The idea behind the red bulbs was that reptiles couldn't see the red spectrum of light. With this in mind, the idea was you could have the red light on all night, keeping them warm, but not keeping them awake.

It's pretty well accepted to be false now, as there wasn't any research to back the claim up, and research has shown that reptiles, while they see things differently than us, are capable of seeing color and lights (If you watch TV with your dragon, you might notice him watching it with you).

So unless you give your reptile a really nice place to hide out of the light, it will keep them from sleeping well. Think of it like if you slept in a room with the light on each night. You might be able to sleep, but you might not sleep quite as well as you would with the light off.

As far as red lights in the day: in my opinion they're just colored lights, and I'm not aware of any long-term effects from having them as day lights. Personally, I have just a regular 100W lightbulb as a basking bulb, a ReptiSun 10.0 UV light (tube not coil), and a heating mat for keeping the tank warm during the colder nights.

Edit: I realized I kept using the term reptile but this doesn't necessarily hold true for snakes, as their eyes are different. I think turtles' eyes are also a bit different, but I'm not sure how the lights would effect them as I've never kept them.