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Lighting Question

Neonate

Neonate

Snake Lover
The room I have my snake in gets pretty cold, so I have been using a UTH and a light on it since I got it. When he was smaller, I had this wonderfully stupid light setup: I had a screen top, half open, and clipped the light to the top of his tank and pointed it to the wall. This made the temperatures near the top of the substrate at about 81 - 86 degrees on the warm side (plus the UTH was warming it from below). I've posted a picture of my new setup, with the tank on it's side so my growing little guy has more room (I want to buy him a stick to climb on soon, and the old way would have been too crowded). I didn't know what to do with the lamp so I figured it would be okay to leave it off because I thought the UTH would keep it warm enough, but I fed him 2 and a half days ago, usually he would be crawling around by now, and would have pooped once, but he hasn't moved from being curled up in his hide on the warm side since Wednesday (I know he isn't dead because he changed position a little bit). So last afternoon after seeing that the temperature in the middle of the substrate (not on the glass, but not on the top of the substrate either) was at 78 degrees, I put the light back up, as you can see in the picture. The lamp is clamped to the dresser I have him sitting on. There are two problems with that:
1. Every time I open the sock drawer I bump the light and I have to reposition it.
2. I am worried that it isn't held on tight enough and might fall on the floor and catch something on fire.
Sorry for typing so much, I just wanted to give you guys all the information so that you wouldn't have to waste your time posting more questions for me. :)
Can you guys give me any suggestions? This is my first snake and I don't want to do anything to hurt him.
 

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you might want to try getting a light stand. also what type of uth are you using like the size and wattage, and how bigh is the viv.
 
lplasc said:
you might want to try getting a light stand. also what type of uth are you using like the size and wattage, and how bigh is the viv.
Click to expand...

Where would I get a light stand? The viv is a 20 gallon. The UTH is 7 watts, and the size is for the 10-20 gallon tank.
 
First off, I would be concerned about the temperature on the glass as opposed to the temperature on top of the substrate. You want to put your probe directly on the glass above the UTH to determine the temps and set it to be around 85ish. Since lights are not necessary for snakes development, I'd suggest not using it at all, the UTH will put out more than enough heat to keep him warm and the lights will reduce humidity levels necessary for easy shedding.

You'll also need if you don't already have one, a rheostat or thermostat to keep from cooking him. A full powered UTH can easily get to 100+.
 
Thanks for the help! I just checked the temp on the glass above the UTH and it got to 92.1 degrees. So this is my plan: I'll go out today and get a thermostat, set it to 85 degrees, and then only use the light while he is digesting. I am just afraid to not use the light at all because the hide that he stays in while he is digesting is less than 78 degrees during the day, and this is the temp before lowering the temp of the UTH, I'm not sure how cool it gets at night. Does this sound safe? Thanks again!
Jenny
 
Neonate said:
Thanks for the help! I just checked the temp on the glass above the UTH and it got to 92.1 degrees. So this is my plan: I'll go out today and get a thermostat, set it to 85 degrees, and then only use the light while he is digesting. I am just afraid to not use the light at all because the hide that he stays in while he is digesting is less than 78 degrees during the day, and this is the temp before lowering the temp of the UTH, I'm not sure how cool it gets at night. Does this sound safe? Thanks again!
Jenny
Click to expand...

The UTH is great for heating the glass under the substrate, but they are lousy for keeping the ambient air temperature at the appropriate level.

There are two trains of thought 1) ambient air temperature isn't important, or 2) it is. I happen to think it is.

I use a UTH and a light on both of my tanks. I set the UTH so the glass temp is 85-90 degrees. I set the light so the ambient air temps under the light is around 85 degrees. I use an incandescent black-light bulb which puts out little light, but some heat. That way, I can leave it on 24/7 without disturbing the night cycle. When my snakes eat, they have the option of lying on the glass under the substrate, or climbing their perch and lying under the heat light. Almost invariably, they bask on the perch.
 
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