Snake vision

[Morris Reese]

Repost: changes topic
I have a 20L glass enclosure for my BP. Everything is great as far as temps and humidity. 83 warm side, 77 cool side ambient temp with a UTH and TSTAT set at 89.8. Humidity under heat lamp is 67 and cool side is 74.

She is doing great and feeding on f/t weaner rats every 5 days. I have to make sure everything is quiet and lights in the room are off when feeding. I usually don't have any problems as long as I stick to this. Once she strikes I leave the room and come back later to make sure she ate. I do like to watch as she eats, but sometimes she seems hesitant if I'm around.

I need someone who knows a lot about vision to help with this question. I have been thinking of putting mirror tint on the outside of the glass. This would make the inside appear that you are looking into a mirror and the outside just a light smoky tiny looking in.

What would be your expert opinion? Do you see any trouble with what the snake may see?

Thanks!!!

[Effinch]

Try a red light then you don't have to turn any white lights on. Don't hoover over the feeding spot, but maybe a few feet away in a chair with minimal movement.

I'm sure someone will correct me if they feel differently.

[Morris Reese]

Try a red light then you don't have to turn any white lights on. Don't hoover over the feeding spot, but maybe a few feet away in a chair with minimal movement.

I'm sure someone will correct me if they feel differently.

Thanks! I do have a red light that I was using, but it was keeping it a little warm. It's 75 watt, I had to replace it with a 50 watt red and it's just really dimly lit. As long as she is eating and gaining weight I'm happy!!!

[Pythonfriend]

a mirror tint allows you to look from the dark side into the illuminated side, and hinders vision in the other direction. so this only works when the light source is where the BP is. also you would need to work with a foil or something, in order to get a reflection and not just random scattering it needs to be so precise that you cannot just spray it on or paint it on. and after all that, you might find out that the BP is spooked by its own reflection. they are definitively not as smart as chimps or dolphins, which can recognize their own reflection.

there is a scientific study floating around that shows that BPs have photoreceptors in their eyes for blueish-green, blue, and ultraviolet light. so their vision should be weakest in red, they could very well be completely blind to red light. i would go for a red LED, they tend to have very pure red light without other colors mixed in. i salvaged some from broken optical computer mouses, these are nice and bright. (or is it mice? mice sounds weird when its about the input device). or you can just order from digikey.com , they have thousands of LEDs and also everything else you might need to build a nice red LED lamp. theoretically the snake should not be able to see it.

but then, if the initial strike occurs with a little light, if you just stand still and dont move around or make noises, the snake should go through with it. even if the snake notices your presence, if she gets handled often and is accustomed to you or to humans in general, i dont think it should be a problem. i would try and experiment a bit more before looking for technical solutions to a problem that may not really be a problem.

[Mr. Misha]

Here's the scientific study:
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=208992

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