Making an Incubator

[Snake_Tooth]

So I have a female that is looking like she will lay some eggs in the near future so I went to craiglist and found this for $30:




I got an awesome deal on it and thought it would be cool to share also for anyone in need of ideas for incubators. When in doubt, go with a wine cooler

[4mb3rNich0l3]

cant see the picture?

[Snake_Tooth]

cant see the picture?

i'm not sure why it won't post the picture. I've posted them before using photobucket but for some reason it is not working lately...any suggestions?

[Snake_Tooth]

oh i figured it out...it had an extra http:// in it for some reason

[h00blah]

I can see it from my iphone. Sometimes that happens T.T.. Idk why..

Looks freakn awesome!! Can't wait to make one. If u dont mind, how much was this? U can PM if u dont wish to disclose that info. I'm wondering because I'll be looking for something similar to this soon .

[4mb3rNich0l3]

I think she said she found it for 30? . But I see it now. Thats awesome! The things you can find on CL :p

[Snake_Tooth]

I can see it from my iphone. Sometimes that happens T.T.. Idk why..

Looks freakn awesome!! Can't wait to make one. If u dont mind, how much was this? U can PM if u dont wish to disclose that info. I'm wondering because I'll be looking for something similar to this soon .

I got it for $30. The guy originally asked for $50, but we were able to settle on a price because it did not work as a cooler but it's perfect as an incubator. Believe it or not, brand new this was around $2,000 as it it's a Uline cooler. Interesting fact, he bought this at an estate sale from Arthur Blank, who is the cofounder of Home Depot and owner or Atlanta Falcons. So there is some history to the incubator already

[jcoylesr76]

that is a nice grab there.

[JohnNJ]

I have the exact same one. Mine was fully functional but had glue on the glass from a cabinet door that was on the front to match their bar. I got it free and gutted it, leaving only the functioning light.

I took out the racks so that there are 3 levels - bottom w/glass and two shelves. It holds 6 Iris shoebox tubs. I put 1/2" screen on the racks, so the boxes would be stable, held on by zip ties.

I put a dc computer fan at the top rear over the 11" flexwatt and one on the bottom front. There's water bottles at the lowest point. I also reversed the door so that hole in the center is at the bottom.

If I did it over I would use two strips of 3" 10 watt flexwatt along the back instead of the 11", floor to ceiling but not under any tubs. I would also remove the glass panel on the bottom shelf and put something there that would let the air flow through.

Best place I found to put the thermostat probe is inside a tub on the center shelf to start. I put thermometer probes in all of the tubs (already set up with vermiculite and water) and checked the difference in temps. You must make up all of the tubs the same way to get consistant results. Once everything is stable you can move the probe outside the tub and try to find the best spot.

Only thing I don't have is the eggs.

[Snake_Tooth]

I have the exact same one. Mine was fully functional but had glue on the glass from a cabinet door that was on the front to match their bar. I got it free and gutted it, leaving only the functioning light.

I took out the racks so that there are 3 levels - bottom w/glass and two shelves. It holds 6 Iris shoebox tubs. I put 1/2" screen on the racks, so the boxes would be stable, held on by zip ties.

I put a dc computer fan at the top rear over the 11" flexwatt and one on the bottom front. There's water bottles at the lowest point. I also reversed the door so that hole in the center is at the bottom.

If I did it over I would use two strips of 3" 10 watt flexwatt along the back instead of the 11", floor to ceiling but not under any tubs. I would also remove the glass panel on the bottom shelf and put something there that would let the air flow through.

Best place I found to put the thermostat probe is inside a tub on the center shelf to start. I put thermometer probes in all of the tubs (already set up with vermiculite and water) and checked the difference in temps. You must make up all of the tubs the same way to get consistant results. Once everything is stable you can move the probe outside the tub and try to find the best spot.

Only thing I don't have is the eggs.

Do you have any pictures you could post? Not sure I understand the 1/2" screen part. I was thinking about getting either light diffuser or that plastic mesh that they have for needle point across the racks.

I was wondering about going with 3" vs 11" but read that you want approx 10 to 15 watts per cubic foot and this is 5.5 cubic ft, so somewhere between 55 and 82.5 watts of heat source. Seems like you would have to run three to four strips of 3" to meet that especially if you didn't want to run it all the way down on the bottom. What is it you don't like about the 11"?

I was also thinking about getting rid of the glass shelf altogether and using a combination of 64oz bottles and 20 oz bottles between the lowest point and the ledge at the glass shelf level. Then just mounting the first shelf where the first shelf was. Did you keep the coolant panel that was mounted on the back wall as a false wall to seperate the flexwatt from the main space? I appreciate any input.

It's funny how meticulous and cautious we all are but in the wild, they spit them out, lay on them, and "Viola", babies