best light for night viewing BRB in tub?

[dannybgoode]

Well said Andy

I think as well though its worth bearing in mind that English is not some people's first language and coupled with the fact some of our European neighbours are very straight talking means messages can come across quite terse when that is not necessarily the intent.

Even as a plain talking Yorkshireman I am sometimes a little take aback by replies I get from my friends on the continent as what may seem rude to us simply isn't meant to be.

[Andy_G]

Of course, Danny. Hence my "possibly read wrong" statement, and also something for the original poster to certainly keep in mind.

[akane]

If you do led since it lacks nearly all heat and uses individual little bulbs it's quite easy to alter with a low tech solution of electrical tape over the extra bulbs and it won't melt on so then the leftover sticky is easily removed with most anything stronger than only water. It works on the ropes, multi-led disks, if you have a bulb that does not have the individual leds covered by an extra layer, and some flashlights. Many flexible ropes are also marked to be cut about every 3 bulbs and then you cap the end again or you can splice cuts together with connectors bought separately so they are quite useful to get very specific lighting but you have to watch your ac adapter power when modifying the number of bulbs pulling power.

[purplephilia]

Originally Posted by akane

If you do led since it lacks nearly all heat and uses individual little bulbs it's quite easy to alter with a low tech solution of electrical tape over the extra bulbs and it won't melt on so then the leftover sticky is easily removed with most anything stronger than only water. It works on the ropes, multi-led disks, if you have a bulb that does not have the individual leds covered by an extra layer, and some flashlights. Many flexible ropes are also marked to be cut about every 3 bulbs and then you cap the end again or you can splice cuts together with connectors bought separately so they are quite useful to get very specific lighting but you have to watch your ac adapter power when modifying the number of bulbs pulling power.

Thanks for the ideas! Much appreciated.

And thank you Andy and Danny for the cool heads.

[SerpentineDream]

What about this? It's a small blue LED light bar designed for use in aquariums (which I've used it for) as a night light for fish so that you can view them while allowing your diurnal fish to sleep and your nocturnal fish to venture out. No transformers or linking, it just plugs into the wall. You could drill a hole in the tub for the cord and mount it inside near the rim. Rather than relying on the suction cups in a dry environment I'd probably secure it with strong Velcro tape.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00X8...quarium+lights

FWIW I use dim red or purple/blue moonlight bulbs in my snakes' cages at night. It doesn't appear to disturb them at all. The diurnal snakes still go to sleep and the nocturnal ones still come out. The crepuscular ones still come out in the early evening and turn in later at night.

[akane]

Those are convenient they just cost the equivalent of getting 6' of rope and cutting it where you want it or doing something temporary so you can use it elsewhere later and they tend to be nearly as bright as what some of my crested gecko tanks are running during the day if they don't have plants. Ropes also come with the ac adapter all lights need and plug straight in if you don't get the big rolls and you only need to change it if you splice the to run more lights. That and the ways to apply the very flat profile is why I mentioned them over the bars.

[purplephilia]

Originally Posted by SerpentineDream

What about this? It's a small blue LED light bar designed for use in aquariums (which I've used it for) as a night light for fish so that you can view them while allowing your diurnal fish to sleep and your nocturnal fish to venture out.

That looks promising!! Is this the exact one you've used for your aquarium? Do you think it's dim enough for a snake enclosure?

I've been using a mini incandescent MagLite to look in on Incêndio and it doesn't seem to bother him, but the thing is it's small so I have to move it around to find him. So I was considering a lamp type light (or a strip like this) so I could see the whole enclosure (while peering through all the dang leaves).

I tested the regular blue LED I had gotten and managed to catch my little guy stretch out diagonally from his moist hide to his above-ground burrowing spot and he was staying still, so I turned it off and used my mini Mag and he had started moving and didn't stop when the light came on. So I definitely want a dim bulb or something that works with either a regular dimmer like my Fluker's lamp or an LED dimmer.

My BRB is from Cliff Earle/Living Gems Reptiles and I've asked him about lighting as well. He said a dim bulb is okay as long as it's not to be left on continually, but he wasn't sure about red vs blue, which was part of what I'm trying to find out too. I've read conflicting information about which color is best for snakes. In your experience does it seem like no difference?

P.S. I see in your signature you have CA red-sided garter snakes and I'm kind of jealous because they are so neat but I can't keep any because I live in CA.

[purplephilia]

Originally Posted by akane

Those are convenient they just cost the equivalent of getting 6' of rope and cutting it where you want it or doing something temporary so you can use it elsewhere later and they tend to be nearly as bright as what some of my crested gecko tanks are running during the day if they don't have plants. Ropes also come with the ac adapter all lights need and plug straight in if you don't get the big rolls and you only need to change it if you splice the to run more lights. That and the ways to apply the very flat profile is why I mentioned them over the bars.

So the ropes are dimmer? Do you/have you used ropes too?

[purplephilia]

Originally Posted by dannybgoode

You'll be surprised, given the right setup, how visible he'll be in the day. Nocturnal doesn't necessarily mean hidden away and most nocturnal animals are somewhat active during the day (think cats).

Also most snakes (BRB's included) are not truly nocturnal but crespula and putting lights on at night can be very disturbing for the snake.

Hi Danny I was thinking about this and I wondered do you have nocturnal snakes? I'm curious as to do you just never look in on them? Or do you just use the room's light?

I mean this with genuine curiosity, no snark or attitude.

[SerpentineDream]

That's the same one I've used only smaller. I found it to be disappointingly dim for a large aquarium but since you want dim that might be a good thing.

The bulbs I use for the snakes are heat bulbs. Some of them like it a little warmer than I keep the ambient temp so I use them for supplemental heat. Blue moonlight burns cooler for those that just need a few extra degrees, red night light burns hotter for the real heat seekers. I haven't noticed a difference in activity between red and blue colored light. Both are designed not to disturb your snake's sleep patterns. I use the lowest wattage that does the trick.

[akane]

Originally Posted by purplephilia

So the ropes are dimmer? Do you/have you used ropes too?

I posted my use of ropes for a few situations. I don't use them as much for reptiles yet because I haven't bought a large enough rope for many of my tanks. I did run a full 6' length around the top of a 10g that didn't need heat for a dekay's brown snake which was bright enough to view in daylight but still not that much without lighting into the room any in evening and it was white leds. I don't think I have a pic without flash cause my camera always blurred without flash regardless of light. That's a lot more length of led than a bar. As I said I use 3' (3' covered in electrical tape so I can reuse the 6' again if I want and the length makes it reach the outlet easier with the cord it came with) of white led as a night light for my doves to not spook in the dark and that's in my bedroom.

[dannybgoode]

Don't use blue light at night. Blue light is very disruptive to pretty much all animals at night regardless of whether they are crespula, nocturnal or dinural. If you absolutely must use a light then red or very dim white light.

@purplephilia - nocturnal does not mean hides during the day, simply active at night. There are tons of nocturnal animals that bask during the day and rest out in the open. They then become active at night. I'll dig a link to the post out that I wrote the other day that showed all my snakes, all of which are notionally nocturnal, basking under their uv light.

My boa, carpet and olives in particular are very rarely hidden during the day although they have plenty of options to do so. Having naturalistic vivs helps enormously in triggering natural behaviours and is one of the reasons I spend so much time on it.

At night I leave them completely alone unless feeding or giving them a quick check if I'm late in from work (I have a long commute). The night is their time, their domain and they don't need some human gawping at them. As I say honestly I see them plenty during the day - they are often on show.

One other point is that most snakes are crespula and not true nocturnal; crespula meaning most active during dawn and dusk. By putting a light on at night the snake thinks it's dawn or dusk and is active for linger than it would be.

Finally humans are particularly rigid about being active during the day and sleeping at night. In the wild many animals are somewhat active at all times. Don't forget even the domestic cat is deemed nocturnal and they a) sleep out in the open and b) show some activity in the day also.

[dannybgoode]

Here we are. 'Daytime' and all on view

http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/new-f...on-please.html

[akane]

Humans are only rigid about daytime sleep because of imposed artificial schedules. The natural schedule of a human with no obligations who doesn't force themselves to adhere is actually not that rigid at all. Humans are also designed for closer to a 25hr day instead of the 24hr day chosen (which is not entirely accurate either or we wouldn't need leap day). Everyone is attempting to reset their brains every night. Most of the US suffers some level of sleep deprivation from attempted artificial schedule conflicting with preferred physical schedules.

[Shauna0522]

Originally Posted by purplephilia

You have no clue what his tub looks like. He is not "stuffed", he is a BABY and he has PLENTY of room, 3 hides, a large water tub, 2 places to hang out above the floor, two corners with leaves to feel sheltered, branches for climbing, and leafy vines circling the entire tub. As a matter of fact his tub is so nicely decorated that it's actually nearly impossible to spot him through it all from outside the tub--so I probably don't even need to bother with a light anyway. All of this while his temperatures remain perfect and his humidity stays steady at 99%. Have you never heard what happens when you ASSume?? Well you guys did that just fine even before you made wrong assumptions.

But thank you very much for taking your time to help me out with a simple question and welcoming a newcomer to this forum. And people wonder why reptile keepers get a bad rap.

I use a black light to view mine at night but I'm not sure if that would work through the plastic. It sounds like you have a nice setup to bad you can't see through it. 😃