Night time heating

Usually the ceramic sockets are white. If you tap on it with your finger you should be able to tell if it is plastic or not.

Would it be ok to use a red CFL bulb that you can buy at Home Depot? I know they don't throw off a lot of heat, but I don't need a whole lot. The CFL also won't suck out a lot of the humidity. My only concern is would it hurt the snakes eyes at all since it is not a reptile specific bulb.

Thanks.

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Originally Posted by Twiegs

Would it be ok to use a red CFL bulb that you can buy at Home Depot? I know they don't throw off a lot of heat, but I don't need a whole lot. The CFL also won't suck out a lot of the humidity. My only concern is would it hurt the snakes eyes at all since it is not a reptile specific bulb.

Thanks.

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Are you using another heat source? Ball pythons need one side of their enclosure to be between 88 and 92 degrees. I find it hard to believe that a CFL could achieve those temperatures.

I would never use a light bulb to heat a ball python. First of all they Hate light! They live in dark burrows under ground and can be very stressed by bright light. The second thing is they suck all the humidity out of the air so keeping that controlled is almost impossible. I would use two under tank heaters one set to 82 and to 92 on thermostats. This will end up costing alot less than a trip to the vet with a sick snake.

I would also recommend an oil filled heater to heat up the room the snakes are in. I keep one in my snake room on a thermostat.

Light bulbs are pet store crap advice so they can sell you more stuff. No Ball python breeder puts light bulbs on there snake, maybe just for pictures.

Yes, I use a uth on the hot side and keep that right at 90. The problem is the cool/ambient temps. My house gets pretty cold over night so the ambient temp drops to 65-68. But the hot stays at 90 on a thermostat. I've read mixed opinions. Some say it's ok as long as there is a hot side and others say its way to cold. So not sure....

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

Are you using another heat source? Ball pythons need one side of their enclosure to be between 88 and 92 degrees. I find it hard to believe that a CFL could achieve those temperatures.

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I don't think that a CFL make any noticeable change in the ambiant air temperature. A 50-75watt bulb on a dimmer would probably be enough.

Sounds good, thanks again!

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

I don't think that a CFL make any noticeable change in the ambiant air temperature. A 50-75watt bulb on a dimmer would probably be enough.

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