T-State and Incubator Question

Hey guys! So I am trying to get my incubator all set up and running to make sure that everything is good to go for when I finally get my eggs. So here is my question...

Where is the best place to get a t-stat from and what brand/model does everyone recommend?

My set up is a small wine cooler, I plan to drill a hole in the back to feed the chords out, then fill the whole with foam. I am gonna have a dummy tub inside the incubator and that is going to be where the probe is placed.

I use two thermostats on my Incubator, one a proportional that adjusts the power to the Flexwatt and a back up one that is on/off. In fact, every thermostat I have is backed up with an on/off Thermostat.

I've been using Vivarium Electronics, they carry both the on/off and proportional thermostats. They can be found at ReptileBasics.com. Great company to do business with.

I suggest a Herpstat for an incubator. You really can't go cheap when it comes to that or you could end up with dead eggs. I got mine from here. AND it's on sale! I got mine for $118 shipped, now it's marked at $98.89 shipped, how cool! Anywho, good luck :)

I use herpstat on mine. The hole for the probe and tape cord is drilled through the top (its a huge upright freezer) and the prob free hangs about half way down.

I wanted to put it into a dummy tub just to make sure the temp reaching the eggs through the container is exactly spot on lol. I am being a tiny bit anal about making sure everything is perfect for my little egg babies.

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Originally Posted by Crawly's Mom

I wanted to put it into a dummy tub just to make sure the temp reaching the eggs through the container is exactly spot on lol. I am being a tiny bit anal about making sure everything is perfect for my little egg babies.

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That is a very good thing to do. :gj: I set up an incubator, got the temps spot on, then let it sit. When I put egg boxes together when the eggs came, the temps fluctuated when I started filling the incubator up. Now, when I get the incubator ready, I test it with several egg boxes, prepared exactly as I'm going to use them to set the temps. I even leave a few of those egg boxes in the incubator so when the eggs come, I have everything ready and don't have to worry.

I would use a digital thermometer inside the tub instead of the stat probe

I also have an full sized upright freezer and I used a Zoomed Hygrotherm and it worked great. It never fluctuated more than 1 degree +/- 89. I will probably switch to a Helix or Herpstat in the future but I just happened to have this Zoomed lying around. I did however have 2 digital thermometers (1 on top shelf, 1 on bottom shelf) to regulate the entire thing. I have my sensor dead center of the incubator. I filled the dead air space with a bunch of gatorade bottles.

I have a wine fridge with a Herpstat. Has worked great the past 2 seasons without any troubles. I did initially test it with a helix. That was before I got the Herpstat. I feel comfortable using either.

Don, How is that t-stat from Vivarium Electronics? I have been looking at that for a couple of my pet snakes.

Herpstat all the way.

Dummy tubs work fine as long as you have room for one.

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Originally Posted by axeman569

Don, How is that t-stat from Vivarium Electronics? I have been looking at that for a couple of my pet snakes.

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I like them. I have a couple of the VE200 proportionals on some baby racks and I use the VE100's as back up safety thermostats on all of my racks. They stack nicely and you don't have to worry about mounting them on anything. They are becoming my favorite thermostat. Herpstat comes in second.

Right now I am only expecting 1 clutch. I do have two other females that are breeding weight, but none of my males are breeding weight except my spider. I don't want to aim for three spider clutches, since all my breeding females right now are normals. I was hoping that Sinatra would put on weight so that I might be able to breed him mid to late next year.