Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am just curious on what kind of lights everyone uses, I want new ones but just don't know which ones I should get. Thanks!

King snakes do not really require over tank lighting or UVB, so it's really your choice on what light you would like to use..

~ Mike

My husband has been using only over the tank heat lights to heat the tank, since no one does this I went out today and bought an under the tank heater that I put on the bottom of the tank, my concern is my baby getting burned, how to I prevent this? I also bought one of those cords that I can control what ever I plug into it and a digital thermometer, I know this sounds dumb but how would I use all these together? I just am really worried about my baby getting burned. Oh and the substate we have been using is called Eco Earth by Zoo Med, our reptile shop said it was the best to use so I don't know if that is going to make a difference.

Here's what I do. The undertank heater is on the right side here. I put a piece of reptile carpet down. You can put it down over the entire tank, but I just have a smaller piece right over the UTH and it is taped down securely. Then I put aspen on top of that. The probe for my thermometer is on top of the aspen but inside that hide on the right side, and I have that on a dimmer switch. I monitor that and adjust accordingly. If I can't get the temp warm enough when the dimmer is all the way up, then I go inside the hide and thin out the aspen a little bit until I can get the temp where I want it.

On this larger tank, the stand it sits on does not have a top, so the UTH on this one disipates a lot of heat downward. I think if it was on a table it would heat the tank more efficiently, but since it doesn't, I sometimes use a small red bulb for some extra heat in the winter on this tank. The probe is in the same place and if I don't need the extra heat, I just turn it off.

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1.1 Florida Kingsnake
1.0 Kisatchie Cornsnake