So I think I have an idiot proof incubator...

[OhhWatALoser]

As a disclaimer, I take no responsibility for your eggs, I am simply reporting what is working for me. The incubator should be considered very experimental, use this design at your own risk.

And idiot proof is exactly what this idiot needed. I am a tinkerer by nature and this hobby gives many opportunity for tinkering. For some reason when I first started breeding, I found incubation to be hard to get "just right." Always seemed to be some sort of problem I had to constantly manage, too little humidity, or too much water on the eggs, mold, ect. Don't get me wrong, I still got things to hatch, but there were a few failures also and it flat out sucks. So about 3 years ago I started trying different things because I apparently couldn't get the cookie cutter methods to work well. The success of my last 2 clutches makes me feel I really need to share. Not only do I just pull the eggs, put them in and never touch a thing til hatch day, I also have a weird side effect, day 51-52 hatch days, not pip days, crawl out of egg days.

So here is what I have going on:

70 QT cooler


Thermostat for temp control, aquarium air pump to pump fresh air, small electrical box just contains splices for all the power, bigger box contains a small 120v to 12v transformer


Results of success today! Also just showing light diffuser, which is what the eggs sit on.


The cooler I have has grooves on the side, that make a great spot to put the pvc pipe, that supports the light difuser. Also notice the entire bottom is filled with water.


thermostat probe zip tied to the bottom of the pvc pipe


Standard cheap 80mmx80mm computer fan (powered by the 12v transformer), mounted by weatherproof screws, electrical connectors are stuffed with liquid electrical tape. Also all wires and tubes are epoxyed in.


25watt aquarium heater for a heat source, connected to the thermostat output. Obviously the dots don't hold up well on it lol. Also a big air bubbler connected to the air pump.


So here was my logic with everything. I used a cooler because one of the cookie cutter incubator (you know I am just going to start calling them CCI) designs called for it so I had it laying around already, it also makes a good candidate to hold a few inches of water. CCI normally have bottled water for heat retention and a separate source of humidity, filling the bottom does both, I have enough to keep the bubbler and heating element under water, nothing specific about it. I use an aquarium heater instead of the CCI heat tape because it further increases the humidity. Then having a bubbler in the water increases humidity and also introduces fresh air into the system. I read about someone elses increased success pumping fresh air into their incubator and I figured why not. I really can't think of a way to get more moisture into the air, which seems to work well for the eggs.

The fan keeps air moving around the incubator, it helps water from building up, helping keep moisture in the air. Temps are evenly distributed around the incubator. Air movement also keeps water off the eggs, off the top and bottom of them, which is why I keep them openly on the light diffuser. No mold problems, no rotting eggs, (I had these issues with the CCI substrates) they are dry but, surrounded by humid air.

So I used this design this year and kept incubating at 89 degrees. I ran into a big surprise, day 50 hatch date... where the heck did that come from, maybe the female kept them inside her longer than expected? Next clutch, day 48 hatch date, next clutch day 50, next clutch day 49... obviously not a fluke but, problem with quite a few of them, was the yolks were not all the way absorbed and they were noticeably smaller on average than what I would call normal. I did however get 100% hatch rates. They all eventually started eating just fine so it wasn't a huge deal and while there was a cool factor with speed hatching eggs, obviously this wasn't ideal. So my last 2 clutches all I did was lower the temps to 87 degrees to see if we got better results.

Both clutches hatched between days 51 and 52, 70+ grams babies, yolks fully absorbed, they couldn't look healthier to me. I expected longer hatch dates honestly, but if I keep getting ideal babies, I see no reason not to keep doing this. Might be a bad picture, but this little girl came out today from a bumblebee het hypo x hypo clutch Can't wait for first shed now lol.



Now my big question is why am I getting early hatch dates? I look at the differences between my design and CCI and I would say I more than likely have more humid air. Also the fresh air might have something to do with it? you would think it might dry out the air slightly, but maybe getting rid of egg outgassing helps? I also wonder, while the air pump is not very strong at all, if it is putting small amount of pressure on the eggs, basically making the incubator a pressure cooker? Any theories I am welcome to.

I have a 6 foot chest freezer I plan on turning into a upscaled version of this design this year. See if I can repeat the same results. Regardless, I am very happy with this design as it really is idiot proof, put eggs in, wait til they hatch, I haven't had an issue come up that used to almost always happen to me before. No substrates to work with either. Obviously I do monitor the eggs, but I could of just as easily put them in and came back 51 days later and still had the same result. I do also put them in a box inside the incubator once they pip, I just fear they might venture through the light diffuser. If anyone is brave enough to experiment with me, I would love to hear your results as well. I'm sure there are still plenty of ways to improve upon this.