Lighting and blinding

Hey! So, my snake isn't an albino in the least, however, he has red eyes, and I was wondering if he'd be prone to blinding by a heart lamp bulb (I have a blue daytime bulb), and if so, what bulb should I use to prevent harm? Thanks!


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Good question, you obviously care about your pet. Do you have a heat mat or pad for a source of belly heat? A heat source on part of the tank's bottom is the most efficient way for corns to thermoregulate and also to digest food. Your snake doesn't actually need a heat lamp, nor do corns need specific UV lamps. As to your current light actually harming your snake, I am not aware of any data suggesting that this would happen.

If your snake has truly red eyes, your snake is an albino. I have a butter motley. Definitely one of the amel (albino) morphs. Snow is another red eyed morph, but not normally referred to as an albino.

I agree that a blue bulb is not a uv bulb. It is the uv, especially the uvb that may damage a red-eyed snake.

I do have a heating pad! Unfortunately it doesn't keep the hot side at the right temp.

Oh, so amel means it's an albino? My little guy is an amel. I'll post a picture. I'm still trying to figure out the world if corn snakes [emoji23]

Oh I'm so glad! Thank you both so much!


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Aw, what a cutie. Such bright, pretty colors for a youngster.

Don't apologize for any confusion about terms. There are so many, and the trade names add more layers to learn. "Amel" is/isn't "albino." The two are sometimes used interchangably. Sometimes you can see the term "red albino" for amel.

Part of the difficulty is because reptiles have more complex coloration than mammals. Amelanistic means lacking melanin, a dark pigment. An amelanistic mammal is white with pink/red eyes. But a snake with no melanin (amel) has plenty of color because it still has plenty of other pigments. Erythrins, for example, which produce red toned. "Anery" is short for "without erythrin." Make sense?

Thank you so much! I've been a bit stressed about everything, but I think I'm starting to understand better. Y'all are helping so much!

Ooooooooh that does make sense! Wow, that's really neat! So basically, he's not lacking in pigment, he just has a lack of, or potentially no, melanin specifically? Because he's a reptile and has different pigment biology of sorts than mammals?


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That's pretty much it. A prefix of a- or an- usually means "without." Your baby is without melanin but is brightly colored because of the other pigments. Reptiles and mammals have more differences than temperature regulation.

That's super neat! Thank you so much!


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Sorry I didn't get back here sooner. I was under the weather for a few days. Yes, in the corn snake world amel equals albino. Basically, any corn snake with bright red eyes, like your amel and my butter is a kind of albino. They have no melanin.

Your little guy is absolutely adorable!