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  • 05-12-2010, 04:35 PM
    Laxhitman316
    Re: Can snakes sleep with red light?
    I have 2 uths as it is a 40g breeder and i use the light for ambient temps but my humidity is perfect as i have the top layered with tin foil . My old black heat light broke and this is all i could find as a replacement atm. I jus wanted to know if the light was acceptable ... should i just go with a black heat light again? as i would like to see him at least a little at night
  • 05-12-2010, 04:45 PM
    MarkS
    Re: Can snakes sleep with red light?
    Yes, CHE's are probably better then light bulbs for heating but personally I'm not very fond of either one. I use Heat tapes or heat cable for all of my snakes. I just think that overhead heat from bulbs etc dries out the air too much and you end up with shedding problems from too low humidity. I much prefer heat that comes from the bottom up.

    As far as being bothered by the light, just make sure the light doesn't shine in the hide box and you should be fine.
  • 05-13-2010, 08:20 AM
    kitedemon
    Re: Can snakes sleep with red light?
    The ceramic heat emitters are likely the best for an additional heat source. The are designed for that job. Personally I have a night lighting so I can see the night time activity. The UTH do the heating job.

    On a slight side note pythons (and some others) would "see" I guess sense is a better word, ceramic emitters. Pythons hunt using IR (heat) and would also sense the heat it gives off.
  • 05-13-2010, 09:07 PM
    Angry J
    Re: Can snakes sleep with red light?
    I have my adult male in a 40G tank, with a UTH providing belly heat on the warm side and a dark blue light for ambient heat. I've been using this setup for a while, and it works well for me and my snake. He comes out at night to take drinks and roam around, then goes back in the hide when he's finished. The blue light never seems to bother him, nor does the red light on my other snakes.
  • 05-13-2010, 10:59 PM
    DLoc
    Re: Can snakes sleep with red light?
    I use a infrared not "red light" I've read posts on the net that claim that any light used for heating besides ceramic emitters and infrared light can cause harm, possible blindness if if using desert type heating lamps. According to the care sheet from this site "And finally, overhead heat in the form of light bulbs or Ceramic Heat Emitters (CHE). A CHE screws into a socket like a bulb, but provides only heat without any light. These can be used as a supplement to a UTH to help maintain warm enough ambient temps.

    Bulbs and CHEs can work, but tend to dry out the air making it difficult to maintain healthy humidity levels. Also keep in mind that ball pythons are nocturnal creatures, and therefore a bright white light shining into their enclosure can cause stress. Red or blue "night" bulbs are best. Make sure that all such heat sources are out of reach of your snake or they will get burned!
    "
    I don't think they actually see infrared light, more or less I believe that they sense it with their labial pits. Mine acted a little weird for about a week and a half after adding a infrared 50 watt. (of course any change to their enclosure may cause stress.)
    This is taken from a study, I found the abstract here.
    "The ability to detect infrared (IR) radiation is a characteristic trait in boids and pitvipers. These snakes possess highly sensitive IR receptors, which enable them to perceive IR sources and assess their direction and distance independently of visual cues. Electrophysiological studies have been conducted to determine IR detection thresholds in boids and pitvipers. This, however, is the first behavioural study that focuses on the detection threshold of a boid snake to IR stimuli. Blindfolded ball pythons Python regius were exposed to a moving IR stimulus of constant size and temperature at various distances (10–100 cm). Distinct behavioural changes during stimulus presentation (S-form posture, freeze and fix, follow and fix) allowed quantification of the behavioural responses. The threshold to elicit behavioural responses was used to assess the IR detection threshold. The results revealed that P. regius can detect a moving IR stimulus resembling a mouse in temperature and size up to a distance of 30 cm, which corresponds to an irradiance contrast of 38.83 × 10−6 W cm−2. This irradiance contrast detection threshold value is about one-third lower (reveals a 1.5 times higher sensitivity) than the results from earlier electrophysiological studies."
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