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I'm using a 75 watt sun glo light right now..... just wondering how long I should be leaving it on during the day.... is there such thing as too much light? I have some ppl telling me not to use light at all..... just under tank heater..... any help with this would be appreciated..... also with the light off in the evening would we be more likely to see him out in his tank? he tends to hide away under his bark all the time.....

Thanks again everyone....

Milk snakes get no benefit from light. If the bulb is producing heat, then it may be benefitting from that. You did not mention the size of the enclosure - but 75 watts seems awfully high to me. You need to have a themometer in the cage. All you need for milks is natural room light and an undertank heater.

Tim

Third Eye

it's a 30 gallon tank, the temp is consistant at around 80.... we have an under tank heater on there.... have 2 thermometers in there right now to keep tabs on the heat in there.... He hides under his bark a lot, we rarely see him at all, was wondering if the light had anything to do with that or if it's just something that he will do for a while..... thanks...

If you have undertank heating there is no need for a spotlight on your tank..

Put a good thermometer directly over the top of the undertank heating pad (UTH) and see what kind of temps you are running. Your thermometer should be sitting on top of the glass at the bottom of the tank to measure. After you get that reading, put it directly on top of the substrate in the same place. If you are using the strip thermometers, they usually do not give an accurate temperature. I use a temperature gun, although you can also get a cheaper digital thermometer from Radio Shack for an accurate reading.

Do you have the heat lamp over top of the same side as the UTH? Remember that you should have both a warm side and a cool side, so the snake can choose.
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phflame
kingsnake.com host

I haven't used a digital thermomiter, but I will pick one up... I have 2 small round thermomiters that I have on each side of the tank to measure temp... we do have an uth on one side and a cooler side, he goes back and forth between the two sides as he likes.... the light that we have is a 50 watt sun glo, not 75 watt, sorry... it's resting on top of the cage, is not in the cage.... had him out today, seems to be doing great thanks for the help...

I have used light bulbs to heat my snakes for years. I have displays with light bulbs in the cage. A 15 watt bulb with a dimmer on it is what I use to heat one end of a 4 foot wide cage. It doesn't take much.

Keep an eye on 75 watt bulb. I assume that it is outside the cage sitting on a screen top? That set up makes it harder to heat the cage effectively.

Keep the light on a timer consistent with the day light and you should be fine. If you are also using an undertank heater, you don't even need the light. Normal daylight in the room is fine.

Milks will hide in substrate all the time. If the temps are right, I doubt the light has anything to do with it.

Good luck.

Dave

DNS Reptiles

Have you ever had any burns with the bulbs in the cages ?

Thanks

I use really low wattage bulbs (typically 15 or 25 max) and I have them on a dimmer so that there isn't really much wattage flowing through them.

I never see them coil around the light bulbeither. I think if you have the temps right and a temp gradient in the cage, they don't need to coil around the bulb and run the risk of getting burned.

Dave
Link

Okay thanks . I was looking at cages with bulbs inside (precision)but was going to add a bulb guard. Since plan not to go higher than 25 watt might opt not to use one.
They do look pretty bad .

What sort of Milksnake do you have? I've heard that several of the Mexican ssp are fond of cooler temps. I have a male '05 Nelsons that stays away from the warm side (82F) of his tank most of the time (except after meals). He seems to prefer room temp.

reako45

Posted by: reako45 at Tue Sep 26 23:38:18 2006 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ]

What sort of Milksnake do you have? I've heard that several of the Mexican ssp are fond of cooler temps. I have a male '05 Nelsons that stays away from the warm side (82F) of his tank most of the time (except after meals). He seems to prefer room temp.

reako45

MY ruthven king is same way . Over 81/82 and stays away from it . Even after eating seems to prefer 78 or so and only briefly . Summer I use ac as he suffers in heat .
I now keep warm side 80 rest tank cooler.
While my corn prefers 80s and loves summer heat .