Lighting - Conflicting Opinions

[ckuhn003]

Hey Guys,

I know I've asked this before but I seem to get conflicting answers and I'm not sure how to proceed. My reptile room is basically dark 24 hours a day unless I turn on the lights when I enter. There's a small 2 x 3 window which lets very minimal light in. Is it recommend to provide a light cycle for Boas and BPs? I was reading Russo's book and he mentions Boas could thrive in captive conditions with very little light but then goes on to say providing a proper light cycle is most important. My snakes are in their hide all day and come out at night (at least the BOA does) so what is the light actually doing if it's set up during the daytime?

Both my Boa and BP enclosures have built in LED lights which only get turned on during cleaning. Should I invest in a timer to cycle them on?

Thanks,

Chris

[dakski]

I would provide a 12 hour/12 hour light/dark cycle for your snakes. I use a timer to achieve this on all my reptile tanks.

Providing a day/night cycle helps them regulate when to hunt, sleep, and overall health.

I also feed with lights out, so nocturnal animals know, when the lights go out, it's food time. The snakes are ready to go as are my leopard geckos (who are also nocturnal). This also means if I go in during the day, it's handling time and not food time. I still hook train the bigger snakes, but this adds a layer of protection for me. For example, Behira, who will often strike the acrylic doors when she sees movement at night, does not do this when the cage lights are on.

[Sauzo]

I personally provide lighting for all my snakes.

Put it this way, do they go through day and night cycles in the wild? Of course. Why wouldnt you offer them that in captivity.

Sure they could survive with no lighting but why do that to them. Heck humans could survive with no light too but would you want to lol.

I also feed my snakes whenever. The only ones who get fed at night are the GTPs. They eat during the day but they are kind of slow to react to the food so i have to bang it on them a few times to wake them up lol. Once lights go out though, they are up on the front perch coiled and waiting for food.

[Dianne]

I also provide a light cycle with a light in the room, 12/12. I do have a window, but since my snake room is on the first floor, I don’t leave the curtains open...no need to have anyone peeking in.

[ckuhn003]

Thanks David & Sauzo! I'll go ahead and implement a light / dark cycle. I just didn't want to do provide it if it was solely for the enjoyment of the keeper (which I've read before).

[cletus]

My snakes are in my office so their light cycle is my own. 12/12 ish. Give or take

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[richardhind1972]

My snakes have a window with natural light east facing so never over bright in there, I feel it’s better for natural cycling them, summer winter lights are so different in lengths which would happen the wild.
they all have led strips in there aswell which I use for maintenance purposes.


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[ckuhn003]

Here’s a quick picture of the extent of natural light that I have coming through the basement where my snakes are kept. As you can see we have two small transom windows on opposite ends of the basement which generate minimal light. Still think I need to supplement with running the LED lights in the enclosure?




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[richardhind1972]

I would have extra light if that was my snakes ckuhn. but on a timer, led are quite low energy so pretty cheep to run too

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[pretends2bnormal]

If you don't want to do lights on/off in the cages either for cost of the lights or electricity, you could always get a good room lamp that puts off pretty good amount of ambient light for the cages and have that on a timer for all the cages. Just place it where the light will get into the fronts of the cages.

I do this method in my QT room since it has poor lighting and QT snakes are kept in temporary tubs that I can't install lighting inside. My PVC cages run with lighting inside on timers.

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