# Coloured lighting?



## sharky (Mar 23, 2013)

Hey guys,

Only a simple question.
Okay so I am starting to plan my DIY enclosures and I was just wondering if the colour of lighting mattered. I have a really nice black cabinet for my Spotted and I think a blue or purple LED would look super cool in there! I know that even though it looks cool it may not be the best for the snake. So I was wondering if I should ditch the whole idea of the colour LED strips and just stick to the white ones or doesn't it matter what colour the lights are? These are going to be there homes for the rest of their lives so I am making sure they are very comfy and the best for them.

Thanks guys


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## Ambush (Mar 23, 2013)

Red the snakes cant see so they think its still dark. Not sure on the rest.


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## reptilezac (Mar 23, 2013)

they don't see red or purple I don't think cause you can buy purple bulbs


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## HarleyD (Mar 23, 2013)

Sharky i've got a green L.E.D strip in one of my diamond tanks, and he seems to be just find, i have it on a timer though so its only on for a couple hours after dark...it 'cools' up the room a bit with a bit of subtle oxide green lighting for a couple hours =).. just dont over do it i think..and yeah only use it here and there so it doesn't mess with the snakes photo period too much


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## montysrainbow (Mar 23, 2013)

i use the bunnings party light bulbs  only at night though. I get the green, blue or red however i only use it for my own pleasure lol i often watch him at night 8)
during the day i found the white or yellow lights pretty with my old black enclosure.


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## someday (Mar 23, 2013)

I use blue because i prefer it over red. If its a black enclosure 1 of them cheap flood lights from Bunnings most of us use look great too and come in higher watts if needed.


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## Bananapeel (Mar 23, 2013)

What about those halogen ditroich or whatever that come in yellow, red, blue, green and whatever and I'm pretty sure the beams are coloured.


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## HarleyD (Mar 23, 2013)

Probably too hot added to the additional heat sources in there mate.


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## BIGBANG (Mar 23, 2013)

i use blue 40watt party globes from bunnings and they run on the thermostat, and run a white reflector globe as a baskind spot light, but will be changing to heat cord in my new enclosures when they are built


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## HarleyD (Mar 23, 2013)

Ambush said:


> Red the snakes cant see so they think its still dark. Not sure on the rest.



''Infrared'' man, They can still pick up a touch of red...the reason they struggly is because brilliant red is the closest thing to white, and their eyesite's slightly undeveloped.


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## Ambush (Mar 23, 2013)

Red not Infrared.. I use a Infrared cam in the enclosure and they see that easy


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## sharky (Mar 23, 2013)

Ah, okay I see now! I think I will just stick with the white lights for now, I might get one of those colour changing LED strips so I can change the colour for a short period of time at night.

Thanks everyone!


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## HarleyD (Mar 24, 2013)

Haha dude ofcourse they can see it, its warm !


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## Ambush (Mar 24, 2013)

Dude u are getting mixed up with a red light and infrared.
The red globes I have sure ARE NOT infrared,


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## HarleyD (Mar 24, 2013)

I tihink you miss understood me buddy


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## Trimeresurus (Mar 24, 2013)

Snakes can see the coloured lights, they can't see the INFRARED light spectrum, but neither can we. They can still see those red and blue bulbs but it doesn't seem to bother them as much because it's more dull and easier on the eyes than normal light. Having some blue or red lights aren't going to harm them, but if they arent being used as a heatsource theres no need to leave them on unless you're looking at them.


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## andynic07 (Mar 24, 2013)

I think it may be because normal light is made up of every colour (bandwidth) of the spectrum and when you put a filter (coloured lens) over the light output you are filtering all of the other colours out so there is less light with individual colours. I am pretty sure that snakes can see all colours but cannot see infrared as we can't either.


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## BDkeeper (Mar 27, 2013)

montysrainbow said:


> i use the bunnings party light bulbs  only at night though. I get the green, blue or red however i only use it for my own pleasure lol i often watch him at night 8)
> during the day i found the white or yellow lights pretty with my old black enclosure.


What type of fitting do you use cause I looked at the bunnings website and it looks like its a bayonet fitting and where do you get the fitting from


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## Bluetongue1 (Mar 28, 2013)

Most reptiles are not very sensitive to either extreme of the visible spectrum i.e. red and violet/blue. The labial pits of pythons are sensitive to infra red light. Most globes that give off visible light also give off a certain amount of infra red light. Red globes in particular can give off significant amounts of infra red light. I believe that pythons soon realise that red and infra-red lights are not a source of food and only provide heat, so they go about their business accordingly. So it is your choice whether you use a blue or a red ‘night light’ to view your animals. Many seem to find that their reptiles behave more naturally under one colour rather than the other. 

Either way, you do not want to use white light at night. White light should only be used during daylight hours, if at all, to reinforce the normal day/night cycle. 

Use of LED lights has the advantage that they give off almost no infrared radiation and so are very energy efficient visible light producers. 

Blue


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## Zanks (Mar 28, 2013)

↑ what he said ↑
Most pythons CAN sense infrared. And yes they CAN see red light
(Not this again!?!?)


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