Infrared light bulb?

Hi.

I noticed that the temperatur in my new terrarium is a little bit too low,so i decided to buy a lamp extra and bought a 75watt Infrared bulb.
Is this ok with ball pythons or not?and can i leave them on at night?

THX

I'm using a 75watt IR bulb as well. I leave it on 24/7. I stopped in to see if anyone had any thoughts on that. With proper air restriction and 24watt Zoo-med heat mats at both ends of the tank the temperature is holding at about 84ºF in a 20 gallon long. I don't see why having a heat source present other than the UTH's would matter during the night cycle. The IR bulb and heat from the UTH's probably appears to be about the same (through labial pits) during the night hours.

OK at night. Could dry the air. Make sure it is on the hot side connected to the hot side t-stat.

I have one on my cool side keeping the ambients up in the mid 80s. Just make sure it is an actual heater bulb and not a regular red light bulb. Also make sure you have it on some sort of controller so you can regulate how hot it gets. I put mine on a cheap $10 dimmer from home cheapo.

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Originally Posted by dave19428

I'm using a 75watt IR bulb as well. I leave it on 24/7. I stopped in to see if anyone had any thoughts on that. With proper air restriction and 24watt Zoo-med heat mats at both ends of the tank the temperature is holding at about 84ºF in a 20 gallon long. I don't see why having a heat source present other than the UTH's would matter during the night cycle. The IR bulb and heat from the UTH's probably appears to be about the same (through labial pits) during the night hours.

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i beleive the issue the OP was asking about was whether the red light would stress the snake... and from what ive read n been told snakes cant see into the red light spectrum... so IR bulbs are prefectly fine to use 24/7

That is why I said they are ok at night, although should have said anytime when hooked to to a t-stat. Dimmers are great if your house temps do not fluctuate.

Problem with a tstat and a light is that it keeps turning on or off which can get really annoying with a light source(for us not the snake lol). I use a $10 dimmer and just check it twice a day. Temps here do not fluctuate too much either...

Hi,

Just a point about the light - most people who use a thermostat on a lamp use a proportional one which just "dimms" the lamp rather than turning it on and off. It not only avoids the annoyance factor it avoids shortening the life of the bulb - in fact, if you use a higher wattage bulb than you need, it can actually extend the life beyond what you would normally expect as it is rarely running at full power.

So if you plan on using any form of visible light heating then save your pennies for an extra couple of weeks and go for the proportional type thermostats for a happier experience. :D


dr del