Reptile & Amphibian Forums

using christmas lights as a heating device? I know some snake breeders that use green and blue christmas lights on their rack system as thier heat source. they hang them above the rubbermaids, not touching anything, and I guess the green and blue give off just the perfect heat. But I would think that it would be some sort of fire hazard, but the rack is in their pet shop, so the fire marshall checks it out once a year. I don't know.. but it is cheaper than heat tape. Any imput?
~Angela
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2.2.0 Leopard Geckos (2)shct, (1) normal,(1) rainwater albino
1.0.0 Betta
2.1.0 Whites Treefrogs
0.0.1 Green Treefrog
1.0.0 Red eyed Treefrog
1.0.0 Huge Black Cat
0.1.0 Cocker Spaniel
0.1.0 Brittany
...Next on the list... a FEMALE RETF!!!

Uhhh -_- I wouldn't use it for leopard geckos, the wouldn't get hot enough and they wouldn't provide belly heat, and I would imagine it to be just as expensive if not more... not to mention bulb burnouts

how would it be more expensive...a string of christmas lights costs about $3...

oh also...if they're decent lights when one goes out the whole strand doesn't. could you provide belly heat by rolling up a strand (like a rug) and attaching it to the underside of one side of the tank/rack thing...lol? or would that get too hot for plastic or whatever?

I guess you could, seems like it would just be more work than it is worth... It would be uneven and you would have to use only one colored strands or I would imagine the multi colors would mess up your geckos...

I don't think its that much work to coil up a strand of lights so it lies flat...and I think that would give pretty even heat...as far as colors its not too difficult to get single colored strands...you can usually find those most of the year...the multicolored ones are the ones you can only find at christmas. Actually I think it sounds like a good inexpensive alternative to $15 or more heat pads for individual tanks. Also, I don't think I personally would have a problem with light colors (unless the different colors give off different heat?...) as I have dark colored substrate. My 20L has tiles, and the other two (soon to be 3) tanks/rubbermaids, have heavy brown construction paper (we had a lot at home and I thought it looked better than paper towels so I stole some...lol). If anyone knows of any reasons why using Christmas lights would be bad please let me know...it sounds like a great idea to me!

Have you looked into heat tape? It's cheap, easy to use, and was made to go under tanks. You still need a rheostat, but if you're heating a large number of tanks you can't get much cheaper.
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"The serpent crams itself with animal life that is often warm and vibrant, to prolong an existence in which we detect no joy and no emotion. It reveals the depth to which evolution can sink when it takes the downward path and strips animals to the irreducible minimum able to perpetuate a predatory life in its naked horror."
Alexander Skutch

I actually know nothing about heat tape...how exactly does it work and how do you set it up. Right now I don't have a large number of tanks (and probably never will...though I will probably have to get some sort of rack type setup for babies. As of next week though I will 4 setups...not anywhere near each other...so I don't think heat tape would be very practical for me right now...but I really don't know!

i tried lowes and they didnt have any.

www.beanfarm.com
www.bigappleherp.com

probably other reptile supply places.

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Sam
Gecko Den
Email Me

It's a little 'hands on', but I've got it on a couple racks, and I'm still alive. I think you pretty much have to order it on the internet or at herp shows.
FlexWatt heat tape

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"The serpent crams itself with animal life that is often warm and vibrant, to prolong an existence in which we detect no joy and no emotion. It reveals the depth to which evolution can sink when it takes the downward path and strips animals to the irreducible minimum able to perpetuate a predatory life in its naked horror."
Alexander Skutch

Christmas lights???? Are we serious here???? Heat tape is the way to go...... If you really see the need to put lighting in a rack for the day time try rope lighting......But that is not good as a permanant heat sourse..... You need to have your leos kept dark at night so you will need the heat tape..... Putting lights in a rack system is more of a cosmetic thing..... I would not be a very good heat source......

I have hung a string of Christmas lights up on my unit (holds 6 20 gal long tanks) but not for heat, more for the day/night schedule. They are all white lghts and yes they do give off some heat but definetely NOT like a heat lamp would.

Now that i'm going to group my girls together in one tank, i'm going to get one of those hoods that has a fluoresent bulb and sockets for heat bulbs. Some of the ones i've seen have separate switches so i could put in a night light into the 2 sockets and use the fluoresent as a day light.

I did try tube lighting in my unit but it didn't give off alot of light, even the christmas lights don't.......not enough to take pics through the glass without the flash that is. It was one of the reasons i put it up.

The X-mas lights are plugged into a timer thats on a power bar that is very sensitive and will blow before the fuse does. So far i haven't had any problems but i would NOT recommend the use of these lights for heating...the old style of bulbs, the big ones, instead of those little tiny light strings, do get pretty hot to the touch. Coiling up the roll might cause a fire in that the bulbs might touch the wire and eventually melt it.

I'll take some pics of my unit so you can see, but for heating a rack i'd go with heat tape for sure

Red
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Crested Gecko Zeek:1.0
LEOS: Boo: 1.0 normal , Bronx & Nala: 1.1 blizzard,
Lily: 0.1 patternless, Abby: 0.1 albino, Zoe: 0.1 reduced pattern, Dot: 0.1 hypo
Chip: 1.0 papillion (small dog)