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heat light
- Thread starter lian
- Start date
bmm
New member
lamp
Lights don't always work great for corns, but in any case you MUST use a thermometer with a light bulb or else you risk burning your snake. The temp only needs to be around 83-85 and a heat pad can acheive this easily.
The water dish can be less than an inch or so deep for hatchlings and my adults water dish is about two inches deep.
bmm
Lights don't always work great for corns, but in any case you MUST use a thermometer with a light bulb or else you risk burning your snake. The temp only needs to be around 83-85 and a heat pad can acheive this easily.
The water dish can be less than an inch or so deep for hatchlings and my adults water dish is about two inches deep.
bmm
pinatamonkey
Ophidiophile
From somebody who uses light bulbs:
Actually, in my experience, a 60-watt bulb is WAY too much for a 20 gallon tank. Depending on the temperature of the room, I'd try a 25-40 watt bulb. Test a couple out and see what works. Also, you don't need to use "Reptile" basking bulbs - regular house bulbs work just fine (unless you want them on during the night - then get a red or black reptile night light.) Just make a note that a 60 watt basking bulb will get hotter than a 60 watt normal bulb.
The bulb doesn't need to be guarded with a wire mesh - it sits on top of the lid, right? The screen top guards the bulb.
You NEED a thermometer with whatever you use. Heat pads also can burn your snake. I've used Zoo-Med heat pads before - they heated the tank floor up to 100+ degrees.
I haven't noticed anything significant about heat bulbs drying out the air. I measured the humidity out of the tank, and in the tank under the bulb and there was maybe a 4% difference. Not that much. I even use bulbs with my tree boa (aboreal, heat pads don't work very well), and he's had perfect sheds, even though they require 70+% humidity. If it gets too low, just mist a little.
The room where I have my corns stays around 78-80 degrees (the air conditioner can't get it any lower). So, I turn off the lights at night.
Another point: lights DO warm up the substrate, the same way the sun warms up the ground - from above.
Actually, in my experience, a 60-watt bulb is WAY too much for a 20 gallon tank. Depending on the temperature of the room, I'd try a 25-40 watt bulb. Test a couple out and see what works. Also, you don't need to use "Reptile" basking bulbs - regular house bulbs work just fine (unless you want them on during the night - then get a red or black reptile night light.) Just make a note that a 60 watt basking bulb will get hotter than a 60 watt normal bulb.
The bulb doesn't need to be guarded with a wire mesh - it sits on top of the lid, right? The screen top guards the bulb.
You NEED a thermometer with whatever you use. Heat pads also can burn your snake. I've used Zoo-Med heat pads before - they heated the tank floor up to 100+ degrees.
I haven't noticed anything significant about heat bulbs drying out the air. I measured the humidity out of the tank, and in the tank under the bulb and there was maybe a 4% difference. Not that much. I even use bulbs with my tree boa (aboreal, heat pads don't work very well), and he's had perfect sheds, even though they require 70+% humidity. If it gets too low, just mist a little.
The room where I have my corns stays around 78-80 degrees (the air conditioner can't get it any lower). So, I turn off the lights at night.
Another point: lights DO warm up the substrate, the same way the sun warms up the ground - from above.
Neil
Senior Member
I've got nothing against people using bulbs for Boas because that's the sort of snake they were designed for. I just think that using a bulb for a corn is a waste of energy as they do not have very high temperature requirements.
If a mat heats the viv too much then you use a thermostat, like they were made to be used with.
I meant to use a wire mesh if the bulb is actually inside the viv, not on the top. As long as it is guarded by something and the snake has no access to it, it's fine.
.
If a mat heats the viv too much then you use a thermostat, like they were made to be used with.
I meant to use a wire mesh if the bulb is actually inside the viv, not on the top. As long as it is guarded by something and the snake has no access to it, it's fine.
.
pinatamonkey
Ophidiophile
Actually, amazon tree boa temperatures aren't really different than corn snakes - 75°F - 85°F.
I mentioned about the high temps of the heat mat, because it was said that you needed to have a thermometer with the bulb, but nobody mentioned that the same was needed for a heat mat, and it could be misinterpreted to mean that a heat mat was the right temperature from the beginning - gotta be careful!
And about the energy - I don't think it's that much of a difference.
Here's the results of my calculations:
25-watt bulb: $10 lamp, 4x$1 bulb=$14 initial cost.
8-watt UTH (that's what my 20 gal Zoo-Meds are): $20 heater, $25 thermostat=$45 initial cost.
A 25-watt bulb costs $0.7074 a month to operate.
A 8-watt heat pad costs $0.2263 a month to operate.
The bulb costs $5.77 more to run a year, but the initial cost was $31 dollars less.
1st year cost:
Bulb: ~$22.50
UTH: ~$47.70
Second and on yearly cost:
Bulb: $12.50 (total $35, $47.5, $60)
UTH: $2.70 (total $50.40, $53.1, $55.8)
Right. I'm sure the figures are a little off (won't the thermostat lower the energy usage of the heat pad? and I'm not sure of how many bulbs are needed a year), but it seems to take 4 years before the light bulb becomes more expensive than a heat pad. It would take even longer if the light wasn't on all the time. BTW, the prices were computed using 3.93 cents a kWh. I'm not sure that's very accurate, but the basic idea is the same.
Did some more calculating: even if 9 bulbs a year are used, it's still cheaper the first 2 years.
If the bulb is only on half the time, using 4 bulbs a year, the price is cheaper until the seventh year .
I mentioned about the high temps of the heat mat, because it was said that you needed to have a thermometer with the bulb, but nobody mentioned that the same was needed for a heat mat, and it could be misinterpreted to mean that a heat mat was the right temperature from the beginning - gotta be careful!
And about the energy - I don't think it's that much of a difference.
Here's the results of my calculations:
25-watt bulb: $10 lamp, 4x$1 bulb=$14 initial cost.
8-watt UTH (that's what my 20 gal Zoo-Meds are): $20 heater, $25 thermostat=$45 initial cost.
A 25-watt bulb costs $0.7074 a month to operate.
A 8-watt heat pad costs $0.2263 a month to operate.
The bulb costs $5.77 more to run a year, but the initial cost was $31 dollars less.
1st year cost:
Bulb: ~$22.50
UTH: ~$47.70
Second and on yearly cost:
Bulb: $12.50 (total $35, $47.5, $60)
UTH: $2.70 (total $50.40, $53.1, $55.8)
Right. I'm sure the figures are a little off (won't the thermostat lower the energy usage of the heat pad? and I'm not sure of how many bulbs are needed a year), but it seems to take 4 years before the light bulb becomes more expensive than a heat pad. It would take even longer if the light wasn't on all the time. BTW, the prices were computed using 3.93 cents a kWh. I'm not sure that's very accurate, but the basic idea is the same.
Did some more calculating: even if 9 bulbs a year are used, it's still cheaper the first 2 years.
If the bulb is only on half the time, using 4 bulbs a year, the price is cheaper until the seventh year .
Last edited:
bmm
New member
Actually
My Amazon is kept with a hot spot of 90-92 degrees.
And another thing that is being forgotten when adding up costs: the lifttime of bulbs! Some bulbs last me less than four months, while some may go a year or two but not likely. My heating pads have lasted years so far. On a couple outlets I have run over 10 in a year before! But I ended up finding out they were bad bulbs. In the end as well...I have noticed the night light colored ones (blue and red) definitly don't put out the same amount of heat as they do when new. After a few months (6 or so) I find the run at a lower temp.
Just My Humble Opinion and Experiences.
bmm
My Amazon is kept with a hot spot of 90-92 degrees.
And another thing that is being forgotten when adding up costs: the lifttime of bulbs! Some bulbs last me less than four months, while some may go a year or two but not likely. My heating pads have lasted years so far. On a couple outlets I have run over 10 in a year before! But I ended up finding out they were bad bulbs. In the end as well...I have noticed the night light colored ones (blue and red) definitly don't put out the same amount of heat as they do when new. After a few months (6 or so) I find the run at a lower temp.
Just My Humble Opinion and Experiences. bmm