Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Last night I had to move my snake enclosure into my bedroom since my landlords were coming to fix something. I decided that I didn't care for the lamp shining in my face when I was trying to sleep so I put in a black light bulb and discovered that my P. regius fluoresces! He/she is a normal but I wonder what the piebalds and albinos looklike under a black light? I bet it's pretty cool.

i could be wrong, but aren't black lights harmful to reptiles?

-Matt

>>Last night I had to move my snake enclosure into my bedroom since my landlords were coming to fix something. I decided that I didn't care for the lamp shining in my face when I was trying to sleep so I put in a black light bulb and discovered that my P. regius fluoresces! He/she is a normal but I wonder what the piebalds and albinos looklike under a black light? I bet it's pretty cool.

-----
perfect7.com - Website Design & Development
1.1 Leopard Geckos ("Owen" - normal & "Wee One" - patternless)
0.1.1 Ball Python (both normal: Monty & Musota)

I'm not sure I've read some where that using them was ok. A little help here? I'm not too concerned because the snake is in a hide at the moment and I'm only working a half day so I can go homeand turn it off if necessary.

hello
i know whith corn snakes it is harmfull to the reptile if it is over exposed to black lights i would only assume that it would be for other snakes also but not 100%

I looked on the web, and found this. Hope this helps?

"Some types of black light are used for special effects in discotheques. This type of lamp is of no use to reptiles. Other types are used for various industrial purposes, for example, in sterilizers. This type of lamp can be positively dangerous to living creatures, including humans, as they emit UV-C which can cause skin cancer and eye-damage. The only "black light" which is of any use to reptiles for D3 synthesis are those specified as "BL" types. These emit both UV-A and UV-B radiation at a relatively high level. They have been used successfully with many species of reptile, but high output UV-B full spectrum types are generally preferable. Black lights tend to emit an unpleasant violet glow, and provide no "daylight" frequency light whatsoever. They should therefore only be used in combination with a true full spectrum tube. As FS tubes with sufficiently high UV-A and UV-B outputs are readily available, black lights are now largely redundant. For general use, they are not recommended. There may be highly specialized applications where their use is justified. An alternative "black light" is now on the market aimed at simulating moonlight for nocturnal reptiles. This should in no way be confused with the true UV black lights described above. "
-----
1.1 Ball Python
0.0.1 corn snake
1.0 Bearded Dragon
0.0.2 fish
1.2 cats
3.1 kids
1.0 husband

Ok I went home and looked at the bulb yesterday. It's meant for consumer household use and obviously is not a UV sterilizer, which I knew what was anyway since I work with them daily and know that they are bad for most living things. The bulb I have doesn't emit anymore UV than a "normal" lightbulb but is painted with a special coating so that what does get emitted is CLOSE to UV(as it says on the box) (which we don't really see anyway). So with my present understanding of snake physiology I do not think it is harmful. Could somebody correct me if I'm wrong please.