best advice

im trying to start breeding what is the most inexpensive way to get ready for breeding? i would love to have a rack but cant afford a 1000 yet in a rack whats the best way to keep humidity and temps at the right lvl for breeding and laying? which is better to leave the mother with eggs or incubate? any pointers would be great

There are many ways to build your own rack systems that are both cheap and very good for keeping the conditions bp's need. I myself make all my own racks out of 3/4" melamine. The only drawback to this is they weigh a ton other than that they work just as good as any store bought rack IMO. Here are a few pics of some of the ones I built.

10 Tub 41qt Adult Rack
http://i711.photobucket.com/albums/w...acks/011-9.jpg

30 Tub 6qt Baby Rack
http://i711.photobucket.com/albums/w...0Racks/007.jpg


As for letting the mother incubate or putting the eggs in an incubator. I would personally say there is a far greater chance of the eggs having a 100% hatch rate incubating them with an incubator versus letting the mother do it. If you can't keep the conditions right in the tub with the mother on her eggs like heat and humidity there is a great chance that the eggs will not make it due to mold issues, not enough heat etc. Its a personal preference that I pull all the eggs from the mothers and artificially incubate them myself.

I agree with ^

We made a rack for $100 which included the cost of the tubs. Flexwat was extra, but it wasnt much.

And as far as incubating goes, unless the humidity and heat are constant and perfect, I would recommen an incubator. Any fluxuation in temps during incubation can have disastrous outcomes. That said, we used an incubator. Good luck :gj:

Yeah, racks are not that hard to build. I made one out of melamine also, and it is a nice rack. But there other methods of building racks. Here is a link where someone build a rack out of those plastic shelves. You can go online and price everything you need including your heat source.
Check it out.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...r-s-Snake-Rack

whats the best thermostat and incubator for the money?

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Originally Posted by paintballerpunk722

whats the best thermostat and incubator for the money?

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Your own bator and most ppl use a herpstat or a helix because of them being proportional. Now I on the other hand like to do things my way and what works for me. I had a very close friend and ball breeder put me on to this incubator heating method last year and it is very unconventional but works with the best of them. I hatched out 7 clutches last year using this incubator and heating source and had not one single temp problem or any kinked or messed up babies. In total it cost me like 20 bucks minues the thermo/hygro's, tubs and vermiculite. The stand up freezer was left in the house when we moved in and it wasn't working so I just turned it into an incubator.

http://i711.photobucket.com/albums/w...tor/009-14.jpg

http://i711.photobucket.com/albums/w...tor/008-13.jpg

Now the question is do I recommend it........... Yes and No. I think most people especially for their first year should do things "by the book" so to speak and use flexwatt and a proportional thermostat. Now if you feel your somewhat mechanically inclined and have a number of experienced ball breeders to turn to then I say do what works best for you and your wallet ;)

How well is that 10 tub 41QT rack holding up? Any significant sagging/warping? I've been dying to build that very rack but fear that there will be substantial warping over time. Please tell me that you have no issues with it as I really need to build another rack soon.

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Originally Posted by 88Snakes

How well is that 10 tub 41QT rack holding up? Any significant sagging/warping? I've been dying to build that very rack but fear that there will be substantial warping over time. Please tell me that you have no issues with it as I really need to build another rack soon.

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I haven't had any real significant sagging or warping but I would be lying if I said I had none. Seems that when I built it the tubs slid in with ease and now some are a bit tight. But I can't say for sure it is due to sagging or if it is cause I bought the tubs as I went along and some are a bit different in size. But I mean visually you can't see any sagging in it at all. Thus far anyways. I have had it going on about 2 years now.

[QUOTE=BAD Morphs;1500618]http://i711.photobucket.com/albums/w...tor/009-14.jpg

http://i711.photobucket.com/albums/w...tor/008-13.jpg

Thanks for sharing, and I suppose those bottled water are for humidity reason. But will an unlid container fill with water work better?

[QUOTE=ace_singapore;1500675]

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Originally Posted by BAD Morphs

http://i711.photobucket.com/albums/w...tor/009-14.jpg

http://i711.photobucket.com/albums/w...tor/008-13.jpg

Thanks for sharing, and I suppose those bottled water are for humidity reason. But will an unlid container fill with water work better?

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They aren't for humidity purposes. They merely help keep a stable temp when opening and closing the door. I don't have humidity issues at all and have no tub or anything filled with water in there for that purpose.