Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Now that the sun is finally shining and the rain has passed we're having beautiful, clear sunny days! Of course, this is during a dry spell, so there are downsides to this... bleh, anyway! I have been taking my little lady Aurora (a snow corn) outside today to get some nice, natural rays. I was wondering how much I should do this? I hear it's absolutely great for them, but how much is too much? How much is the most beneficial? Right now I'm just easing in about 10-20 minutes a day. She stays in the basement with me, and the windows are kinda small so she gets only some sunlight. I'm also about to relocate her to my room (to her nice 55 gallon tank!) where there are NO windows So the sunbasking will most certainly be a daily thing! Should I stick a heat lamp on her and turn the undertank one off so she can get some light when she's in there? I was thinking maybe the best idea would be to leave the heat lamp on during the day, since it's so dark in there, then turn it off and turn the undertank heater on at night. Or is there any chance they make lights to imitate sunlight for reptiles?
Thanks much!
-Kimmaby
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purrhisswoofmeowblubsqueakneigh

>>corn snakes are basically nocturnal. They do not need or desire a lot of sunlight.
They are much more active after dusk.
They usually do their hunting after dusk.
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Draybars Snakes

would my snake prefer a night bulb during the day?
i guess he would also be thankful if i turned the flourescant light out during the day?

depends and depends.....I don't think the night time bulb will do anyhting at all for him since he will still be able to "see" the rays from the sun coming through windows etc. also, the daytime bulb won't effect him unless it is like BLINDINGLY bright because once again, the sun is out anyway... hope this helps!
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0.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1.0 Redtail "Kilo"
1.0 Ball Python "Road Hog"

>>depends and depends.....I don't think the night time bulb will do anyhting at all for him since he will still be able to "see" the rays from the sun coming through windows etc. also, the daytime bulb won't effect him unless it is like BLINDINGLY bright because once again, the sun is out anyway... hope this helps!
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I agree.
I turn on the lights when I get up in the morning and turn them off when I go to bed.
They are nocturnal but day and night light cycles are more natural.
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Corn snakes and rat snakes..No one can have just one.
"resistance is futile"
Jimmy (draybar)

Draybars Snakes

If I turned his lights on and off when I woke up/went to sleep, she would be waking up at like 1p.m. and going to sleep at like 4 a.m.
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0.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1.0 Redtail "Kilo"
1.0 Ball Python "Road Hog"

"I turn on the lights when I get up in the morning and turn them off when I go to bed.
They are nocturnal but day and night light cycles are more natural."

Makes sense to me. Timers are really cheap at Wal Mart or Home Depot if you have a weird schedule. And you can vary the timer each month or two to coincide with sunrise and sunset. Use a high CRI (color rendering index) bulb such as GE Reveal or similar in either incandescent or fluorescent, which mimics (more or less) the color spectrum of the sun. Give the snake good hides so it can choose whetheror not to expose itself to the available light.

i use a timer, it comes on at 6 am and goes off at 9, and i do change them each month

What about the sun basking? You know, how much, how often? How long? Eh? Eh? *bites nails*
Man, I need some pictures of my snake on here...
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purrhisswoofmeowblubsqueakneigh

your corn will NEVER sun bask.... they are nocturnal. The only time I can imagine a corn sunbasking is if the temp was in the low 60's
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0.1 Snow Corn "Hope"
1.0 Redtail "Kilo"
1.0 Ball Python "Road Hog"