Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, my snakes has both an undertank heater and an large wat heat bulb on his hot side of the tank. The light has just burnt out and I can't get him a new one until tomorrow evening, anyone have any good tips on how to rig something that will do for the next 18 hours or so (will a reg lightbulb be okay for the day). Also my snakes eyes went cloudy and blue and are now back to normal yet he still hasn't shed (they finished clearing yesterday), is this normal and should he be shedding this week sometime? Thanks so much for whoever helps

The reptile specialty screw in light bulbs that claim to have UVB do not.. They just have fancy packaging and inflated price tags... So, if your going to use a bulb, which i don't reccomend in the first place with most snakes, a regular old lightbulb is fine.. all the time..

~ Mike Russo

No I have a actual UVB bulb, this bulb that has burnt out is strictly to raise the heat in that side of the tank because my house is REALLY cold (even with the undertank heater). So then a reg bulb should be okay for the night then?

Incandescent light bulbs do not throw UVB... EVER! But regardless, your snake does NOT require or benifit from UVB.. So, once again stop wasting your money and just begin using a regular old light bulb to increase the temp in your enclosure..

~ Mike Russo

In addition to what Mike already said, I've heard mention of lightbulbs, and heat, UV, but NOTHING AT ALL about a thermometer, or how cool/warm it ACTUALLY is!....first off, the important thing is getting an "accurate" temp with a thermometer down at the substrate, and inside the hidebox. Guessing at temps does NOT work, you have to KNOW what the temp is. So my advice would be to have a cool end at around mid 70's, and a warm end temp of 80-84 with a hide at each end. Remember, you MUST know the temps down at the bottom of the enclosure where the snake will actually BE.

best regards, ~Doug

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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

Yes I have two thermometers near the bottom of the tank during the day it runs about 83 or so in the warm end and usually 74-76 in the cool end. What I am worried about is if he will be okay overnight, without the added heat that my tank needs I know that the temperature is normal to drop overnight slightly, but it will be alot cooler tonight as it is 1 in the morning here and I can't get to a store until tomorrow evening. I can control the heat during the day when I am awake (as I can my house warms up), I'm just concerned because I think he is about to shed (due to the cloudy eyes he had and and he was less active)and I do have to sleep so I can't watch him over night. Sorry if I'm a pain in the ass just trying my best here.

I think if you put a towel over the entire enclosure, it will greatly help retain the heat from the heating pad you already have under it. Also, mist a few shots of some slightly warm water in there now, I have a feeling the humidity in your house is probably EXTREMELY low, and this can cause shedding problems. The snake will actually shed two to four days AFTER the eyes clear back up completely. Do this twice a day or so until it does shed. This will help a great deal.

~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

http://www.anapsid.org/uvtable.html

Here is a link to a paper writen by Melisa Kaplan titled Reptile Lighting, You may not be getting what you think you are buying...

This paper clearly explains what i have been trying to tell you.. Incandecent reptile light bulbs are just a scam... They claim to produce a "full spectrum" of light and some people confuse that with UVB and end up paying $7 or more for a overpriced blue light bulb in a fancy box..

If you read the fine print they will usually tell you somthing like the following:

ZooMed Zoo Med Daylight Blue Reptile Bulb (40-watt bulb box)
Made of true blue glass (not painted or coated) for better heat transfer. Can be used with Zoo Med's Reptisun 5.0 UVB Fluorescent lamp for proper calcium absorption.

So, what they are saying is that you will get pleanty of UVB if you buy the "5.0 UVB fluorescent lamp for proper calcium absorption" along with this overpriced plain old blue light bulb???

Now that's good marketing.. $7 for a light bulb that does nothing more than light up, i wish i would have thought of that!

I hope you get my point as to why using a plain old light bulb is 100% fine, good luck and please stop wasting your cash on this silly marketing scam!

~ Mike Russo

Mike and Doug gave you great advice, namely:

1. A regular incandescent bulb is fine.

2. If you limit the ventilation coming out of the top of the tank by covering it, and you raise the humidity inside, you may not need a light at all.

From experience, when you limit the ventilation on the cage top, adding a piece of Flexwatt or another heat pad on the side or back of the tank will help heat the air in the tank. Why use a 40 watt light for example and have much of the heat escape from the screen top?
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Mark