Do snakes associate warmth with light?

[dannybgoode]

Of course I come from a different school of thinking and would say whilst they do not *need* full spectrum lighting and uv they do benefit from it. All my snakes have uv and if you look at three photos in the 'my collection' post you'll see many of them basking under it - including the C hortulanus - very much a nocturnal animal.

[jjhill001]

Originally Posted by dannybgoode

Of course I come from a different school of thinking and would say whilst they do not *need* full spectrum lighting and uv they do benefit from it. All my snakes have uv and if you look at three photos in the 'my collection' post you'll see many of them basking under it - including the C hortulanus - very much a nocturnal animal.

Isn't the Hortulanus an amazon tree boa? I mean, its not like it's gonna crawl in a hole or something.

[Jim Smith]

My input is not needed here, but I felt the need to weigh in anyway. I agree with the statement that snakes are more likely to associate light with warmth than the other way around. One example that I had tends to support this idea. I had one of my Honduran Milk Snakes get out of a breeding tub where she was having a "date night". I located her pretty quickly behind a very heavy set of solid oak drawers that also had two of my enclosures stacked on it. I dreaded the thought of trying to move these drawers as they weigh about 250 lbs and would involve a lot of extra moving "stuff". I noticed that when I shined the flashlight on the snake she seemed interested in it. I placed the flashlight on the floor so that it shined behind the drawers on the snake. Sure enough, within a minute or two, she had come out from behind the drawers and was nosing all around the flashlight lense. I calmly reached over, picked her up and place her back in her enclosure. She was most definitely attracted to the light and I suspect she associated the light with warmth. Just my two cents worth...

[jjhill001]

Originally Posted by Jim Smith

My input is not needed here, but I felt the need to weigh in anyway. I agree with the statement that snakes are more likely to associate light with warmth than the other way around. One example that I had tends to support this idea. I had one of my Honduran Milk Snakes get out of a breeding tub where she was having a "date night". I located her pretty quickly behind a very heavy set of solid oak drawers that also had two of my enclosures stacked on it. I dreaded the thought of trying to move these drawers as they weigh about 250 lbs and would involve a lot of extra moving "stuff". I noticed that when I shined the flashlight on the snake she seemed interested in it. I placed the flashlight on the floor so that it shined behind the drawers on the snake. Sure enough, within a minute or two, she had come out from behind the drawers and was nosing all around the flashlight lense. I calmly reached over, picked her up and place her back in her enclosure. She was most definitely attracted to the light and I suspect she associated the light with warmth. Just my two cents worth...

Interesting experience Jim!