Are infrared heat lamps safe for me and my snake?

[Praireboyfarmer]

I purchased an infrared heat lamp for my ball python because the other bulb (regular bulb) I had wasn't appropriate at night.

It's working great but the snake is in my bedroom where I spend a lot of time and will be sleeping and I have heard some nasty things about infrared lights. It's a 75 watt national geographic red infrared heat lamp bulb. It says for night time viewing and says it emits infrared heat waves. It does put off visible light but it's obvious not all of it is (by all rights a 75 watt should light up my entire room)

All heating equipment is sitting on the lowest setting my thermostat is capable of (I have no idea what wattage that is)

Is this safe for me and is this safe for my snake? I know asking a health question like this on a snake forum is inappropriate but I figure you guys might have some experience dealing with this stuff.

Thanks! and I do intend to get a ceramic heat emitter as soon as I have the money, but with buying everything I needed in the past week, I'm all tapped out.

[bigsnakegirl785]

From my understanding, at full power infrared can disrupt nighttime patterns of a snake that isn't used to it, because they can still see the light coming from an IR bulb.

If you put it on a dimmer and dim it a bit, it shouldn't bother them so much.

My ball python grew up with IR bulbs, so they don't bother him, he'll still come out and explore, but my boa constrictor had never been around one. So when I used an IR bulb to view his nighttime activities, he spent 24/7 in his water dish without ever leaving it for 5 days. If he had left, I would have seen his trails in the bedding. The very night I stopped using it he began exploring again.

So, if the snake is young it should be able to be accustomed to the light, and you can always dim the light so they can't see it as well.

[Praireboyfarmer]

From my understanding, at full power infrared can disrupt nighttime patterns of a snake that isn't used to it, because they can still see the light coming from an IR bulb.

If you put it on a dimmer and dim it a bit, it shouldn't bother them so much.

My ball python grew up with IR bulbs, so they don't bother him, he'll still come out and explore, but my boa constrictor had never been around one. So when I used an IR bulb to view his nighttime activities, he spent 24/7 in his water dish without ever leaving it for 5 days. If he had left, I would have seen his trails in the bedding. The very night I stopped using it he began exploring again.

So, if the snake is young it should be able to be accustomed to the light, and you can always dim the light so they can't see it as well.

If you would believe it, the day I put the infrared bulb on my Ball Python he spent all night out exploring his cage and spent most of the next day basking out in the open (versus in his hide). He doesn't go in his hide near as much.

The only issue is that when I woke up in my morning, the cage was sitting at 90 degrees on the hot side (that's ambient air temp) and that's with all my equipment dimmed down to the lowest allowable wattage on my thermostat. I think it's because at night my A/C quits running and so the air in my air (and consequently his cage) doesn't move as much.

[prairiepanda]

Are you sure you're using a thermostat and not a rheostat? What you're describing sounds like a rheostat, which just sets things at a certain power level regardless of temperature. They are often cheaper than thermostats, but I'd recommend you upgrade to a thermostat in the future. Thermostats have temperature probes on them, so rather than setting a power level you set the desired temperature, and the thermostat either adjusts the power level or turns the heater on/off(depending on the type) in order to maintain the temperature you have set. That way you won't have crazy temperature fluctuations when your A/C is turned on or off, as the thermostat will ensure a steady temperature in the enclosure.

[Praireboyfarmer]

Are you sure you're using a thermostat and not a rheostat? What you're describing sounds like a rheostat, which just sets things at a certain power level regardless of temperature. They are often cheaper than thermostats, but I'd recommend you upgrade to a thermostat in the future. Thermostats have temperature probes on them, so rather than setting a power level you set the desired temperature, and the thermostat either adjusts the power level or turns the heater on/off(depending on the type) in order to maintain the temperature you have set. That way you won't have crazy temperature fluctuations when your A/C is turned on or off, as the thermostat will ensure a steady temperature in the enclosure.

You're probably right, my bad. I can't get a thermostat as of yet because I'm literally tapped out. I have a few dollars to my name right now after purchasing everything I needed for the snake. But I keep a close eye on it and with small adjustments here and there I can keep it pretty steady (82 ambient) I stepped down to a 60 watt bulb today (from a 75 watt) so I can turn it down further at night which should keep it pretty steady (in theory)

I got a Zoo Med Moonlite bulb and he seems to love it.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Your hot side was 90F? Is that a problem? If you provide ball pythons with a hot spot, it should be 88-90F, otherwise they should have 85F ambients. Unless you meant the whole tank was 90F?

[prairiepanda]

You're probably right, my bad. I can't get a thermostat as of yet because I'm literally tapped out. I have a few dollars to my name right now after purchasing everything I needed for the snake. But I keep a close eye on it and with small adjustments here and there I can keep it pretty steady (82 ambient) I stepped down to a 60 watt bulb today (from a 75 watt) so I can turn it down further at night which should keep it pretty steady (in theory)

I got a Zoo Med Moonlite bulb and he seems to love it.

Since you have a rheostat you're fine for now. The thermostat can wait until you've got the money for it. Definitely a worthwhile upgrade, though. How are the temperatures doing in the cold end of the tank now that you've got the new bulbs?

[Praireboyfarmer]

Since you have a rheostat you're fine for now. The thermostat can wait until you've got the money for it. Definitely a worthwhile upgrade, though. How are the temperatures doing in the cold end of the tank now that you've got the new bulbs?

I apologize for the late reply. The ambient right now is sitting 82 all around it seems on both the hot and the cold side. I'm not sure if the new bulb is going to work though. Ever since I got it the temperature has fluctated wildly from 86 all the way down to 79 and it seems that sometimes no matter how much I adjust it I have very little control. Which sucks major. Some nights I crank it to the max and it barely rises above 80 and other I turn it down to as low as it will go and the temp won't drop below 85. It's working because the unregulated temp is 77 degrees (with no bulb). It makes no sense because I'm accounting for all external factors and I can't seem to find a cause. One positive about the new bulb is his humidity is fine (at 60 percent) and with the old infrared it was drying out really bad to the point I had to mist it almost on an hourly basis.

The snake has his heating pad though and he seems to be okay while I figure this stuff out. He's eating and hasn't seemed to be stressed out.

[prairiepanda]

Has the ambient temperature in the room been fluctuating, or is it constant? It's pretty normal for the room to be cooler at night and warmer late in the day, which would account for the fluctuations you're observing. A thermostat would compensate for that. But if the room temperature is constant...maybe you got a faulty bulb? You could try putting the bulb into some other lamp and monitoring the temperature in front of it to see if it's steady.