Simple lightign question

[RoyalGuardian]

What watt should I use? See.. I went to petsmart to get a light bulb and the dude recomended a 50 watt... I came home yesterday and found that my poor baby Kyna's terrarium was 72degrees!!!!( MY POOR SWEET BABY!!!!!*cry*) So I have a 150 watt now but its way wayyyyy to hot to put directly over the terrarium. I dont have anything in which to mount it on so ...it has to be on top of the lid... would a 75 watt or a 100 watt work better? ( my house is rather cold...)

[dr del]

Hi,


Are you talking flourecent lights (for light only) or incadescents ( like normal light bulbs) to provide heat?

If its the latter then it absolutely NEEDS to be controled by either a thermostat or a dimmer switch ( which you need to keep adjusting/checking ).

Also I tend to use red bulbs as they can be left on at night to avoid the temperature plumeting during the night. Some people have also said blue does not bother the animal but I have never tested this. White light 24 hours a day however is a big stress factor for a nocturnal animal I think.

Another major consideration is shielding - while you want the heat from the bulb to reach the snake enough to create the warm end temps its very very important that the snake cannot physically touch the bulb as it can easily get burned by it. You can make a light gaurd out of any mesh fine enough to stop the snake getting through and some wire to hold it all closed. Fixing to the tank lid or whatever can be trickier but isn't usually impossible. I also tend to use spot bulbs to get as much of the heat down to the snake as possible.

There will be more experienced people along in a little while to help you set everyhting up perfectly for yer lil guy and they may want some of the following information so they can help you better;

size/ type of tank (if you have pics that would be great - we luurve pics )
What heating you use - undertank is great, but all heating needs controlled to prevent accients.
what hides you use - preference is for 2 identicle one warm end one cold
what your using to measure temps - digi accurites from wal mart seem to be faves.

theres a care sheet that hyas most of the basic info in it - I'll try and dig out a link if no one else has posted it.
[edit]

here is the link to the care sheet;

http://www.ball-pythons.net/modules....warticle&id=59

and remember to check out the caging forum for great examples of setups and to ask how to assemble anything you need.

[/edit]

and finally - show us pics of yer lil darlin


dr del

[kellysballs]

I personally use the lights in the room and that come thru the window for light in my snake room. For heat I use heat pads with a Thermostat. I would return both light bulbs and order a heat pad and a thermostat from reptilesupply.com. With shipping it would cost you less than $40.00 and would be well worth it. Plus the mats dont dry out the air and warm air will hold more humidity that cool.
Just my 2cents. Good luck with your baby!