Is the light i have to strong for a snake?

Question

i bought a kit that came with a light for night and 1 for day......but the temperature in my cage was to cold with just the one day light....soo i took the night light bulb out and put in a 100 watt flood light.....i was wondering if the light was to strong

Answer 1

The biggest thing you need to do is check temps with a thermometer. I dont know what kind of snake you have, but for most, high 80's to low 90's under the lamp are good, but you must make sure that the other end of the tank can remain near room temp, or you might overheat the snake. An Ideal snake cage for most species will have a temperature variation from mid 70's to low 90's.  

   It does not need to be as hot at night.

  I dont mess with those stick-on thermometers, I prefer ones that I can lay right on the bedding for several minutes at different spots to get more accurate readings, or a temp gun is even better.

  Cant tell you much more without knowing what type of snake you have, what the temps in your house are day and night, and what type of cage you are using.

   If its one of the combo hoods where the bulbs mount sideways, then a floodlamp will not work properly.  They need to point downward, as thats how they project the heat.

  Hope this helps.

Answer 2

As long as you have the heat regulated with a thermostat there is no heat light too strong.  Use a suitable 100 watt heat lamp made for reptiles.  Flood lights don't put out that much heat for the light intensity and pose a fire hazard as all heat lamps do.  Red tails do just fine with under tank heaters.  Heat lamps are not necessary.

Answer 3

If the temperatures on both sides are good for the species of snake you have I don't see any problem with it.

Just make sure you don't keep it on all the time because it would mess up the snakes day/night cycle and stress it out.