Incubator Questions

I'm planning on breeding some of my animals this up coming season and wanted to get my DIY incubator up and running before hand. I used a 150 quart cooler which will hold four 6 quart tubs which will work for me as I will have a max of three clutches. Please take a look and tell me if I'm missing anything as this will be my my first attempt at breeding. Thanks

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/h...DSC00057-1.jpg

I know I will need to get a different thermostat that is proportional but for now to make sure everything works I used what I had laying around which is a Ranco.

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/h...6/DSC00058.jpg

I plan on filling the bottom with 2 liter water bottles laying directly on the heat tape. Will this cause any problems?

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/h...DSC00061-1.jpg

I currently have it running with the thermostat set at 90 degrees with the probe laying on the middle on the shelf and it seems to be holding quite well. Is this probe placement ok? Any insight or feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

If possible would the mods please move this thread to the DIY forum. Thanks

I'll pass along what my breeder does and why he does as it makes perfect sense. I don't breed myself so it is what I have seen not done myself. His egg containers he angles forward slightly. a few degrees or so. When condensation forms on the lids it runs forward and down the side rather than drip on the eggs.

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Originally Posted by mp27006

I currently have it running with the thermostat set at 90 degrees with the probe laying on the middle on the shelf and it seems to be holding quite well. Is this probe placement ok? Any insight or feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

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Looks great. :gj:

Once you get eggs, put the probe in one of the tubs, preferebly one of the middle tubs...along with a thermometer probe...

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...71stclutch.jpg

I have a similiar setup as yours...I have the thermostat/thermometers mounted to the front with all the cables going through the drain hole...

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a386/sho220/inc3.jpg

look great for me..:gj:

Looks like a good set up. I don't have my water bottles sitting on the flexwatt, but I don't think it's a problem. Someone else would have to chime in about that. I also put my probe in the tubs and had good luck with that. Are you going to have a fan in there? Computer fans are really easy to wire, all you need is an old cell phone charger.

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Originally Posted by SlitherinSisters

Looks like a good set up. I don't have my water bottles sitting on the flexwatt, but I don't think it's a problem. Someone else would have to chime in about that. I also put my probe in the tubs and had good luck with that. Are you going to have a fan in there? Computer fans are really easy to wire, all you need is an old cell phone charger.

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I have a 4" dc fan mounted on the left blowing over the heat tape and water bottles. Do you think this is enough?

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Originally Posted by mp27006

I have a 4" dc fan mounted on the left blowing over the heat tape and water bottles. Do you think this is enough?

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You don't even need a fan for that setup...water bottles aren't really necessary either...certainly doesn't hurt anything though...temps come back up pretty quickly on the cooler incubators after opening the lid...as long as you're using the right size flexwatt...which you are...:)

If you like peaking at your eggs and don't want to worry about the temp dropping, you can cut a piece of plexiglass that will sit right inside the top of your cooler on the little lip that goes all the way around. Lets you open it up without any heat getting out...just have to cut it to the right size, grind a little notch for the lid strap and put something like a zip tie through it to pull it open. It's hard to see, but the pic below shows mine...the little blue thing is a zip tie...I drilled two holes and wrapped it through...

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a386/sho220/inc1.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a386/sho220/inc2.jpg

The pen is actually sitting on top of the plexiglass lid...not on the egg tub...you can also see the little zip tie handle...

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a3...20/eggbox1.jpg

I did not use flexwatt, rather I wrapped a heat cable around my bottom layer of pvc. I then layed egg crate over that layer with a fan atached (cut out the midfdle section of egg crate) and set my water bottles on top of that layer of egg crate around the fan. I then places another final layer of egg crate over the water bottles and this held my containers. I used a smaller cooler, but the concept is the same for the most part.

Looking good! Since you're trying everything out before hand, you might as well try out mixing substrate and getting the right humidity. This will prevent you from having as many surprises when the real deal comes. I had humidity troubles my first time, and ended up using an egg grate on top of some vinyl mesh (can be found at craft stores), which allows for dumping a whole lot of water in there without the eggs coming into contact with it, and without the substrate sinking with the adding of fluid. It worked really well.

Another tip for humidity would be press-n-seal ontop of your tubs, under the lids. Just make sure to air it out regularly. :)

Also my 2cents on putting bottles in the 'bator. I think it is a really good idea, not so much for getting back warmth after opening it up, but for if the power goes out. In the middle of my incubation period this year, a bad storm hit, and I lost power for 4 days. I was able to hook it up to run with my car until we got a generator..but the temp had barely dipped between when the power went out and when I noticed that it went out. Chemically, water will retain heat longer than most other substances will. It's just another safeguard, and imo it is worth it.

Good luck on your efforts! :gj: