Heat Lamp on Bug Cage?

[Vampgutz]

So I know a bug cage certainly isn’t good for any beardies or anythin, but recently there have been a lot of juvenile snakes around. There’s at least 3 baby garter snakes I see everyday, and I enjoy handling them. There’s one baby snake in particular I enjoy though, as I know for sure who its mother is. She’s the only redbelly snake I’ve seen in a couple years now, and one of her babies has been hanging around as well. The little guy can’t be more than a week old or so, and the first time I caught him I had let him go. I was worried for him though, considering how tiny he is compared to the other young snakes around. I hadn’t seen him for a couple days, but to my surprise, when I looked in the usual snake spot, he was laying on a blade of grass (and yes, he’s tiny enough that the grass was slightly elevated even with him on the tip of it).

Something I’ve always kind of done is take baby animals in, until they’re large enough that I feel more comfortable releasing them. Though usually this is with toads and bugs. The only time I had done this was with a garter snake a few years back, when I was a child, and unfortunately the snake didnt have adequate care (because again, I was a child, probably 11 at the oldest). That snake did live to be released, by the way, but that’s not the point here lol. After I caught the red belly today, I set up an enclosure for him in a bug cage that was previously used for crickets. Rest assured, the bug cage is fairly large, I’d guess almost equivalent to a 5 gallon tank, give or take. He should be fine in it, especially at his tiny size.

So anyways, my question here is, has anyone here used a heat lamp on a bug cage? I want to make sure the little guy has enough heat while he’s with me, but I’m not sure if it’s safe to use a heat lamp on a bug cage. I have otherwise considered switching the enclosure to one my African clawed frog is in, though if possible I’d like avoiding this, as I think the bug cage may be a bit small for Gremlin, but it would make it lighter and easier to clean his water if this happens to be the case.

I’ve affectionately named the baby snake Ringworm, by the way lmao. Anyways, any advice here, please?

 

[KarrieRee]

So I know a bug cage certainly isn’t good for any beardies or anythin, but recently there have been a lot of juvenile snakes around. There’s at least 3 baby garter snakes I see everyday, and I enjoy handling them. There’s one baby snake in particular I enjoy though, as I know for sure who its mother is. She’s the only redbelly snake I’ve seen in a couple years now, and one of her babies has been hanging around as well. The little guy can’t be more than a week old or so, and the first time I caught him I had let him go. I was worried for him though, considering how tiny he is compared to the other young snakes around. I hadn’t seen him for a couple days, but to my surprise, when I looked in the usual snake spot, he was laying on a blade of grass (and yes, he’s tiny enough that the grass was slightly elevated even with him on the tip of it).

Something I’ve always kind of done is take baby animals in, until they’re large enough that I feel more comfortable releasing them. Though usually this is with toads and bugs. The only time I had done this was with a garter snake a few years back, when I was a child, and unfortunately the snake didnt have adequate care (because again, I was a child, probably 11 at the oldest). That snake did live to be released, by the way, but that’s not the point here lol. After I caught the red belly today, I set up an enclosure for him in a bug cage that was previously used for crickets. Rest assured, the bug cage is fairly large, I’d guess almost equivalent to a 5 gallon tank, give or take. He should be fine in it, especially at his tiny size.

So anyways, my question here is, has anyone here used a heat lamp on a bug cage? I want to make sure the little guy has enough heat while he’s with me, but I’m not sure if it’s safe to use a heat lamp on a bug cage. I have otherwise considered switching the enclosure to one my African clawed frog is in, though if possible I’d like avoiding this, as I think the bug cage may be a bit small for Gremlin, but it would make it lighter and easier to clean his water if this happens to be the case.

I’ve affectionately named the baby snake Ringworm, by the way lmao. Anyways, any advice here, please?

Flagging to Cooperdragon
@CooperDragon

 

[CooperDragon]

What material is your bug cage made of? I've used heat lamps over my roach colony before, but was using a 20g long glass tank with a metal mesh top. If your bug cage has an open top or metal mesh top, then you could use a heat projector/CHE with it. I'd just suspend it overhead in a dome fixture on an adjustable lamp stand. That way you can raise/lower it easily to fine tune the temps as needed. I'm not sure what the heat requirements are for a baby snake though.

 

[Vampgutz]

Oh, it’s unfortunately plastic, I wish it was just mesh because I’d feel more comfortable using a heat lamp on it. His heat requirements are just under 90 degrees, around 82-87 degrees. Not sure if you can help if you haven’t used a plastic one before, idk, but it’d appreciated if you could.

 

[xp29]

You can buy the adjustable stands at the pet stores. Just check the plastic every few minutes at first to make sure it isn't gettibg hot enough to melt. As long as your heat source isn't right over the edge of the tote i can't see why it wouldn't work.

 

[CooperDragon]

I'd go with a heat projector (Arcadia makes them) rather than a CHE because they don't get nearly as hot to the touch (in case the bulb accidentally gets too close to the plastic- a CHE will quickly melt it). Using the adjustable lamp stand to hang a dome fixture with a heat projector bulb should do the trick. Just raise the bulb high enough to be out of the way and then adjust the height as needed to reach the 82-87 degree range. The same thing could be done with a basking light/MVB if visible light or UVB are needed along with the heat.