature. Before that my ambient temp on the cool side was 66-71 depending on the room temp. Anywho with that lamp up above it is sitting at 79 or so. The warm side is sitting at 88-91. The humidity is at 50-60.

So list of my set up:

-Tub
-Red infared heat lamp
-Rheostat
-Ultratherm UTH
-Herpstat thermostat
-Acurite thermometer/hygrometer measuring warm spot and cool side
-Hide on warm and cold side

Am I missing anything obvious? I was also wondering if having the bulb on the rheostat will cause it to burn out faster? Thanks!

[KMG]

A dimmer should make your bulb last longer.

The setup sounds good.

[Sauzo]

UTH wont heat the air. You need something to heat the air like a CHE or red bulb. I personally use a CHE on a lamp dimmer and it works fine my bp cage. Have had one on my dubia roach bin for almost 2 years and the CHE is still going.

[hungba]

What substrate? If it is something that retains humidity well I'd personally use a ceramic heat emitter instead of the infra red lamp. It has been in my experience that those red lamps and blue moon bulbs DO disrupt reptiles sleep wake cycle. Not for snakes specifically, but I know for sure my lizards see them. If snakes are different then I guess it is fine.

CHEs from 10 years ago are still running here, never had one burn out, dimmer or not. The only problem is they dry the environment a lot, hence the thing I said about substrate and humidity.

Another thing I just started experimenting with this past week with good results are black glass bulbs (NOT black lights). They are just regular incandescent bulbs but the glass is black. They seem to not be as drying but are dim enough that my lizards don't seem to notice. Basically there is a little rim of light around the dome fixture, but the enclosure is pretty much dark. Might want to give that a try.

[mtag]

I will try a black bulb instead or possibly a CHE. It does look a little... suspicious.... with my closet glowing red!

Can the CHE be put in the same light fixture? This is what I have: http://www.lllreptile.com/products/1...-lamp-fixtures

Thanks for your help!

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I am currently just using newspaper, but have the moss if needed.