Can ball pythons benefit from day/night light cycles?

[SDA]

Do ball pythons benefit from direct lighting in their enclosures? Not concerned about UVA/UVB as there is enough science backed evidence to conclude nocturnal animals do not benefit from ultraviolet supplemental lighting. My question is if a 12 on 12 off cycle benefits a ball python.

I have been of the belief that they do not need it and that all that is required is indirect light from a room filtering in. But is this really the case? Could a day night cycle benefit a nocturnal snake? In the wild they live in Savannahs and tree lines. This means they are exposed to full daylight not filtered through a canopy. Even if they hide in burrows and mounds during the day, daylight still would rule their cycles.

What happens when we introduce that cycle into an enclosure? I have done this now with the LED strips in my PVC enclosure. I have a 10 on 14 off cycle and I am starting to observe how it changes, if anything, Dante's behavior. It is too early to tell anything because he is also in new surroundings and is exploring his boundaries.

We did have a power outage earlier due to storms (I am in a slight panic typing this as thunder is booming overhead and I am a big coward) which cut the lights in his enclosure for about 10 minutes. When they came back on he was sticking his head out of his hide. He was moving around his cage and even came to the door when I opened it. He just now as I finish writing this sentence, crawled back into his hide after taking a drink. I found it interesting that a disruption in lighting induced him exiting his "burrow".

Anyone else make a switch to day/night light cycles in their enclosure and notice behavioral changes?

[JodanOrNoDan]

Mine seem to know day and night regardless of me having lights on. They do however know if the lights are off and I am in the room they are going to be fed. In the same vein, they know once I turn the lights on, feeding time is over.

The behavior change during the storm may be more related to the thunder than the lights. It is a good experiment though. Keep us updated with your findings.

[JBRHerps]

This is kind of a follow up question but assuming one has a rack system with opaque tubs such as the gray freedom breeders, that practically allow no light, does this affect behavior? Surely this has to be less light than even just having filtered light in a transparent tub or glass tank.

[JodanOrNoDan]

This is kind of a follow up question but assuming one has a rack system with opaque tubs such as the gray freedom breeders, that practically allow no light, does this affect behavior? Surely this has to be less light than even just having filtered light in a transparent tub or glass tank.

You should get an answer to that since I believe most breeders us the dark tubs. I am an oddball since mine are clear. I do cover the sides on them though so the animals cannot see each other.

[MD_Pythons]

That seems interesting, keep us posted. I want to see how that effects his behavior, if it does at all.

[Starscream]

I'm one of those weirdos that provides UVB/UVA for my noodle, lol, but before I provided the strict 12/12 on/off schedule I didn't really have a means to provide constant light without opening the blinds to my room, which I'm not 100% comfortable with, living in an apartment complex. And then when I turned the lights on in my room when I got off work it'd heck up with the schedule anyways. Didn't have that long without the lights inside, since I felt bad about it, but Maze didn't seem to know when to be active, since it basically depended upon when i was in the room, which was variable.

Now, with the lights, she goes into hiding before they come on, and comes out about 30 minutes before they turn off to 'bask', then is wandering around her enclosure until pretty late. I don't see her at all during lights on, unless I wake her up on feeding day. If it's feeding day and I wake her up, she will not go back into hiding to save her life.

It provided her with a clear schedule, which seems beneficial to most animals. Not really much difference behaviorally, save that 30 minutes basking period. She's always been very chill, not defensive, and a go-go snake. Now she just knows when to go and when to hide.

But this only a data period of 4 months, and on one snake, so not really much to provide here. Light was provided about 1.5 months ago. Make of this what you will.

[Kcl]

Mine occasionally likes to stare directly into the light if that counts. Other than that, I couldn't say for sure because the lights were at the same time as the AP cage so there's no way to separate out the two. He's only been in the AP cage without the light for a couple days because we broke the light and that was both too short to make a real determination on behavioral changes, and also marked by his attempt to squeeze out through the hole for the power cords and being caught in the act.