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Light questions and issues

H

hector.4191

New member
Hi guys so I just got my little one not too long ago, I have a big 40 galling vivarium, 3 hide spots, a water bowl, some decoration and so... it came with a uvb light and I'm aware that that doesn't help them at all, I also got a basking bulb, my reptile store recommended me a 50watt bulb to have on the warm side, because they said that since it's a wooden vivarium they didn't recommend a heat mat because it could burn the cage so a bulb would be safer... anyways, whenever I leave the light on the temp on the vivarium goes really high, all the way to almost 110f and I'm aware that it should be high 80s tops, I don't know what kind of light I should get, I'm not home most of the day to turn it on and off to regulate it, so I would really appreciate your advice I wanna give him a nice home!

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That's how the vivarium looks before I set it up, I have aspen as the flooring.


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You can use one of the thermostats to help with the temperature but the down side to that is the bulbs aren't made two be turned off and on all the time
You can maybe try a heat emitter with a thermostat



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That's too hot for a corn snake. it should be 82 to 85 tops where the snake is.

Also, you have an amel (albino) there and there is evidence that they can be blinded by too much UV light. If I recall it was UVB that was the culprit. Snakes do not need UV like lizards do so i'm glad you are not using it.

If you need to use something overhead to heat have you looked into a ceramic heat emitter on a thermostat? You need heat on the warm side day and night. If you need light on a timer for a day-night cycle, I recommend a 40 watt equivalent daylight color LED bulb.

Welcome to the forum and best wishes. Until you are going to feed your snake, your normal 70-75 room temperature should be fine. It is better for them to be too cold, within reason, than too hot.
 
Would you be able to provide maybe the link into what I should get? I usually buy my stuff on amazon


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Not using them myself, I hesitate to recommend a particular one. Just search ceramic heat emitter on Amazon and you will see there are a variety of them. Since you only need to raise the air temperature by 10 to 15 degrees you probably don't need a very powerful one, but I don't know.

All I can suggest at this time is to do what I would do and spend a little time googling. I also know you need to be careful in choosing the fixture you use so it won't overheat and start a fire. I'm sorry I can't be of more help, but I don't know enough about it.
 
Someone recommended a less wattage bulb, like a 25, should I give that a try? I live in a warm area already


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a heat mat will never start a fire or burn anything if it's properly regulated with a thermostat.

Any Heat source should have a thermostat including heat lamps, bulbs, etc. They are more likely to start fires as most bulbs get hotter than the heat pads do.

A typical heat pad (unregulated) will hit 95 to 150 degrees depending on brand and size. A bulb on the otherhand gets so hot if you touch it, you get blistered instantly. (400 degrees or more).

Most corn snake owners frown on bulbs and opt for a heat pad with a thermostat. The fact your cage is made of wood makes no difference.
 
Hey Karl I appreciate the help, how can I set it up with that type of vivarium? I know people usually stick it to the crystal bottom and I thought that was the reason why I had to get a light


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I'd just place the heat pad under the tank bottom as usual. No need to worry about fire as wood requires over 350 degrees to combust. However, you still need a thermostat for the health and safety of the animal.

Because of the material and thickness, you may have to "fiddle with" the adjustments for a while to get it right. Use a hand held infrared point and shoot digital thermometer to take temperature readings inside the cage directly over the heat pad. Give the pad a few hours to heat up and take your samples. You want the temp to read about 85 degrees, a degree or 2 up or down is no problem. You might have to set the thermostat to 95 or 100 degrees (perhaps even higher) to accomplish this.

As long as you're using a good reliable thermostat you should have no problem.
 
Karl_Mcknight said:
a heat mat will never start a fire or burn anything if it's properly regulated with a thermostat.

Any Heat source should have a thermostat including heat lamps, bulbs, etc. They are more likely to start fires as most bulbs get hotter than the heat pads do.

A typical heat pad (unregulated) will hit 95 to 150 degrees depending on brand and size. A bulb on the otherhand gets so hot if you touch it, you get blistered instantly. (400 degrees or more).

Most corn snake owners frown on bulbs and opt for a heat pad with a thermostat. The fact your cage is made of wood makes no difference.
Click to expand...

In the case of wooden vivs, there is a significantly greater risk of fire if there is not a sufficient air gap between the mat and either the underside of the viv or the surface it's placed on. This is because wood is a fair bit more insulating than glass or plastic and can trap heat much more quickly if not properly ventilated. In the (albeit unlikely) event of a thermostat failure, this becomes a significant risk.
 
Dragonling said:
In the case of wooden vivs, there is a significantly greater risk of fire if there is not a sufficient air gap between the mat and either the underside of the viv or the surface it's placed on. This is because wood is a fair bit more insulating than glass or plastic and can trap heat much more quickly if not properly ventilated. In the (albeit unlikely) event of a thermostat failure, this becomes a significant risk.
Click to expand...

I understand where you're coming from and agree in theory, but the physics still states that wood needs about 350 degrees to combust. Some of those heat pads get hot enough to be unsafe for an animal but I've never seen one reach 300 degrees even without a thermostat.

I have 2 of them in use right now and a third as a standby and I've checked all 3 by plugging them in for several hours and none of them hit over 127 degrees. In fact the smaller of the 3 only hit 106 degrees. (Of course I use a thermostat on any and all). Bulbs on the other hand will get hot enough to start a fire. I have been blistered before just by touching a bulb for a split second, but I have never been even slightly burned by a pad.
 
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