thermostats and home made incubators

[filly77]

Hello,

Im new to the forum. I have 1.2 balls. My male is a pastel and the females are normals. One of my females is definitely building follicles. They feel marble sized. Im SO excited!

Im looking to set up an incubator and am wondering if a ranco or johnson would be ok to use? I realize they are both on/off thermostats but would it work?

Also the mini fridge I will be using is 36" x 18" x 18", I plan on using an ultratherm to heat it as I dont feel comfortable wiring the flexwatt myself. Would you suggest the 11x17, 11x29 or the 11x35?

thanks so much for your time!

~Maizie

[NextWorldExotics]

For an incubator i would definately use a proportional thermostat... you will not get the temp fluxuations that you would with a ranco... and in an incubator thats important.

I just bought 4 of these today i hear they are better than Helix...? Plus they are not much more than Rancos
http://spyderrobotics.com/products/herpstat.html

Good luck!
Jon

[dsirkle]

I am not an expert. I do own the book written by Kevin McCurley of NERD "The Complete Ball Python". On page 102 he says - "An ideal incubator will have the following features: 1 : A quality thermostat to control the temperature - probe types are the best. A simple on/off type works well; proportional ones are great but no better in this situation. I do not like chicken wafer style thermostats, they are crude and difficult to use." Now I have often heard the mantra of the proportional thermostat in regard to incubation but it would be hard to dispute the knowledge of NERD concerning ball python breeding.

[rabernet]

I believe that NERD actually uses Herpstat though. At least that's what Kara told me when I told her I just purchased my Helix for mine.

[Texas Dan]

For an incubator i would definately use a proportional thermostat... you will not get the temp fluxuations that you would with a ranco... and in an incubator thats important.

I just bought 4 of these today i hear they are better than Helix...? Plus they are not much more than Rancos
http://spyderrobotics.com/products/herpstat.html

Good luck!
Jon

BUY THIS UNIT. Seriously, get a Herpstat. I've heard good things about the helix, but my herpstat cost $50 less than a Helix and works GREAT!!!

Dion the owner is a good business man. Will give you any update you want on the status of your order.

[dsirkle]

I believe that NERD actually uses Herpstat though. At least that's what Kara told me when I told her I just purchased my Helix for mine.

I am controlling an incubator with a Herpstat myself. I just reported what I read and it makes sense to me. An on/off thermostat should provide less variance than occurs in nature.

[Louis Kirkland]

I would defintiely recommend a proportional thermostat for an incubator. You might want to consider using an on/off t-stat for a backup.

[filly77]

Yeah I have definitely decided to go with a herpstat.

now my dilemma is.. how much flexwatt I will need. Or what size ultratherm I will need.

flexwatt is much cheaper but I am worried about wiring. I dont know anyone who solders and I dont have the special crimping tool. but gloryhound did give me a good idea in another post (thanks for that btw).


sorry about all the Q's I just want to do this right on the first shot