Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, I have a california king snake and I plan to get a cage from customcages.com, anyway I planned to put a night light on the inside of the cage as well as a flourescent for viewing... anyway i know the night light gets hot and i don't want my snake to burn himself on it... where can i buy the mesh cages to go around these lights or is this not a common enough problem?

If anyone has heard anything about these cages or has one let me know how they are working out for you...

thx for the advice...

Three letters...

L.E.D. - They are cheap (2 bulbs at home depot for $4)

They run very cool, and cost almost nothing to run.

I bought this 12 volt LED bulb off ebay for 10 bucks. It has 37 super bright white lamps inside.

12 volts means the snake can never get shocked, LED no burns.

Another option is, go to a junkyard and pick up 2 matching dome lights from a car or SUV, install LED bulbs, cut out ports with a jig saw, and install the dome lights. Done with care would make a very nice unique box.

Adapter transformers are cheap at radio shack, a small 12 volt pack like one for an answering machine works fine.

Good luck,
Wayne A. Harvey
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1.2.9 Storeria dekayi Casper, Xena, Athena, & Kids
0.0.2 Thamnophis marcianus - Checkered Garter Snakes
0.0.1 Thamnophis sirtalis - common Garter - Princess
0.0.1 Nerodia sipedon - Water Snake - "Aqua"
0.1.10 Storeria occipitomaculata - Red Belly snakes
0.0.1 Amelanistic Corn Snake "CY" Juvinile CB
0.1.0. Pueblan Milk snake "Oreo" adult CB
1.0.0. ASIAN GREEN SNAKE 3' WC Cyclophiops major
0.0.1. Savannah Monitor "CHOMPER" CB
0.1.0. Green Anole "Crystal" WC
1.0.0. K9 "ACE" Black Cockapoo
1.2.0. Feline"Felix" "Kaja" & "Silver"
0.1.0. calico RAT
2.4.?? Mice - Feeder farm - Crickets / fish
More herps than I could ever list out back on the land.

Do you mean a night light so you can see him, or a bulb to provide heat at night?

If you mean a night light, he would probably prefer that you skip it.

If you mean a bulb for heat, yes snakes geting buned on them IS a common problem. Much better to put it in a hood on top of the cage if you can't find a cover that you're SURE he can't get into. What works best will depend on your cage...
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What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.

Good point I never thought beyond illumination.

With all of the other heating devices, I forgot..

My Milk and Corn are both nocturnal mostly, and seem just fine with a couple LED lamps simulating moon light. I turn them off when I go to bed.

Peace,
Wayne

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1.2.9 Storeria dekayi Casper, Xena, Athena, & Kids
0.0.2 Thamnophis marcianus - Checkered Garter Snakes
0.0.1 Thamnophis sirtalis - common Garter - Princess
0.0.1 Nerodia sipedon - Water Snake - "Aqua"
0.1.10 Storeria occipitomaculata - Red Belly snakes
0.0.1 Amelanistic Corn Snake "CY" Juvinile CB
0.1.0. Pueblan Milk snake "Oreo" adult CB
1.0.0. ASIAN GREEN SNAKE 3' WC Cyclophiops major
0.0.1. Savannah Monitor "CHOMPER" CB
0.1.0. Green Anole "Crystal" WC
1.0.0. K9 "ACE" Black Cockapoo
1.2.0. Feline"Felix" "Kaja" & "Silver"
0.1.0. calico RAT
2.4.?? Mice - Feeder farm - Crickets / fish
More herps than I could ever list out back on the land.

i am assuming that you are talking about a light for heat. if so, i (and most others) would recomend a heat pad for snakes, NOT a lamp. you can buy these at any pet store. or, you can do like i do, and use human heat pads. these are cheaper and safer and have a built in temp. adjuster. any pharmacy and most supermarkets or wal-marts have them.
check out some info on-line about the pros and cons of the different heating methods.
customcages.com also has an "Additional Cord Grommet" option on their cages specifically for adding things inside the cage like a heat pad. i hope i helped, good luck!

if you are looking for a night light for viewing the night glo bulbs from exo terra are designed to simulate moonlight and not put off much heat. they come in many different wattages as well as the traditional bulb shape, or the tube shape for a slimmer profile. I use these exclusively and have noticed that my snakes pay no attention to them whatsoever, however with other colored bulbs (as snakes are color blind) light is light, even a 25 watt (night light) is still 25 watts of light and the snake registers is as just another light source. I have had some success with LED's too for some reason LED's don't bother snakes at night as much as incancesdents do if i need to look closely at a cage at night i'll use an led flashlight and it doesn't seem to disturb the snake. a regular flashlight will cause the snake to move away or give some indication of irritation. IMHO YMMV
cheers
Mike
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..1 Jayne "The Hero of Canton", Ball Python
..1 Edmund Slackbladder, Mexican Kingsnake
..1 El Diablo "They haven't built a cage I can't get out of" Pueblan Milksnake
(Currently serving 25 to life in a Maryland Supermax
______________________________________________________

Me; And finally monsieur a wafer thin pinkie
El Diablo: blaggh
Me: ah sir its only 1 leetle pink one
ED: ahh, sod off! I'm full
Me: ah sir hmm? its only wafer thin?
ED: bah! i couldn't eat another thing I'm absolutely stuffed. bugger off!
Me: ah sir, sir just ...just one......?
ED: ok just one
Me just the one.
Me: voila!
Me: bon appetite!.......