Lighting

Hi all, new to this site and enjoying all of the information.

I have a question about lighting for my ball pythons. We are currently using 100watt bulbs, and turn them off night. We have been using the under tank heating pads to supplement. That's what the previous owners did.

However, my bulbs are burning out faster than I can put them in, I don't know how to fix that. Also, a friend told me that I should get a different kind of bulb, maybe an infrared bulb.

For you experienced owners, what is your lighting schedule, and what bulbs have you found to be the best?

Thanks,

Catherine

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Originally Posted by justice9311

Hi all, new to this site and enjoying all of the information.

I have a question about lighting for my ball pythons. We are currently using 100watt bulbs, and turn them off night. We have been using the under tank heating pads to supplement. That's what the previous owners did.

However, my bulbs are burning out faster than I can put them in, I don't know how to fix that. Also, a friend told me that I should get a different kind of bulb, maybe an infrared bulb.

For you experienced owners, what is your lighting schedule, and what bulbs have you found to be the best?

Thanks,

Catherine

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Hello, firstly bp's are nocturnal and really don't require much light at all. Make sure that your uth is regulated by a thermostat (very important). The 100 watt bulb is a very hot bulb. What type of enclosure are you trying to heat and work with? Can you send over some pics of your set up? Bp's just need to know when it is daylight so make sure there is a way for them to discern that. Too much light is going to alter their natural behavior. Consider a daytime blue light and not a commercial household bulb. Also a nite time infrared bulb is better and wont stress the bp. How many heat pads are you using? There needs to be a warm side and a alternative cool side so the bp can thermoregulate and escape the heat when he's ready. There also should be a hot spot usually in between both sides made with a basking or hot spot bulb that is not inside the enclosure.:colbert:

The pythons are in separate 20 gallon tanks with 1/4 inch substrate. The warming pad and the light are on the same side of the cage, so the other side is cooler.

So I need a daytime bulb and a nighttime bulb?

Stupid question. How do you insert a photo?

Hello Catherine and welcome. It sounds like the bulb is provinding light (duh) but also heat. I would not change a heating appliance until I understood what was the implications and what exactly it was doing. Lamps are often used to regulate air temps and they are quite important to the well being of the snake.

I would leave everything be until the effect it is having is evaluated.

The questions are easy, what are your temps? Hot side surface cool side surface, as well as the air temp in the tank both night and day as well as what is the typical room temperature.

There are other types of bulbs that add light some will add heat and light and some just heat. Before you replace a bulb you need to know what you need light, heat or both.

IR bulbs (heat lamps) add heat in a specific way, a heat emitter in a different way, regular bulbs are also different.

Photos can be added with a picture sharing site that have code for a forum. Just copy and past the forum code into the text body.

Now I'm really confused. :O

With the 100 watt bulb, the heated side of the tank registered in at 85 degrees. That's with the under the tank heating pad. The cool side is high 70's.

Does this help?

I also want to add ... the heating pad under the tank is a small one, and it doesn't have temp control capability. I assume I need to invest in a better warming pad?

Definitely get a thermostat for the heat pad. Hot spot should be 90-92 and measured with a temp gun. Cool side and ambient temps shouldn't really be below 80. For the lamp just get a dimmer switch from Lowes or home Depot

Quote:

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Originally Posted by justice9311

Stupid question. How do you insert a photo?

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Not a stupid question at all but there are several ways. One way is to upload the photo to your Gallery, copy it and then depending on where you want it , click on the image icon in the upper left hand side of the thread, then paste it into the box ,click ok and the pic should appear. Some other ways are to use Imgur, Tapatalk, but I am not familiar with those ways. Hopefully we will get someone to chime in and help.:salute:

For Tapatalk just click the camera icon. Easy squeezy lol Tapatalk is the phone app BTW just in case you do that have it already

Ok that helps a bit. I am guessing it is a small low wattage pad? Like a 4w perhaps? Pads are generally controlled with a thermostat it is a separate unit altogether. They come in two basic types on/off that works exactly like most home thermostats. They are ok not stellar the better types are proportional they 'feather' or 'flutter' the power so it never runs maxed out or never truly all the way off. This keeps the temperature of the pad at a particular point rather than running high temp then off.

Lets measure some points specifically.

Move the substrate aside and measure directly over the heat pad.

Generally speaking a pad should never be not controlled by a thermostat. That said some of the modern small pads are so low heat they can be used with no stat as they rarely get much over mid 90ºS and running through a glass tank often the temp is in an acceptable range.

How are you measuring your temps?

You need to measure the air temp where it is not effected by the lamp or pad.

What is the temp in the room?

Temp in the room is set at 72-74 degrees.

The under the tank pad is just a small one that the previous snake owner gave me, it just plugs into the wall.

I am using a temp gun to measure the temp.

Move the substrate aside and measure directly over the heat pad.

Do you have the ability to measure the air temp in the enclosure?

Update. I got a temp gun (waiting for my thermostats to arrive). With the overhead lights, my poor snakes were baking at 100 degrees. I feel like a terrible mommy.

I changed to the red lights, have them dimmed, and now we're sitting comfortably at 90. My snakes thank you!

I'm new to this and still setting up but have some questions. I'm planning on getting blue daylight and red night time bulbs but don't know what wattages to get. I've got the UTH, thermostat, and temp gun already but don't know what to get wattage wise on bulbs. 36"L x 18"W x 18"H enclosure.

This is what I do. I have a 40g breeder and on the hot side I have a uth in a thermostat and above I have a 100w basking bulb that's on a rheostat and a timer and is usually about 2/3 up. On the cool side I have a 100w che on a rheostat and a thermostat and its usually about 1/2 to 2/3 up and is on 24/7. This setup gives me an ambient temp of 82-83 during the day with the cool hide being around 78 and a steady night temp of 75-78. His hot hide stays at 90 24/7. I have the top screen covered about 80% with foil tape to help with humidity and I have moss in the terrarium as well. Hope that helps