Newbie Quesiton: Lights

[heidii]

G'day guys, just setting up my tank ready for my new addition. I bought a second hand white reptile enclosure:

here it is: REPTILE ENCLOSURE (eBay item 230580705742 end time 13-Feb-11 22:27:48 AEDST) : Lots More...

It comes with a therostate, 2 red lights which are just 60W red party lights and just a normal white viewing light. My question is, do snakes actually need a proper UV light or is a 60W party light all they need for warmth?....it gets quite warm under those red lights but i thought they would actually need UV?

 

[JAS101]

there is much debate about snakes needing or not needing a UV light , i dont use any uv lights in my snakes enclosures .
infact i dont use any day light in any of my enclosures , the only light thats in my snake room is daylight from the windows.
with any lights a light cage is a must , weather it be a heat light or a fluro tube.

 

[Cold-B-Hearts]

nope no uv is needed for most snake. reseach futher though what snake do you plan on getting i know dimond pythons DO require uv not sure on other spiecies but most do not.

 

[Gibblore]

I dont think it would hurt to buy one probaly 2.0 rateing pending on species, but it should be fine without, nothing wrong with trying both and see if the snake reacts to different tubes. Just a thought

 

[heidii]

I'm getting a baby Stimson.
JAS101 still abit confused, so what do you use for heat? a proper heat light?

 

[JAS101]

I'm getting a baby Stimson.
JAS101 still abit confused, so what do you use for heat? a proper heat light?

for heat in the enclosures i use a ceramic heat emitter [ duznt give off any light] for the click clack i use heat matts.

 

[syeph8]

nope no uv is needed for most snake. reseach futher though what snake do you plan on getting i know dimond pythons DO require uv not sure on other spiecies but most do not.

Diamonds requiring UV to prevent DPS was a theory that was disregarded a few years ago now. I still provide UV for some of my snakes, and don't for others. Short answer: UV is not necessary for diamonds but UV isn't going to hurt them and (if you are an evolutionist like myself) all terrestrial and arboreal animals have evolved in an environment with UV and have most likely developed a use for it. this does not make it necessary.

 

[dtulip10]

i have never provided any snakes with access to uv and have not had drammas ( i have never kept diamonds though).

i do provide a light in my snake shack on a timer for a photo period which i increase in summer and decrease in winter.

Cheers D

Sent from my GT-P1000 using Tapatalk

 

[shellfisch]

Your Stimson will not need UV, nor will it need a 'viewing light'

If your Stimson is very young - and it sounds like it is - it will really only need a heat mat or cord under one third of a plastic tub for several months. As a baby, the heat source should be on 24 hours a day.

 

[Chris1]

not sure if your new enclosure has cages around all those lights or not, but light cages are highly recommended to prevent ur snake from burning itself.