Lighting choice

Is it bad for my ball if i use a blacklight to light and heat the cage at night instead of a red bulb? the light is a 60 watt and keeps the cage at 77 degrees at night (mild winters in cali are good for a few things) which seems to be fine but i wonder if the uv from the blacklight is bad for housini. thus far i haven't been able to locate a red light locally i may have to order it if the black light is bad.

thanks for the input.

Michael

i use a blacklight sometimes, no biggie... as long as it isn't your only heat source you shouldnt have a problem... what sort of cage do you use? and how is it set up?

It's only at night during the day i use a 100 watt incandescent- keeps the cage at 87 degrees.
i also use a undertank heater for on hide.
the tank is a 20 long glass since houdini is a 03 he isn't very big yet (21 inches) i got him on 6-1-03.
I use 2 strip thermometers in the tank and a hydrometer, i also spot check 2 times a week with a probe thermometer to make sure that the temp measurements are accurate.

I used to use black lights with no problems. I don't know whether or not they can "see" the black light, but they don't act like they can. I have never heard of anything saying that UV is bad for them, but being nocturnal, they certainly don't NEED it.

rock, go ahead and use the blacklight. your setup sounds exaclty how i used to have Peanut's, and he did great..

thanks wiz i appreciate the input.

no prob...



see folks, i'm not that bad.. ;)

Wiz i read some of your other posts. I wouldn't go that far...lol
p.s. I checked out peanut looks great!

I use an infrared bulb (100w) 24/7. Seems fine. Just make sure you always have a spare!

thanks steelsack, yeah i keep an extra - they are bound to go out when the temp drops outside..

we like to use ceramic heaters and one basking spot light (regular house light bulb, energy efficiant thou..lol) and that seems to do well
Rusty

thanks rusty,
i thought about going to ceramic but i like to see what houdini is doing - we're both nightowls
if i go ceramic any suggestions on cage lighting that won't make his home to hot?

For cage lighting that doesn't produce a lot of heat, you can't beat the flourescent light bars available at most department stores. I installed one in Magellan's enclosure, and it lights things up quite well, doesn't produce much heat, and the energy consumption is minimal. You can get them for well under $20 at places like WalMart, and if you want, you can install full spectrum bulbs in them to make the light more like sunlight.

blacklights look way cooler, especially if the setup is sweet. ;)

thanks guys i appreciate the help.
Yeah wiz the blacklights look cool but my computer lights up with them already and houdini being most comfortable is the important thing right?

always... sign in bro ;).

Monty Joe likes basking in the blacklight at night.