Hovabator and reptibator vs. the pricier incubators?

I'm looking at them here on big apple herp: http://www.bigappleherp.com/REPTILE-SUPPLIES/Incubators

I only need to incubate one or two clutches at a time, so looking at really small time incubators. Do any of these incubators on that site work well? Which one should I get? For those who have used one of these, have you needed to make some modifications/add something to improve it?

I'm not handy at all, and I'd rather spend some extra money to just buy a suitable incubator than to build one..

Or which incubator do you recommend for just one or two clutches?

Very small and no reliable thermostat that can be trusted so you are looking at another $100 on the top of those prices.

Neither of those will fit a 6 quarts tub.

Hovabator is a chicken incubator that you can pickup at feed store for $45, it is nothing more than a Styrofoam cooler. The so called T-stat is very unreliable.

If you don't want or can't build your own (and it does not take someone handy to do so ) you need to look into nature spirit or hotbox, might be pricier than those you mentionned but you will have more room and you will have something sturdy and reliable.

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Thanks for the info- I didn't realize it was a chicken incubator LOL!

I'll see what I can do about building one or maybe if natures spirit can make a custom small incubator... I'm worried I'll miss something or mess something up if I build it.

Building one is not that hard. It can be fun, as well. If you send me a pm with your email address. I will be happy to send detailed instructions,on how I build them. Believe me you don't want to use one of those incubators. You are talking about. Besides you are thinking about one or two clutches. That want last long, you will be addicted to the whole breeding challenge just like the rest of us. So send me a pm I'll be glad to help you in any way I can.

I used the reptibator for my first two clutches, it worked okay, but my room was warm so I'm sure that helped with keeping the temp up. Before a power outage doomed my last clutch I was fighting the thing on a daily basis trying to get the temps to hold. So I've since trashed the thing and am going to build an incubator out of a large cooler. I plan on eventually spending the money and getting a REALLY nice incubator but until then building one will work just fine. So I guess they "can" work looking back I probably should have held onto it for colubrid eggs, because the temps stayed in the 80s really well, well low 80s anyway. So I suppose moral of the story is, build or buy a good one that's going to cost decent money.

Get a cooler, toss a heating element(tape, coil, pad, cable, etc) in it, tape a thermostat probe near/on your heat source, plug stuff into outlets. You just made yourself a donkey kicking incubator that will hold temps better, or at least as good, as 90% of the name brands out here and your only real expense is the thermostat - don't go cheap there!

I own a Nature's Spirit, and personally would recommend getting a Hotbox over one of those. The build quality of my Nature's Spirit is not impressive and far from perfect, though for now it works. And Chris at CSerpents/Hotbox is a great guy to do business with.

That said, when I was only incubating a couple clutches, I used a standard chest cooler that was 20 bucks at the department store, a pre-wired strip of heat tape measured to fit the bottom of the cooler that I bought from reptile basics, a computer fan(also from RBI), and water bottles. Had 100% success rate with the hatchlings. I did use a Herpstat to control my temperatures, though, and highly recommend the brand. There are also a range of options available at: http://www.reptilebasics.com/thermostats depending on what you're willing to spend.

I'm kinda convinced to build one now LOL. I still have a few questions, like how do you wire the heat pad/tape to the thermostat outside the cooler? And where to pull in the fan wires? Drill holes? Where do I drill them? And where is the exact placement of the probe?

Where is the correct placement of the fans, and is it possible to have too much or too little wind? What kind of fan would I need for what size cooler?

And can I use a heat pad instead of heat tape? Do I just stick it along the back side of the cooler?

Is there a DIY for mini incubators for just a couple clutches? I know I won't have many clutches, ball pythons are definitely a smaller hobby for me.

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

I'm kinda convinced to build one now LOL. I still have a few questions, like how do you wire the heat pad/tape to the thermostat outside the cooler? And where to pull in the fan wires? Drill holes? Where do I drill them? And where is the exact placement of the probe?

Where is the correct placement of the fans, and is it possible to have too much or too little wind? What kind of fan would I need for what size cooler?

And can I use a heat pad instead of heat tape? Do I just stick it along the back side of the cooler?

Is there a DIY for mini incubators for just a couple clutches? I know I won't have many clutches, ball pythons are definitely a smaller hobby for me.

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When using a cooler I use one with a drain plug (120 quarts cooler can hold (8) 6 quarts tubs since you want something small), I pass all my wires through the drain plug and place some playdoh in the hole which I cover with tape afterward. (Better alternative than foam if you need to change a cable). If I use something without hole I drill one and do the same.

http://rs954.pbsrc.com/albums/ae26/S...h=480&fit=clip

Fans are not always necessary in small coolers (I have tried with and without with no difference)

When it comes to probe I always have a dummy tub in my incubator (set like a real tub no water just perlite), I tape the probe inside the lid and cover the hole I drilled with tape. The tub is placed exactly in the middle of the incubator.

I have done that for years and it never failed me but your dummy tub must be in the middle of the incubator (same principal that when you put a probe in the middle of a rack.). This way I don's have to worry about my probe getting lose if attached to the heat source.

http://rs954.pbsrc.com/albums/ae26/S...h=480&fit=clip

And yes there are diy in the diy section for various size incubators, it's not that hard the most important to keep in mind is to get a RELIABLE thermostat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by John1982

Get a cooler, toss a heating element(tape, coil, pad, cable, etc) in it, tape a thermostat probe near/on your heat source, plug stuff into outlets. You just made yourself a donkey kicking incubator that will hold temps better, or at least as good, as 90% of the name brands out here and your only real expense is the thermostat - don't go cheap there!

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That's basically what I did for my first clutch ever which was beauty snakes. Worked great no problems and every egg hatched with no deformities. I had it on a Herpstat:)

Thanks, that helps a lot- the playdoh is especially a good idea LOL.

I think I'll make one and probably take some pics and post them on the forum to doublecheck if I got everything right. And definitely not going cheap on the thermostat, will be getting a herpstat.

Last question, say I get a small cooler that can only hold three tubs or something- would smaller coolers be less safe/fluctuate temps? Or would it still be okay?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

Thanks, that helps a lot- the playdoh is especially a good idea LOL.

I think I'll make one and probably take some pics and post them on the forum to doublecheck if I got everything right. And definitely not going cheap on the thermostat, will be getting a herpstat.

Last question, say I get a small cooler that can only hold three tubs or something- would smaller coolers be less safe/fluctuate temps? Or would it still be okay?

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A small cooler will work just as good, I have a 48 quarts cooler incubator that work great I use it for my colubrids.

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Sorry, bombarding with a couple more questions...

I see the DIY threads line either the bottom or the back with water bottles, what is their purpose and are they really necessary? And some other incubators don't have water bottles at all?

Also, what are the oxygen needs of the eggs? How many holes do I poke in the 6qt tub holding the eggs? How often should/shouldn't I open the incubator for air circulation or to not disturb them at all?

And... how many cm of water do you use below your egg crate, assuming substrateless? What is the humidity requirement of the eggs?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

Sorry, bombarding with a couple more questions...

I see the DIY threads line either the bottom or the back with water bottles, what is their purpose and are they really necessary? And some other incubators don't have water bottles at all?

Also, what are the oxygen needs of the eggs? How many holes do I poke in the 6qt tub holding the eggs? How often should/shouldn't I open the incubator for air circulation or to not disturb them at all?

And... how many cm of water do you use below your egg crate, assuming substrateless? What is the humidity requirement of the eggs?

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The water bottles allow to retain heat nothing more, I do not use any.

As far as oxygen your eggs will be fine, do not put holes in your tubs or your humidity will go out and you will be at risk to dry out your eggs and you want your humidity to be as close as possible to 100%.


If you feel compelled you can open your incubator and look through the tub but that should be it. If set right there is no need to open the eggs box until the last week of incubation at which time you can air out the eggs every other day by opening the egg box for a few minutes.

Basically you should put your eggs in and forget about them.