Incubator recommendation?

What incubator would you recommend for a newbie just hoping to hatch 1-2 clutches of eggs this year?

Thanks in advance.

Styrofoam cooler, a few inches of water in the bottom with a porous sub floor. Place a fish tank thermostatically controlled water heater in the water and place Tupperware bins with vermiculite on the sub floor. If you want to get fancy you can place a small fan in there for better air flow.

Get it all set up and adjust the water heater until the ambient air temperature is where you want it.

If all you are doing is a couple clutches this will work great and requires a small investment.

Check out hot box incubators. I plan on getting one from them.

A thermostat will e the most expensive piece of equipment for your incubator.
Make one out of anything that is insulated. :gj:

I love my wine cooler incubator

:snake: I was going to post my own thread asking similar questions but I figure I can just add to this one. FIRST, I did check the stickied posts at the top but the websites I was directed to were all (404 ERROR).

#1. INCUBATOR: I like the idea of the Styrofoam cooler. Could I use a fish tank tube heater to heat the water? I have them with the thermostats built right into it so I can control the temperature of the water pretty easily. If I can, what temp should I have in there?
#2. Has anyone ever used an Exo Terra Incubator? If so, is it a nice incubator?
Here is the one I was looking at for $149.00 before I saw about the Styrofoam one: http://www.bigalspets.com/exo-terra-...g0GhoCvF7w_wcB

#3. The minerals that go in the 6 qt container that the eggs goes into (vermiculite), where do they sell those at? Are they something I can buy at the store or do I have to order online?

Is there any other advise you can give to someone going into their first breeding season? I already have one pair but I am looking to get at least one more female ready for this years breeding. I don't want to start out with more than I can handle so I won't have anymore then 2-3 clutches.

Thank you all in advance and God Bless!

A small cooler and a RELIABLE thermostat which will be the most important and most expensive part of your incubator.

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#1. INCUBATOR: I like the idea of the Styrofoam cooler. Could I use a fish tank tube heater to heat the water? I have them with the thermostats built right into it so I can control the temperature of the water pretty easily. If I can, what temp should I have in there?

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Some people have done it , I would not do it or trust it, I have been into fish a LONG time and water heater fail a lot more than a reliable thermostat will, ultimately YOUR choice, you want to incubate at 88-90.

A better option is het tape and a RELIABLE T-Stat.

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#2. Has anyone ever used an Exo Terra Incubator? If so, is it a nice incubator?
Here is the one I was looking at for $149.00 before I saw about the Styrofoam one: http://www.bigalspets.com/exo-terra-...g0GhoCvF7w_wcB

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Very small and expensive and I would not trust the internal T-Stat

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#3. The minerals that go in the 6 qt container that the eggs goes into (vermiculite), where do they sell those at? Are they something I can buy at the store or do I have to order online?

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You can find vermiculite or perlite at feed stores and/or gardening supply stores, make sure there are no additives.

IMO the Exo Terra is too small. A 6 qt tub will not fit. I built mine from a wine cooler. The Styrofoam cooler should work fine. I would just do some searching and get some ideas on building it. I would think that you can just use water, an aquarium heater set for 89, couple of bricks, and a light diffuser. It's fairly simple.

I have heard bad reviews on the exo terra incubator.

Yes, the fish tank tube heater is the one I was referring to. Get a good one, as stated above the cheap ones can fail. I however do not agree that all of them are unreliable. There are quality ones out there that I have trusted to keep reef tanks warm that had more money in fish and corals than any amount of eggs I have incubated.

As far as temp setting, that you will have to play with. Try setting it at the temp you want as your ambient. Let it equalize the check ambient. Raise or lower from there. The nice part about using water and a water heater is that it helps with humidity and having a large body of water as your heat source will keep temps very consistent.

Vermiculite can be purchased at most stores that have a garden center.

Like I stated above, this is the most cost effective way that I have found to build a reliable incubator. If this is potentially a one time thing for you, it is a great way to get started. If you are planning on building a business breeding high end snakes on a large scale, this is not for you. If you want something a little nicer and have more money to spend, the wine coolers make awesome incubators. Just make sure to get good heat panels and a good thermostat. There are also a lot of you tube videos showing how to convert them.

I have 6 fish tank tube heaters right now, 3 good ones, 3 cheap ones. One of the good ones I have was about $45. It's about 10" long and has a thermostat at the top of it. I did not buy it brand new but it does work good. Would you trust it if it were you? I would like to buy a incubator as this is something that I'm sure I'll do for a long time (and I want to do it right) but I am not opposed to building one if it does the trick, at least for my first year anyway.
I still have a lot of research to do but I believe I got a pretty good idea to start with.