Incubators...

Ok, after this clutch hatches I am retiring my Hova-bator. Its a piece of junk, end of story.

What all do yall use for incubators? I know there are a million brands out there and I cannot find many good reviews on most incubators that do not cost $500. I really do not want to have to fight another incubator next season like I had to this season. I don't need anything fancy or pretty. I need something that will be stable, reliable and not ridiculously expensive. I've always used my Hova-bator and even on its best day it has been mediocre.

So... Sell me on a new incubator...

My dad and I were talking about building one out of a mini fridge. He works on appliances as his job, and he was saying I could do the following:

Take the lighting off and use the wires to wire in an outlet and mount it. Plug in heat tape/thermostat inside. With a fan, take off the thermostat housing and wire the wires together so the fan is always on. Then plug fridge in. Without a fan, just use the other outlet to plug in a computer fan. Suppose this would work with a full size fridge too of course :) This is my plan for the future. Just need to unattach the freon and compressor ...

I use an old broken upright freezer that I converted into an Incubator. It works really well, can hold a ton of clutches (mine can hold 12 clutches right now with room to add another shelf), and if you can find someone selling or giving away an old broken freezer (look on Craigslist or the local newspaper classifieds), it can be made for cheap. Since my freezer was free I just had to buy the Herpstat and 6 feet of 11" Flexwatt, so I spent about $125 total. I also used a few spare computer fans two circulate the air.
Here is a pretty good tutorial on converting and old freezer or refrigerator into an incubator: http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/incubator.shtml

I thought about building my own. I have access to plenty of shot mini fridges. I dunno, maybe I don't give myself enough credit, but I worry about building my own and all going to hell and being left without a reliable backup. I have plenty of supplies laying around to build my own, but I was hoping to get a factory built one where I don't have to tweak anymore. Just set the temp and walk away, if you get my drift. I might end up building a backup incubator out of a mini fridge and giving it a few test runs first to have just in case my main incubator fails me.

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Originally Posted by AK907

I dunno, maybe I don't give myself enough credit, but I worry about building my own and all going to hell and being left without a reliable backup.

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There's really not much to go wrong...an incubator is basically an insulated box. Add a heat source and a way to control it and you're all set. Biggest question would be how many clutches do you plan to hatch? If you're only gonna have a few each year, I'd go the cooler (Coleman/Igloo, etc) route. More than that and I'd start to look at mini-fridges...

As far as a backup...having another fully functional incubator would be ideal, but some extra heat tape and a spare thermostat would get you out of any binds should the primaries malfunction...

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Originally Posted by sho220

There's really not much to go wrong...an incubator is basically an insulated box. Add a heat source and a way to control it and you're all set. Biggest question would be how many clutches do you plan to hatch? If you're only gonna have a few each year, I'd go the cooler (Coleman/Igloo, etc) route. More than that and I'd start to look at mini-fridges...

As far as a backup...having another fully functional incubator would be ideal, but some extra heat tape and a spare thermostat would get you out of any binds should the primaries malfunction...

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Yeah, just tired of fighting problem incubators I guess. Been fighting unrealiable incubation for a while now and this will be my last clutch dealing with it. So far we've been lucky and had no hatching problems or defects, but I want to avoid any possibilities of that. We moved to a new state last year so this season has been very limited, only a couple corn clutches. Next year, if all goes to plan, we are looking at 3-4 ball clutches, 1-2 carpet clutches and maybe a corn clutch or two. Nothing big. I don't need a lot of space, just consistency, which hova-bators lack. I'd still like to give another factory incubator a try and still I plan to build a backup. We haven't been breeding as long as some of yall, so our experiences with different incubators is rather limited. Just hova-bators, homemade aquarium incubators and warm shelves in the reptile room.

So my real question, are there any factory made digital incubators out there that are worth a crap that won't break the bank?

I say go with a build :) If you have access I mean ... why not :) :) And as said, just get some back up heat tape!

I'm pretty sure that incubators are all over priced , but I sure know what you mean by wanting something that is simple enough to plug and play. I'm lazy like that sometimes.

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Originally Posted by Jessica Loesch

My dad and I were talking about building one out of a mini fridge. He works on appliances as his job, and he was saying I could do the following:

Take the lighting off and use the wires to wire in an outlet and mount it. Plug in heat tape/thermostat inside. With a fan, take off the thermostat housing and wire the wires together so the fan is always on. Then plug fridge in. Without a fan, just use the other outlet to plug in a computer fan. Suppose this would work with a full size fridge too of course :) This is my plan for the future. Just need to unattach the freon and compressor ...

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You'll want to be careful running the stock fridge fan, as they tend to generate a great deal of heat when constantly on. I think it would be best to go with computer fans.

I agree with everyone though--go for the build! I built mine in just a couple hours, including removing the compressor and freon, and it has been rock-solid for nearly 2 months now. It's a really simple, inexpensive, and fool-proof process, and you end up with a superior product. Good luck with whatever you decide!

Cheers,
-Matt

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Originally Posted by Jessica Loesch

I say go with a build :) If you have access I mean ... why not :) :) And as said, just get some back up heat tape!

I'm pretty sure that incubators are all over priced , but I sure know what you mean by wanting something that is simple enough to plug and play. I'm lazy like that sometimes.

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Hey Jess! I've got an old mini fridge (still works, though) and we live right down the road from a place which has a dozen shot ones outside at any given time, not to mention the plethora of yard sales around here. I've got probably 30+ feet of mixed heat tape laying around and a few spare herpstats. I might give it a shot on my next day off. See how stable I can get. I am just paranoid. I KNOW there has to be a better way.

I like plug and play. It isn't so much laziness, but we work a lot of hours, so its nice to have the comfort of knowing its going to be the same temp when we get home from work. Today I ran to Wal-Mart and to pick up my wife from work. Gone maybe an hour. Temps were 83.1 in our Hova-Bator when I left. When we returned it was 80.6 degrees. Unacceptable!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by AK907

Hey Jess! I've got an old mini fridge (still works, though) and we live right down the road from a place which has a dozen shot ones outside at any given time, not to mention the plethora of yard sales around here. I've got probably 30+ feet of mixed heat tape laying around and a few spare herpstats. I might give it a shot on my next day off. See how stable I can get. I am just paranoid. I KNOW there has to be a better way.

I like plug and play. It isn't so much laziness, but we work a lot of hours, so its nice to have the comfort of knowing its going to be the same temp when we get home from work. Today I ran to Wal-Mart and to pick up my wife from work. Gone maybe an hour. Temps were 83.1 in our Hova-Bator when I left. When we returned it was 80.6 degrees. Unacceptable!

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From what I understand, the Hovabators use a cheap little "wafer" thermostat to regulate heat...that's why it's all over the place...the temp controller is the last place I'd skimp when building an incubator...