First time owning a snake, I could use some advice.

[anov229]

I just bought a 6 month old corn snake for my daughter as her first pet (my first snake/reptile). I have a heating pad for under the tank and I'm going to use a Repti-Glo 2.0 for lighting (unless someone gives a good reason not to). My question is, is there any red lights out there that don't produce a lot of heat so I can see her moving around at night? All the ones I've come across seem to be for heating, but the heating pad already has that covered and I don't want it to get too hot.

Thank in advance for the advice and sorry if I posted in the wrong section.

P.S. Any other tips, tricks, or things I should be aware of that you wish to share are also very much appreciated!

 

[Nanci]

Can you find red LED lights? Also, it doesn't have to be pitch dark for snakes to come out in the evening. Mine are out in normal evening home lighting.

 

[mishima25]

I have the viv in my room, the desk lamp is usually on and snakey comes out anyway. If you would like a softer light and can't find red LEDs, you can wrap a led with red chellophane paper. I have not used it for the viv, but it works great.

 

[Rigby & Marcy]

Make sure the heating is controlled by thermostat. A heat pad alone (and especially in combination with a warm light) can make things way hotter than ~89 degrees that is usually the warmest a corn should be exposed to.

If you don't already have one, many of us here use the Hydrofarm Jumpstart probed thermostat that you can buy on Amazon. Heat lamps aren't necessary for corns and often dry out their skin. For viewing purposes I agree with the above comments.

 

[Karl_Mcknight]

I generally don't worry about viewing the snake at night. I go to sleep and I assume he does too, although he may be throwing a party for all I know.

I do have a light to simulate daylight attached to a timer and I give him 12 hours day and 12 hours night. The light produces virtually no heat (I say virtually - any light creates heat) but it's not enough to worry about. He gets his heat from a heat pad set at 85 degrees.

Lights are not really necessary if you have a lot of room light. But the snake needs to have a measurable difference between day and night to keep his metabolism and system in check. (If he's in constant light all the time or constant dark all the time it's not good).

As far as the red night lights go - I've never used them. But if they produce too much heat you can raise them up high enough above the cage that the heat is not measurable, or........ you could just let the snake sleep and play with him again in the morning.