thermostats and home made incubators

Hello,

Im new to the forum. I have 1.2 balls. My male is a pastel and the females are normals. One of my females is definitely building follicles. They feel marble sized. Im SO excited! :D

Im looking to set up an incubator and am wondering if a ranco or johnson would be ok to use? I realize they are both on/off thermostats but would it work?

Also the mini fridge I will be using is 36" x 18" x 18", I plan on using an ultratherm to heat it as I dont feel comfortable wiring the flexwatt myself. Would you suggest the 11x17, 11x29 or the 11x35?

thanks so much for your time!

~Maizie

For an incubator i would definately use a proportional thermostat... you will not get the temp fluxuations that you would with a ranco... and in an incubator thats important.

I just bought 4 of these today i hear they are better than Helix...? Plus they are not much more than Rancos
http://spyderrobotics.com/products/herpstat.html

Good luck!
Jon

I am not an expert. I do own the book written by Kevin McCurley of NERD "The Complete Ball Python". On page 102 he says - "An ideal incubator will have the following features: 1 : A quality thermostat to control the temperature - probe types are the best. A simple on/off type works well; proportional ones are great but no better in this situation. I do not like chicken wafer style thermostats, they are crude and difficult to use." Now I have often heard the mantra of the proportional thermostat in regard to incubation but it would be hard to dispute the knowledge of NERD concerning ball python breeding.

I believe that NERD actually uses Herpstat though. At least that's what Kara told me when I told her I just purchased my Helix for mine.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NextWorldExotics

For an incubator i would definately use a proportional thermostat... you will not get the temp fluxuations that you would with a ranco... and in an incubator thats important.

I just bought 4 of these today i hear they are better than Helix...? Plus they are not much more than Rancos
http://spyderrobotics.com/products/herpstat.html

Good luck!
Jon

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BUY THIS UNIT. Seriously, get a Herpstat. I've heard good things about the helix, but my herpstat cost $50 less than a Helix and works GREAT!!!

Dion the owner is a good business man. Will give you any update you want on the status of your order.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rabernet

I believe that NERD actually uses Herpstat though. At least that's what Kara told me when I told her I just purchased my Helix for mine.

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I am controlling an incubator with a Herpstat myself. I just reported what I read and it makes sense to me. An on/off thermostat should provide less variance than occurs in nature.

I would defintiely recommend a proportional thermostat for an incubator. You might want to consider using an on/off t-stat for a backup.

Yeah I have definitely decided to go with a herpstat.

now my dilemma is.. how much flexwatt I will need. Or what size ultratherm I will need.

flexwatt is much cheaper but I am worried about wiring. I dont know anyone who solders and I dont have the special crimping tool. but gloryhound did give me a good idea in another post (thanks for that btw).


sorry about all the Q's I just want to do this right on the first shot :)