Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all,

I have heard several arguments over whether night time heat lamps can be unhealthy for snakes or not. My house can get a little chilly(during they day when the normal heat lamp and heat pad are on this is not a problem) but at night I've found it can be a bit much. So I was wondering if it is a bad idea to use a night heat lamp to keep the tempature stable during fall/winter nights?

thanks in advance for any help.

Most reptiles will benefit in a night time drop in temperature. Especially if the animal is from temperate zone.

If you leave the heating pad on and turn the lamp off you should have no problems. Its always a good idea to give the animals a night cycle. And even if the cage drops to below 70 the snake still has the heating pad so he can warm up a bit if he so desires.

If the snake is in an extremely cold room and you have a tropical species you could consider a ceramic "bulb" which produces heat but no light. Altough I wouldnt keep it quite as hot as you do during the day. For example if you provide a hot spot of 100 degree during the day a drop to 75-80 at night will do no harm and is most likely a good thing.

on caging. Any heat lamp can be controlled by a rheostat / dimmer either manual or auto. A heat lamp strategically placed and a cool side or cool area is a must with day time and or night time appliance. I prefer to use spot and or flood lights/lamps depending on the cage again and if screen top, a metal dome type of fixture with the ceramic or porcelain base , not the plastic. The downward heat exchange of the spot or flood will not heat the upper area but direct the heat down to the surface and by giving the reptile the thermo area of surface place and the reptile can can move from heat to cooler to thermo - regulate. Many cages can not make use of the ceramic heat appliances because of the simple 2 facts of > small cages = over heating, wood cages just not safe. I know there is a need for substrata heat for some reptiles but, I haver never ever had to use any of these ( UTH ) with my 40 years plus of keeping and breeding herps( heck, no UTH back 20 years ago ). One can purchase a spot or flood light from 50 to 150 watts. Remember the ads on the vapor bulbs on here. One very important suggestion on any heat type of appliance > thermometer and several in cage at heat side and cool side and even the one of the therm guns / devices for quick read out at any given time. Red light bulbs are un-seen by herps as far as not being brite ( as far as I have known on all species ). There is some controversy on black lights bulbs though.
-----
I may be old , cantankerous, crabby, and cynical, but......