Embrace Calamity
New member
Who here supported the use of red lights?
"Some nocturnal geckos lack the red-sensitive cone, but their green-sensitive cone also responds to red light; they can certainly see it."
~Maggot
Why NOT to use colored lights in your geckos cage at night...
- Thread starter Riverside Reptiles
- Start date
~Maggot
pakinjak
Member
Remember that there still hasn't been any hard evidence shared that light at night will be detrimental to your animal. The rationale sounds logical to be sure, but that's all it is- logic. Just because someone thinks something makes sense doesn't make it so, and it certainly won't die if you use a red light at night. That being said, it makes sense to me that if you have other options besides the lights mentioned you should use it because it certainly makes sense that if reptiles can see the light then their circadian rhythm could be messed up if you use one... and that's no fun.
My suggestion is to keep from getting hung up on the opinions of others. People have different opinions and experiences, and don't always agree on everything. If you have animals in your care, it's up to you to self-educate and make your own decisions. In the meantime, you can certainly set up a ceramic emitter to meet the needs of your critter. Just realize that they can produce quite a bit of heat. Do your homework on the temp ranges for the species you're keeping, and make sure that you keep within those requirements.
My suggestion is to keep from getting hung up on the opinions of others. People have different opinions and experiences, and don't always agree on everything. If you have animals in your care, it's up to you to self-educate and make your own decisions. In the meantime, you can certainly set up a ceramic emitter to meet the needs of your critter. Just realize that they can produce quite a bit of heat. Do your homework on the temp ranges for the species you're keeping, and make sure that you keep within those requirements.
Corwin's Keeper
New member
What pakinjak said. I did some research on my own and decided if there is even speculation that colored lights might be bad for her, why not go with a CHE (supposedly they last longer too!). I did purchase a moonlight bulb because my CHE went out (had to order online) so I use that whenever I need to wait on a mail order.
Embrace Calamity
New member
I know I've heard from several people who've switched from red lights to CHEs that their geckos suddenly became much more active at night (and this includes myself). I've yet to hear of someone who switched and noticed no difference. You can't really prove that it's detrimental, but logic, science, and anecdotal evidence suggests strongly that it's not the right way to go.
~Maggot
Riverside Reptiles
Administrator (HMFIC)
Keeping animals, especially reptiles is not an exact science. You're going to find debate and discussion on many different topics. There's not always going to be a cookie cutter, black and white answer to everything. At some point you simply have to make your own decisions on what's best for your animal based on the information at hand.
GlaedrLeoGecko
New member
Thank you everybody. I will certainly try to find a ceramic heat emitter, no idea where to find one in my area yet, but in the mean while I will not stress about what I already have in my gecko cage. Hopefully, when I do get a CHE it will be helpful and not be a waste of money by being too hot or too cold.
Riverside Reptiles
Administrator (HMFIC)
I think that you'll be pleased with the heat that a che gives off. Petco, Petsmart, etc tend to carry them, but they are usually cheaper to buy online. Plus you get the convenience of having it delivered right to your door.
thorrshamri
Moderator/The French Viking Moderathorr
Reptile Lighting Information
Some interesting answers can be found above:
"Visible light, including UVA, is essential. Many reptiles have extremely good color vision. Humans have three types of retinal cone cells for color vision, and their brains combine the information from these cells and perceive the blend as a certain color. Most reptiles, however, have a fourth cone type, which responds to UVA. These reptiles see a much more colorful rainbow than humans do, which makes providing natural lighting quite a challenge. This extra color perception is especially important to many reptile species in recognizing others of their species and even food items.
Some nocturnal geckos lack the red-sensitive cone, but their green-sensitive cone also responds to red light; they can certainly see it. Studies have even shown that some use their cone types for color vision in light similar to dim moonlight. Thus it is possible that “moonlight blue” or “red night light” lamps, which usually are much brighter than moonlight, alter these animals’ view of the twilight world.
Sunlight also has effects unrelated to conscious vision. A reptile’s eyes, and the parietal eye (third eye) in those species that have one, transmit information to other parts of its brain responsible for setting circadian (daily) and circannual (yearly) rhythms. There are even light-sensitive areas of the reptilian brain that respond directly to sunlight’s glow through the skull. The length of day and night, the sun’s position in the sky, and the intensity and amount of blue in sunlight all give precise information about the time of day and season of the year. In response, a reptile adjusts its activity levels, and daily and seasonal behaviors, such as its reproductive cycle and thermoregulation needs. Even nocturnal species govern their behavior by monitoring day and night from their daytime hiding places."
In other words, using colored lights at night may alter the gecko's vision and cause them trouble f.e. to spot prey.
In addition, what we see as "dim"/mild sources of light are not perceived at all in the same way by geckos. Artificial colored lights used at night are certainly unnatural and unusual for them. From this, we can wonder whether these colored bulbs cannot trigger visual stress.
Are Artificial Night Lights Among Threats to Declining Reptiles? this is also fairly interesting:
"Artificial night lighting may affect the behavior of wildlife in complex ways and may even contribute to declines in some reptile species, according to a study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Texas Tech University"
In other words, any other nocturnal light source than natural moonglow through a window or perhaps dim sources of light at some distance of the geckos enclosures such as an on/off light button is at everyone's own risk. One thing is for certain: while there are speculations on the use of colored lights, complete darkness at night is absolutely without risks for our pets.
Some interesting answers can be found above:
"Visible light, including UVA, is essential. Many reptiles have extremely good color vision. Humans have three types of retinal cone cells for color vision, and their brains combine the information from these cells and perceive the blend as a certain color. Most reptiles, however, have a fourth cone type, which responds to UVA. These reptiles see a much more colorful rainbow than humans do, which makes providing natural lighting quite a challenge. This extra color perception is especially important to many reptile species in recognizing others of their species and even food items.
Some nocturnal geckos lack the red-sensitive cone, but their green-sensitive cone also responds to red light; they can certainly see it. Studies have even shown that some use their cone types for color vision in light similar to dim moonlight. Thus it is possible that “moonlight blue” or “red night light” lamps, which usually are much brighter than moonlight, alter these animals’ view of the twilight world.
Sunlight also has effects unrelated to conscious vision. A reptile’s eyes, and the parietal eye (third eye) in those species that have one, transmit information to other parts of its brain responsible for setting circadian (daily) and circannual (yearly) rhythms. There are even light-sensitive areas of the reptilian brain that respond directly to sunlight’s glow through the skull. The length of day and night, the sun’s position in the sky, and the intensity and amount of blue in sunlight all give precise information about the time of day and season of the year. In response, a reptile adjusts its activity levels, and daily and seasonal behaviors, such as its reproductive cycle and thermoregulation needs. Even nocturnal species govern their behavior by monitoring day and night from their daytime hiding places."
In other words, using colored lights at night may alter the gecko's vision and cause them trouble f.e. to spot prey.
In addition, what we see as "dim"/mild sources of light are not perceived at all in the same way by geckos. Artificial colored lights used at night are certainly unnatural and unusual for them. From this, we can wonder whether these colored bulbs cannot trigger visual stress.
Are Artificial Night Lights Among Threats to Declining Reptiles? this is also fairly interesting:
"Artificial night lighting may affect the behavior of wildlife in complex ways and may even contribute to declines in some reptile species, according to a study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Texas Tech University"
In other words, any other nocturnal light source than natural moonglow through a window or perhaps dim sources of light at some distance of the geckos enclosures such as an on/off light button is at everyone's own risk. One thing is for certain: while there are speculations on the use of colored lights, complete darkness at night is absolutely without risks for our pets.
Elizabeth Freer
Well-known member
Here's the link specified within Thorrshamri's first link above. An important read.
Click: Reptile Lighting Information
Click: Reptile Lighting Information
