Rack Lighting

Ordered a couple 3 tub CB-70 racks from RBI recently, they should arrive in a couple weeks.

Being on the first floor of my apartment I keep all of my blinds closed to avoid anyone from eyeing up my stuff while i'm not home. I could turn a light on but it wouldn't provide much light inside the rack and the apartment stays pretty dark even during the day.

I'm thinking about wiring an LED(s) in each rack and putting them on a timer so they turn off at night. The exact amount of LED's for each tub will be determined later when i do some testing to see how well each bulb illuminates the inside.

I found this LED site they have regular bright white (WH) LED's along with Warm White (WW) which i'm pretty sure by the intensity raiting they aren't nearly as bright.

It's just an idea so far, any opinions or comments?

Here's a pic of the rack I ordered:
http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/1267/rbicb703.jpg

You don't need any lights.

My racks are in my basement; not much light down there except for what creeps through the smaller basement windows and they do just fine. Personally I think they are unnecessary.

I wouldn't worry about it.

BPs spend very little time in the sun in the wild. They'll do just fine without the lights.

by putting a light in there, youre forcing an animal that is nocturnal to be in the same area as lights when the whole tub is supposed to be blacked out in order to prevent this..

LED's in the cage will stress your snakes out. Whatever light is coming through your blinds during the day is more than enough.

Thanks for all of the replies.

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Originally Posted by Seak

BPs spend very little time in the sun in the wild. They'll do just fine without the lights.

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I have a neonate guyana rtb and 2 ball pythons in one rack. The other rack has a 50/50 cali king and a brazilian rainbow boa.

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Originally Posted by crusher

by putting a light in there, youre forcing an animal that is nocturnal to be in the same area as lights when the whole tub is supposed to be blacked out in order to prevent this..

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The idea was not to blind them but position the lights in the back, behind the hides so inside the hide remains very dark.

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Originally Posted by RWD

LED's in the cage will stress your snakes out. Whatever light is coming through your blinds during the day is more than enough.

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Your probably right and most LED's even the less bright ones are still pretty bright. I've been considering white neon tube but even they are pretty darn bright. The fact that I would have to drill holes in my rack for wiring.... I think i'll just see how it goes with out the lights first.

Yeah honestly, i wouldn't worry about it, many breeders have had great sucess with their ball pythons being in complete darkness.

I understand your reasoning -- you want them to have some sort of night and day cycle which would be difficult if the room is always dark.

What if you just turned on a lamp in the room?

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Originally Posted by chapskis1

I understand your reasoning -- you want them to have some sort of night and day cycle which would be difficult if the room is always dark.

What if you just turned on a lamp in the room?

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Yeah that's what I do now while they're in the glass tanks. I'd imagine a small amount of light will pass through while they're in racks. It's one of those really tall lamps with a shield around the bulb and the top is open.

I was just trying to come up with new ideas is all. it never hurts the brainstorm.

What about other types of snakes like RTB or kings/rosy boas? Still not auxiliary lighting needed in a setup like this?

I have that same rack, the 3-tub RBI CB70 rack, in a large walk-in closet that has one overhead light and no windows. For several years my snake has done well in his rack with an eco-friendly 60 watt bulb equivalent, 12 hours light on, 12 hours light off---and most of the time he's under one of his hides anyway. Though usually some light does stream through even closed blinds, turning on a room lamp during the day should be sufficient.

Kudos for caring and thinking it through.

P.S.: Great racks, congrats!