Too Much Light at Night?

[sunglow]

High All,

Our snake lives in a 10 gallon aquarium in our son's room. A small lamp (15 watt bulb) illuminates the room -- to keep the scary monsters away!

The light stays on all night. Can this produce stress to our snake?
The light is across the room from the tank, however there is always some source of dull light hitting the tank.

Should we place a cover over the tank, the way birdkeepers place a cover over a bird's cage?

Thanks in advance for your feedback !!!

Sunglow

[Kaz]

I have been reading 'The Cornsnake Manual' by Bill and Kathy Love, and I dont see anywhere where it says a corn needs darkness. But I think a corn needs a type of day and night, light and dark, warm and cool times, so this may suggest it being darker at night. Covering up the tank may cause over heating so maybe a dark sheet of paper stuck on the front of the tank to block out the light. Hope this helps.

[HaggasCheff]

You should provide a natural photoperiod for your snakes. Try to match this to the seasons if possible, longer in summer, shorter in winter etc. I suppose a snake could live out it's life in continual light, but all animals and people need periods of darkness for optimal health. When in doubt, emulate creation as much as possible.

You could consider a cover like for birds, but the question of heat buildup is valid. If you use heat tape, you should have a rheostat wired in and over a couple days you should be able to determine a safe temp level that you can maintain with a cover on the cage.

I generally let my temps drop 10 degrees or so at night, into the bottom part of the range even though I am able to close off my snake room. I keep my snakes in my office, and I have recently started shutting down all the computers at night as well, just to eliminate as much ambient vibration as possible. (one of my snakes shares a file cabinet with a CPU, probably not the best arrangement any way.) I know I love it when the house gets quiet at night, perhaps the snakes like a break also.

Another alternative is to provide a hide area (you probably have) but one that is dark. You could possibly create a doorway with some other piece in front of it. If you cut a doorway, leave it hinged on one side so it can flap closed partially. I like Bill and Kathy Love's suggestion of using a half piece of pipe like a paper towel tube that covers the entire temperature gradient in the cage so the snake can hide and decide to be warmed or cooled.