I have a heat mat in my cornsnakes vivarium?

Question

What sort of bulb just for lighting would i need in there and would i need a cage to go round the bulb?

Answer 1

i use a normal 60 watt bulb and it seems to work just fine

Answer 2

You would need the very lowest wattage bulb possible as you dont want to unstablise the temperature gradient in the viv.It would need to go towards the hot end.This would allow the thermostat (which you should have your heat mat running through) to compensate for the extra heat and still keep the viv temp at what it should be.Yes all heat sources should be guarded to prevent burns.

Answer 3

You can use a regular incandescent light.  Put the bulb in a reflector shield on the outside of the vivarium if possible.  It could be very dangerous to put the bulb in the enclosure with the snake.

Answer 4

whatever bulb you use make sure it is away from the snake as it will go towards the heat and burn itself  i use a a flurecent tube light  up to about 80watts as they dont get really hot and dont hurt them i would use the same as me around 60watts