Incubator rating

So I'm going to try my hand at breeding this year and all I have left to do is but the incubator. I've been beating my head against the wall trying to figure out what's best. I like the fridge-like models with the large view but I'm seeing so many scary reviews on them. I know small variances in the Temps are expected with those and I've studied how to calibrate and prepare one of those. But what really scares me are the reviews where the tempos get super wonky and spike 10+ degrees! I don't have enough trust in my abilities to make my own even though I know it may be cheaper. I'm just starting out so I don't need something huge. My budget for an incubator isn't super huge either. I would say that 300 is my limit since I'm just starting out.
Does anyone have any preferences? Have any helpful tips or stories? The one I was originally looking into was the ReptiPro 6000.

I would still recommend building your own. it is much easier than you may think. Basically drilling a hole is the extent of the construction. I'd also suggest planning ahead. This is my 5th breeding season and I built mine the first season for 4 clutches. The second season I had 12 and this past season 16 clutches. So think of what you may anticipate in the future. I'll PM you as well. I have never figured out how to upload pics on here but I can email them to you of how I put mine together. Oh, another note. I got the old freezer for free and the rest of the supplies cost me less that $100. That puts more money towards more snakes....

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I would still recommend building your own. it is much easier than you may think. Basically drilling a hole is the extent of the construction. I'd also suggest planning ahead. This is my 5th breeding season and I built mine the first season for 4 clutches. The second season I had 12 and this past season 16 clutches. So think of what you may anticipate in the future. I'll PM you as well. I have never figured out how to upload pics on here but I can email them to you of how I put mine together. Oh, another note. I got the old freezer for free and the rest of the supplies cost me less that $100. That puts more money towards more snakes....

I agree with the comment above, it's super duper easy. I just got an old broken wine cooler, tapped some 12in heat tape from top to bottom, and plugged the heat tape into my thermostat and I was done. I don't have any kind of tools at the moment so I didn't drill any holes the cords just go out the front and the door still closes shut tight and sealed. I have some water jugs inside to distribute the heat more evenly and so far I only have a slight temp difference, but that will be fixed when I set up an egg tub with everything in it and start testing temps again. I'm starting wayyyy early on my incubator stuff I won't have a clutch in there until next season. But it's fun to tinker around with this stuff now and get it perfect ahead of time so you won't have to scramble when the eggs are finally here.

Agree with the posts above. Especially about the planning ahead. I made one out of an old Rockstar energy drink fridge. I just wish I used a bigger fridge. It's nice that it has a glass door but only holds about 6 clutches. Last year it was great but this year I might have to make something bigger.
I also added a small fan into mine. You can buy some computer fans now that even have USB cables with wall adapters so they can be plugged into a power strip.

I've had trouble loading pics but here goes another try. This is the one I built and it works great. It holds up to 19 of the 6qt tubs or 13 of the 15qt tubs.






[IMG]/Users/michaelporter/Pictures/iPhoto Library/Previews/2015/01/03/20150103-135715/UQJcDITVQ7agmFTF5n81bA/IMG_1168.jpg[/IMG]

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...5/img_1168.jpg

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...5/img_1172.jpg

Easy as pie to build your own. A level, square, cordless drill and your supplies are all you need. Downsize on my version a bit to suit your needs.

As you can see in the post, it is as stable as a rock ;)

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...rogress-thread