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Night time heating
I have the lamp and under tank heater on right now. The bulb is 75 watt, and the UTH is zoo med's small size for tanks 10-15 gallons. (My tank is 10 gallons).
The temperature is at 86 degrees F right now. If I turn the lamp off for night time, will the UTH be enough to heat it? My substrate is also about 3 inches deep, and I know I need to take some out because it's pretty deep, but that will have to wait until tomorrow because I need to go home and the BP is living at my boyfriend's house until saturday. The substrate is eco earth coconut fiber if that makes any difference.
I really think the light should be off at night to make a night time setting for the snake (and my boyfriend :P ), but will the temperature drop too much?
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Get an infra-red heat bulb. They give off much less visible light. And no a UTH will not be able to heat through 3" of Eco-Earth. If you reduce the thickness of the layer of substrate be sure that you have the UTH regulated by a thermostat or else your snake could get burns that could be life-threatening.
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So I think that your boyfriend will just have to deal with the lamp tonight. One night won't kill either of them.
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What kind of light is it? You can get bulbs that give off a red or purple light which doesn't disturb the snake.
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What kind of bulb do you have in the lamp? Infared, white light, etc? Bright white lights are stressful to snakes, so if that's what you have and you need a light, I'd suggest switching. I have both a UTH and a light, since my BP girl is in a 40 gal. breeder. I usually use a 150W infared, but recently I switched to a 150W blacklight bulb, which looks really cool and has very low visible light. :)
There should be an overall of 80 and a hot spot of 90; it sounds like your tank has an overall of 86 degrees, it might mean that your UTH might be even hotter than 90, especially if you don't have a thermostat.
In a 10 gal you MIGHT not need anything other than the UTH, I'm not sure though.
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You can use just a heat lamp or just a UTH but it depends on the room temperature, and in the case of the UTH how much substrate you have. But as I said before, a UTH needs to be regulated by a thermostat because they get far too hot (I've seen some hit 110+)
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Re: Night time heating
This is the bulb I have:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...ductId=2752644
Should I use a different day bulb?
Exactly what night bulb should I use, if the UTH isn't enough to heat it over night?
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Do not use that bulb it is designed for reptiles that need much higher temperatures.
Use this bulb 24/7
http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...uctId=11147193
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How are you measuring your temps and controlling the temps.
Should have a 88-90 warm side and 78-80 cool side temps that are constant 24/7
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Would this bulb work? Any idea of it can be dimmed on a lamp dimmer?
http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/...s/df58312c.jpg
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Re: Night time heating
Quote:
Originally Posted by Twiegs
Yes and yes it can be used with a dimmer. But Red Lights are better than Blue
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All incandescent bulbs can be dimmed. But without a proper way to read temps can be dangerous.
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Re: Night time heating
Thanks for the info. Just curious.... Why is red better then blue? What about black?
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant
Yes and yes it can be used with a dimmer. But Red Lights are better than Blue
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Red light is the least visible color of light to the night vision receptors in eyes. Black lights don't put out nearly as much heat and also put out UV radiation. While many reptiles need UV light Snakes do not.
Blue light is far closer to daylight than moonlight
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In my experience... we actually get better temps with a 50 watt red light than we do with a 75 watt white light.
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Re: Night time heating
Quote:
Originally Posted by WifeOfSlasher
In my experience... we actually get better temps with a 50 watt red light than we do with a 75 watt white light.
thats because Infra Red light/radiation is more efficient at transferring energy than most other bandwidths of light in the visible/near-visible spectrum (sorry Engineering/Physics major in college :rolleye2: )
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Re: Night time heating
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant
Should I use it with the UTH, or no? Would keeping the light on 24/7 all the time have a fire hazard?
Quote:
Originally Posted by RichsBallPythons
How are you measuring your temps and controlling the temps.
Should have a 88-90 warm side and 78-80 cool side temps that are constant 24/7
I currently have 1 temperature gauge. (This one: http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...8&lmdn=Heating ) It is positioned on the back glass on the warm side.
Should I get another one to put on the cool side, or should I buy a temp gun, or should I get one of those indoor/outdoor digital thermometers with the wire and probe thingy?
Also, should I get a dimmer for the light? and what thermostat should I buy? Needs to be cheap. Under $20.
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Re: Night time heating
Would this bulb be good? Thanks!
http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/...s/24b5b541.jpg
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant
Red light is the least visible color of light to the night vision receptors in eyes. Black lights don't put out nearly as much heat and also put out UV radiation. While many reptiles need UV light Snakes do not.
Blue light is far closer to daylight than moonlight
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We plan on using a UTH on a thermostat for extra protection and our light on a dimmer so we can dial our temps in. Our ambient room temps are low so we need the added heat from the light.
I don't think there are thermostats under $20 that are reliable.
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Re: Night time heating
Quote:
Originally Posted by Twiegs
That's the type we use
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Re: Night time heating
Quote:
Originally Posted by SeeTheCityLights
Should I use it with the UTH, or no? Would keeping the light on 24/7 all the time have a fire hazard?
I currently have 1 temperature gauge. (This one: http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...8&lmdn=Heating ) It is positioned on the back glass on the warm side.
Should I get another one to put on the cool side, or should I buy a temp gun, or should I get one of those indoor/outdoor digital thermometers with the wire and probe thingy?
Also, should I get a dimmer for the light? and what thermostat should I buy? Needs to be cheap. Under $20.
I've run those red bulbs for a few months straight now with out any issue. Wether or not you need the UTH all depends on the temperature of the room and the humidity levels that you can keep. Heat bulbs suck the humidity out of the air. It also depends if you have the UTH regulated by a thermostat or not. If you do not I wouldn't use the UTH as it can and will give your snake severe burns.
The best way to check your temperatures is to get a indoor/outdoor digital thermometers with a probe. put the probe on the hot side and stick the thermometer itself on the cool side. Some even measure humidity as well. I got mine at Wall*Mart for $12. here is what it looks like:
http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...ant/photo3.jpg
Thermostats do not come cheap. The Cheapest ones I've seen are $40, and I think that they don't work well. A decent thermostat will run at least $70 and and good one will be $100 +. I use the Herpstat thermostats by Spyder Robotics. A dimmer would be good for your light. If you don't want to/ can't get a thermostat a heat lamp can be sufficient, as long as you get one with enough power. I would get the 75Watt version.
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Re: Night time heating
Quote:
Originally Posted by Twiegs
those will work, but I like these better: http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...uctId=11147193
(they actually put out Infra-Red light/radiation vs. white light passing through red glass)
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Re: Night time heating
Quote:
Thermostats do not come cheap. the Cheapest ones I've seen are $40, and I think that they don't work well. A decent thermostat will run at least $70 and and good one will be $100 +. I use the Herpstat thermostats by Spyder Robotics. A dimmer would be good for your light. If you don't want to/ can't get a thermostat a heat lamp can be sufficient, as long as you get one with enough power. I would get the 75Watt version.
Thank you for all that info!
Okay, so if I don't get a thermostat for the UTH, then I can just use the heat lamp alone with a 75 watt bulb? Is that what you're saying? The red bulb, right?
Sorry, just trying to understand it all :P
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Re: Night time heating
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant
But wouldn't the radiation be bad for the snake? Or the people? I have really high chances of getting cancer because of my genes, and the snake cage will be on my bedside shelves next to my head, I don't want to get radiation poisoning haha
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Re: Night time heating
Quote:
Originally Posted by SeeTheCityLights
Thank you for all that info!
Okay, so if I don't get a thermostat for the UTH, then I can just use the heat lamp alone with a 75 watt bulb? Is that what you're saying? The red bulb, right?
Sorry, just trying to understand it all :P
Yes that is correct. If you plan on using a dimmer with the heat lamp you might want to get the 100 Watt bulb and just dial it down into the right zone.
Otherwise I have found that unless the lamp is more than 15 inches away anything above a 75 Watt bulb gets too hot.
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Re: Night time heating
Quote:
Originally Posted by SeeTheCityLights
But wouldn't the radiation be bad for the snake? Or the people? I have really high chances of getting cancer because of my genes, and the snake cage will be on my bedside shelves next to my head, I don't want to get radiation poisoning haha
This isn't radiation like from a nuclear power plant. All light is a form of radiation. Infra-Red radiation has a very low bandwidth so it cannot pass through things like X-Rays can. UV lights aka black lights are far more dangerous.
All in All a Infra-Red light isn't any more dangerous than a regular bulb. (Your body is giving off Infra-Red radiation right now, everybody's does)
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Re: Night time heating
Thank you!
QUOTE=The Serpent Merchant;1736102]those will work, but I like these better: http://www.petsmart.com/product/inde...uctId=11147193
(they actually put out Infra-Red light/radiation vs. white light passing through red glass)[/QUOTE]
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Re: Night time heating
Quote:
Originally Posted by Twiegs
[/QUOTE]
No Problem
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Something I just thought of. Make sure that the reflector Dome that you use with the 75 or 100 Watt bulb has a ceramic socket. If it doesn't, and has a plastic one, it might melt. The ceramic ones are much safer
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Re: Night time heating
Quote:
Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant
Something I just thought of. Make sure that the reflector Dome that you use with the 75 or 100 Watt bulb has a ceramic socket. If it doesn't, and has a plastic one, it might melt. The ceramic ones are much safer
How can I tell? I didn't buy it new, it's my boyfriends that he had left over from his herps. It feels like it's ceramic... or plastic made to feel like ceramic... haha damn. I'll keep an eye on it.
Oh ok, that makes sense about the radiation... I feel dumb now lol.
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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.
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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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Re: Night time heating
Quote:
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.
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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Re: Night time heating
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.
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Re: Night time heating
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....
Quote:
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.
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Re: Night time heating
Sounds good, thanks again!
Quote:
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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