Quick lighting and heating questions

[sattva]

Every since I got into snakes I have believed that some sort of light was necessary if for no other reason to effect whatever circadian rhythm they might have... Here is my problem... I went to turn on all my lights which add a little extra heat on the hot side in the winter... and I stop to think, It's going to be 108 degrees today where I am... I have left the window to the room open for a week now... The room has been getting up to 80 degrees... So I thought I don't need added heat so I left them off; Then I turned on my what I call my cleaning light for them... It's a huge 300 watt spiral fluorescent bulb... and I thought they get light from the window... It's not much until the sunset... And then I thought why am I using any heat with them right now why not save on electricity... They hardly use the hot side in the winter... So what would you do if you were in my shoes? I'm sorry... It was longer than I anticipated...

[EctoJo]

If you're just looking for day / night cycle, you could illuminate the room in general with a few of the daylight LED bulbs which I think do a good job at replicating a natural light. They are also pretty energy efficient.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Yeah, LED lights would work just fine. You could let the sun do all the work if the room lets in enough light, but it just depends on how much light you get in the winter.

[TRD]

I tend to disagree... reptiles need a high surface temperature to digest and get their bodily processes going. Just turning off the heat because 80 F is hot enough isn't correct. They bask in nature on much higher surface temperatures typically provided in captivity because people tend to focus on ambient temperatures instead of surface temperatures. Even when using a temp gun they tend to measure their hot side right under the light and dial it back to the suggested ambient temperature for that species.

It is fundamentally wrong to confuse surface temperature on the basking area with required ambient temperature.

Go take your temp gun outside on a sunny day with a known ambient temperature and go shoot a piece of rock or whatnot laying in the sun.

My kingsnake that everyone's caresheet and their caresheet moms say should have a "hot side at 85 - 88 F"

My snake does nothing at that temp, nada.

Now I keep my hotside at 97 F, he's basking for hours now. He's more active (ie- reactive) than ever. More "snakey" in lack of a better word. I got to that temp simply by comparing real world temperatures between ambient temp and surface temp on different parts of the day (these were on late afternoon on a typical 83 F day, surfaces in the sun were about 95 - 97 F). Ambient is still in range of 80 - 82 F.

And it doesn't freak out the temperatures on the entire viv. The only reason why high surface temperatures aren't easily achievable in a closed space is because of ventilation. you provide ventilation, through an actual fan that gives you airflow, and all your heating problems go away as long as the room's ambient temperature is in check.

[bigsnakegirl785]

I tend to disagree... reptiles need a high surface temperature to digest and get their bodily processes going. Just turning off the heat because 80 F is hot enough isn't correct. They bask in nature on much higher surface temperatures typically provided in captivity because people tend to focus on ambient temperatures instead of surface temperatures. Even when using a temp gun they tend to measure their hot side right under the light and dial it back to the suggested ambient temperature for that species.

It is fundamentally wrong to confuse surface temperature on the basking area with required ambient temperature.

Go take your temp gun outside on a sunny day with a known ambient temperature and go shoot a piece of rock or whatnot laying in the sun.

My kingsnake that everyone's caresheet and their caresheet moms say should have a "hot side at 85 - 88 F"

My snake does nothing at that temp, nada.

Now I keep my hotside at 97 F, he's basking for hours now. He's more active (ie- reactive) than ever. More "snakey" in lack of a better word. I got to that temp simply by comparing real world temperatures between ambient temp and surface temp on different parts of the day (these were on late afternoon on a typical 83 F day, surfaces in the sun were about 95 - 97 F). Ambient is still in range of 80 - 82 F.

And it doesn't freak out the temperatures on the entire viv. The only reason why high surface temperatures aren't easily achievable in a closed space is because of ventilation. you provide ventilation, through an actual fan that gives you airflow, and all your heating problems go away as long as the room's ambient temperature is in check.

Didn't realize all other heat was being turned off...yeah always offer a hot spot/side. They should always have access to a variety of temperatures to aid in digestion and thermoregulation.

[TRD]

Thought so :)

[sattva]

Thanks guys! You guys never fail me on this forum.. Thanks again