Regular Bulb vs Red Bulb

My snakes hot spot stays right at 90-92* with a 75 watt light bulb. I'd rather use a red bulb so it doesn't have all that light at night. Will a 75 watt red bulb make the same heat as a 75 watt regular light bulb?

If your worried about the light out then switch to a ceramic heat emitter.
Ball pythons being nocturnal can be stress out from being subjected to constant light.

Yes, it should stay the same heat.

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

If your worried about the light out then switch to a ceramic heat emitter.
Ball pythons being nocturnal can be stress out from being subjected to constant light.

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That's why I want the red light. Snakes can't see red so it won't stress them out at night. I was mainly worried about the wattage because 75 watt heats perfect to 90-92* without a thermostat.

My advice; ditch the overhead light as a heat source and get an undertank heat source. You're drying out the air and providing a supply of heat, that if your ball python is acting like a ball python and living inside it's hide, is absolutely useless to it.

I have both. The uth doesn't heat up the air of the hot side though. It's only making the bottom to 90-92* but the air temp on that side is only going to 82-84*. Do i not need the air temp 90* if the floor is at 90*?

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Originally Posted by SnakeKB

Do i not need the air temp 90* if the floor is at 90*?

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no, but you want it around 86-87 on the warm end, 90 is a bit too high for a warm end ambient temp IMO

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

no, but you want it around 86-87 on the warm end, 90 is a bit too high for a warm end ambient temp IMO

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So i would need the heat lamp. I got a 60 watt Red Light and its keeping the air temp on that side around 88* while i have the UTH reading around 92*. Heres a list of how the tank reads right now.

Cool Side
Air Temp - 80*
Humidity - 65%

Basking/Hot Side
Air Temp - 88*
Floor Temp - 92*
Humidity - 50%

Anything wrong with this?

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Originally Posted by SnakeKB

So i would need the heat lamp. I got a 60 watt Red Light and its keeping the air temp on that side around 88* while i have the UTH reading around 92*. Heres a list of how the tank reads right now.

Cool Side
Air Temp - 80*
Humidity - 65%

Basking/Hot Side
Air Temp - 88*
Floor Temp - 92*
Humidity - 50%

Anything wrong with this?

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Sounds good maybe lower the humidity to 60% on the cool side and then higher it about 55-60% on the Basking/Hot Side.

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"The uth doesn't heat up the air of the hot side though"

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Wrong.
Hot air rises.

Ill spray some water on the hot side to raise it up some. I have a pretty large water dish on the cool side that probably should be smaller anyways. I was thinking of doing a hide on the cool side and a water hide in the center being its an aquarium setup.

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Originally Posted by mykee

Wrong.
Hot air rises.

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Dont be so rude. I know hot air rises. The problem is its not enough hot air from the uth to make the air temp as high as i need it. It escapes through the lid. Even if you cover 75% of the lid, the heat from the UTH still wont make the air temps high enough.

My snakes hide spot on the hot side should be trapping the heat in from the uth. Does that mean i shouldnt worry about raising the air temps outside of the hide even though its on the hot side?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SnakeKB

Ill spray some water on the hot side to raise it up some. I have a pretty large water dish on the cool side that probably should be smaller anyways. I was thinking of doing a hide on the cool side and a water hide in the center being its an aquarium setup.

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I would say just move the water dish to the hot side and see if the humidity rises on the hot side then lowers on the cool side. Also a Humidity Hide would be an excellent choice.

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Originally Posted by SnakeKB

Dont be so rude. I know hot air rises. The problem is its not enough hot air from the uth to make the air temp as high as i need it. It escapes through the lid. Even if you cover 75% of the lid, the heat from the UTH still wont make the air temps high enough.

My snakes hide spot on the hot side should be trapping the heat in from the uth. Does that mean i shouldnt worry about raising the air temps outside of the hide even though its on the hot side?

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If your normal room temperatures are above 75* then you don't need the lamp. As long as the air is around 75-80* you are good to go. The lamps are just a pain in the butt in my opinion. They burn out all the time and they significantly lower the humidity.

Make sure you have good digital thermometers that are at the snakes level reading the temps. Also make sure you have a digital probed thermometer right on the glass where the UTH is (under the substrate) to measure the hottest point the snake is getting too.


As for the original question yes, same watts same amount of heat.

Air temp is nowhere near as important as a hot spot for your ball to lie on.

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Originally Posted by mykee

Air temp is nowhere near as important as a hot spot for your ball to lie on.

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Wrong, a ball can live fine without a UTH, but try keeping one healthy without proper ambient temps.

I do give all of my balls belly heat, but it is not as important as the ambient temp in the enclosure.

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

Wrong, a ball can live fine without a UTH, but try keeping one healthy without proper ambient temps.

I do give all of my balls belly heat, but it is not as important as the ambient temp in the enclosure.

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I am going to agree with Mykee. If a ball python is provided with an adequate hot spot, ambient air temps can get pretty low without causing problems.

Eventually they'll stress out because the only place in their home that has adequate heat is the hot spot....Hmmm

I have kept ball pythons in 80 degree temps with no belly heat and no feeding issues for most of a year, try that with a cold tank and only belly heat :confused:

Well I have kept my snakes in a 70* room with a 92* hot spot for over a year with no problems.


There is no right or wrong answer to this.

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

Well I have kept my snakes in a 70* room with a 92* hot spot for over a year with no problems.


There is no right or wrong answer to this.

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70?

Are your tubs cool end temps at 70?

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

70?
Why are you not providing them a higher ambient temp, pretty sure you help lots of noobies with their temps, why aren't yours in line with normal temps that you tell others they need?

Right or wrong, their is a range of temps that we know is sufficient, 70?

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I have other reptiles in the same room that require lower ambient temps and will not tolerate an ambient temp higher then 80*.

Also I live there too and would not like to die of heat every day.

As I said I have had NO issues at all. No sickness, no fasts, no deaths, no nothing.

So if the snakes are perfectly healthy then why is it suddenly not acceptable?

To be fair, the temp in the rack is probably closer to 75* but the average temperature in the room is in the low 70's.

All I said was ambient is more important, and it is.

A snake will do fine with good ambient temps and no belly heat, try keeping a snake healthy with just belly heat in cold ambient.

*75 is not cold* :P

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

All I said was ambient is more important, and it is.

A snake will do fine with good ambient temps and no belly heat, try keeping a snake healthy with just belly heat in cold ambient.

*75 is not cold* :P

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Isn't belly heat important for digestion though? I ask because my ambient air is always 80* whereas my hot side under substrate is 93*. I'd think being that the ball spends 99% of its time on the substrate and in its hide that the belly heat would be more important that ambient (obviously as long as the ambient isnt really low). Just my thoughts.

They digest without belly heat, just slower.

Yes belly heat is important, I use it on all my snakes(balls).

Keeping them in the correct ambient temp is more important than having on spot in the tank that keeps them warm.

I prefer to give them a cool end of 78-80 and a warm end ambient of 87ish and a hot spot of 90-92, then there is no debate :P

I still think a hot spot is more important.

Just think about it; snakes are more likely to acquire heat through direct contact. Warm air is NOWHERE near as good a vector for heat absorption as direct contact with an UTH.
I can very easily sit in a 100 degree room when I'm cold, but if I were to sit in a 100 degree bathtub, I'll get warmer, faster.