Red Bulb vs White bulb?

[zail]

Having a bit of trouble keeping my temps up at the moment in the bp viv - the white light is staying on longer at night - would I be better swapping it for a red bulb so my snake doesn't get stressed by too much light?

Thanks for any advice

[roosterman2173]

Is the bulb your only heat source? Zoo Med has those ceramic heat emitters but I've never used one.

[FatBoy]

Is the bulb your only heat source? Zoo Med has those ceramic heat emitters but I've never used one.

Good question...you need to be heating with an under tank heater. Bulbs just have a tendency to kill humidity and bps do not need light.

[zail]

Got a UTH on a stat which keeps a pretty constant 86-88F floor temp under the hot hide day and night... Air temps at the moment are fluctuating down to 70 on the cool side and 80 on the warm side... temps directly under the lamp (which has a guard on it)are obviously hotter (90) during the day ... I'm thinking that at the mo while the weather is cold and the bulb needs to be on at night to keep temps up it might be better to have a red bulb? Or am I getting this wrong and it's ok as long as she has the basking spot heated by the UTH at the right temp? Humidity is good (between 45 and 55% generally) - tank is plastic, i spray when needed and have digital hygrometer to measure.

[FatBoy]

If you need the light to supplement heat I would go with the red or the emmiter like rooster suggested.

[starmom]

Got a UTH on a stat which keeps a pretty constant 86-88F floor temp under the hot hide day and night... Air temps at the moment are fluctuating down to 70 on the cool side and 80 on the warm side... temps directly under the lamp (which has a guard on it)are obviously hotter (90) during the day ... I'm thinking that at the mo while the weather is cold and the bulb needs to be on at night to keep temps up it might be better to have a red bulb? Or am I getting this wrong and it's ok as long as she has the basking spot heated by the UTH at the right temp? Humidity is good (between 45 and 55% generally) - tank is plastic, i spray when needed and have digital hygrometer to measure.

It is my opinion that the temps are too low on the warm side. I like to keep my warm side temps at around 92F and my cool side temps around 80-82F. Also, humidity ought to be kept at a constant 50-60% Have you tried some damp sphagnum moss to help bump up those temps?

What is your substrate? Could the substrate be holding in heat from the UTH? I would be inclined to wrap the tank in insulation and get a larger UTH. I'd ditch the bulbs since they zap humidity

[adamsmasher]

Hey hows it going? I've had the same problem, keeping my coolside temp up. Today I just picked up a couple of the ceramic heaters and while they are pricey ($40 @ Petsmart) they work great! I keep my house 70-72 and was using the red infrared bulbs but they only keep the temp around 75* max and they dry out the air big time. I've got the ceramic heaters on a rheostat so I've got them set to full blast now and I'll start lowering the stats to obtain a cool side temp of about 80*. They're awesome get one!

[zail]

Cheers for all the advice - I may get a ceramic heater but I'll need to replace my bulb holder as currently got a plastic one and ceramic ones are recomended due to higher temps. Have insulated the outside of the viv which has gained me a couple of degrees so far!

[simplechamp]

I noticed that when I purchased a 60W CHE it put out much less heat than the 60W infrared lightbulb. I would suggest if you are going to try a CHE buy a higher wattage than the light you are currently using.

[Slim]

If you hang a CHE or a red bulb over your cool side, you'll want to put it on a dimmer. Easier to control the temps, and keep from sucking up your humidity.