Any person who keeps a reptile as a pet has probably (hopefully) invested in a heat lamp for his or her pet. Heat lamps are a necessary part of housing most reptiles. However necessary they may be, there are also dangers associated with heat lamps.

There are numerous ways heat lamps can cause harm to your reptile, you, a member of your family, or your property.

The first thing to remember when installing your heat lamp is to be sure it is in a place that the reptile cannot reach. You do not want your pet to be able to touch the lamp or its fixture. Snakes are particularly notorious for curling up around heat lamps in an effort to get warm. By the time the snake realizes how hot it really is, he will have severely burned his own skin.

Another important thing to remember when installing your heat lamp is to make sure it is not installed in a place where it can be knocked over. Also make sure the lamp is securely fixed to a permanent type of structure. I personally had a very scary experience with a heat lamp. During the winter, Bruiser, my tortoise, used to stay in an enclosure we set up in one corner of our basement. Her enclosure is equipped with heat lamps and UVA and UVB lamps. My husband and I affixed one of her heat lamps to the side of her house. We underestimated Bruiser’s ability to bulldoze and move her house around.

One afternoon my husband came home and smelled smoke. He inspected the upstairs portion of our house and found nothing. When he opened the basement door, smoke came pouring into our home. Bruiser had moved her house, which pulled the lamp off of the board it was attached to, and landed the lamp in the middle of her enclosure. My husband had always insisted that we not put any hay or chippings directly under Bruiser’s lamps. Thank goodness for his protest – it probably saved our home. The heat lamp had landed on mostly cool soil. A few stray pieces of hay and some chippings had made their way under the lamp, but it was not nearly as bad as it could have been.

Luckily, nothing had actually caught fire before Nick discovered the fallen lamp. Despite this, the heat lamp had gotten hot enough that the bedding that had burned was enough to fill our basement with smoke. We were very fortunate on two levels. Obviously first, our house did not burn down. Second, thankfully, Bruiser does not appear to have suffered any lung damage from her time spent in the basement with the smoke. We have no way of knowing how long the lamp was laying there in order to generate that much smoke. We don’t know if it was just a few minutes, or hours. We only know that we were extremely lucky and from now on, Bruiser’s lights are affixed to structures that would be impossible for her to move.

Keep all cords out of reach of your reptiles as well. The cords could be pulled and could result in the lamp being pulled into the enclosure. Obviously another thing to remember is to keep the lamps in a place where they will not get wet as this is a hazard that could result in electrocution.

Despite the dangers, heat lamps are a necessary part of housing reptiles. Heat lamps can be safely used if a person exercises discretion and careful thought when deciding where to install the lamps. Just remember to think and plan carefully, and never underestimate the ability of your reptile. It is our duty to keep our pets, families, and property safe.