best home made incubator design?

ive got a gravid female & i wanna get an incubator built before she sheds but i need a little help with choosing the design. ive read about using styrofoam coolers, old fridges, & fish tanks with water. which one do you think would work the best? if youve used one of these designs how well did it work? if you used a different design what did you use & how well did it work? thanks in advance

If only having one clutch id suggest making one out of a coleman cooler or styrofoam. They work well.

The fridge id stay away from unless you are having 10+ females laying eggs.

Heres one i make for ppl who need one fast. Holds one 6qt tub.

http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/s...o/100_3315.jpg
http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/s...o/100_3311.jpg
http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/s...o/100_3313.jpg
This is what i use.

http://i577.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/100_2844.jpg

I'd recommend the Red Bull incubator design.
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...Bull-Incubator!
The compressor pumps on these coolers tend to break and they pop on craigslist for cheap. You can make some great incubators from coolers but I'm a sucker for a glass door incubator:D

I customed my own out of an old fridge and i have used it for a couple years now and it hold perfect heat even with the old style Helix control .I actually build these to order . i have a few out there people are using and they love em ..and the best thing is you dont even need to use water bottles in this setup .
http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/a...incubator1.jpg

http://i916.photobucket.com/albums/a.../incubator.jpg

I would use a broken wine cooler or a freezer, whatever is available. I just found a nice broken wine cooler on eBay for $10, should hold around 6-8 6qt tubs, which would be perfect for me!

Homemade is the best, with some flexwatt, a circulation fan, a Herpstat or Helix for a thermostat and some water bottles to regulate temperature is all you need!

Rich:
What all would I need for the one made out of the styrofoam cooler. I just need to get one set up fast so ill have one ready when she lays. Ill be making one out a fridge eventually but right now the cooler would work fine. I searched craigslist already & couldn't find any broken fridgerators that were cheap they wanted an arm & a leg for them. This is the only female I have that's big enough to breed this season but I plan on getting more for next year. I was thinking about getting an old mini fridge or something simillar from one of the rental places near me. They offer to haul your old appliances away when you rent from them, & they have to pay to have them thrown away so I should have no problem getting one because id be saving them a little bit of money.

Quote:

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What all would I need for the one made out of the styrofoam cooler.

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http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...oler-incubator

I have no idea how to solder. I read about some people just letting the female coil the eggs. What would be the pros & cons to that? I mean she's does have instinct on her side whereas I've had no experience with egg care. She's startin to wrap around her water bowl & I read that's a sign she's about to lay or something like that.

It's very hard to keep humidity up. No need to solder. You can buy the clips from the bean farm.

You can use any cooler! All you need is:

cooler
Flexwatt
connectors & wire (for the Flexwatt)
aluminum tape(to tape the Flexwatt down)
egg-crate
water bottles
thermostat
thermometer with a prob

In a nut shell, get the cooler and drill a small hole in the side for the Flexwatt wire and prob. Run the power cord into the cooler through the hole and connect the power cord the the Flexwatt using the connectors and insulators and tape the Flexwatt to the bottom of the cooler(plug in for a couple of seconds and make sure it heats up). Place some water bottles on the bottom. Then place a piece(cut to fit) of egg-crate on top of the bottles. Put your tub (filled with what ever you are using) on top of the egg-crate. Plug your Flexwatt into the thermostat and set it to the desired temp, and run the thermometer prob through the hole into the cooler. Fill or cover the hole to stop any heat loss.
And that is pretty much it, unless you want to install a small computer fan.

Hope this helps, any questions just ask!