Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all!

I like to use heat bulbs as a 24-hour heat source. The just work best for me for many reasons. They keep a hot spot for the reptile available all the time, and the keep the cage to the right temps the way I have it set up. The problem is that some heat bulbs emit light that will be disturbing to a reptile.

I have been using some of the heat bulbs from Lowes or a local hardware that say "Infrared Heat Bulb" and come in 125 watt or 250 watt sizes. I use the 125, and it works great, but I fear the visible light could get to be a problem. They have red ones too, althought I am not sure if they come in 125 watt or not.

I am wondering if it is true that red lights are not disturbing to reptiles? I have heard some people say that they still are. Do you think these red bulbs would be ok to use? Also, I have never used ceramic heat emitters, do you think those would be better to use? Would I want to use the same wattage in a CHE to get the same effect?

Thanks a lot!
~Kyle

CHEs are nice because they do not emit light. The surface of a ceramic will get very hot however, easily hot enough to burn flesh if touched for more than a few seconds. It is important that the reptile will not come in direct contact with the bulb. Other than that, they are great, and reptiles seem to really enjoy the type of heat produced. I've used 60 watt CHEs connected to a lamp dimmer, for a ball python. It worked out wonderfully. That cage was about 14 inches tall, with a screen top, on top of which the reflector and CHE rested. If your cage is taller, you might need a higher wattage. If using higher than 60 watts of CHE, you should use a 10" aluminum dome reflector with ceramic socket. The 10" dia dome acts as a better heatsink than the smaller dia domes, so less heat reaches up into the socket, while plenty still reflects down into the cage.

As for reptiles not seeing red light, I certainly do not know, but I can't imagine that their eyes filter out all light even if on the red side of the spectrum. They must detect some glow I would guess, even if minimal.
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Mark

n/p