So... made an incubator. Anything to change?

I have the 48 quart cooler, heat pad, thermostat- and so this is it? Does this work? I don't need fans for this size incubator?

Is there a better place to put the probe? I'm just going to set the herpstat at 88.5

Also, this is another thermostat's probe, just for placement for this thread LOL.

That's foil tape. Is that okay, or is there another tape I should be using to keep the heat pad there?

Going to stick in an Acurite hygrometer/thermometer inside the egg tub, is that right?

https://s12.postimg.org/h17ywk1ml/unnamed.jpg

I would put a layer of water bottles on the bottom to help maintain temperature when opening and closing.
I would also put the thermostat probe inside the tub with such a small area.

What Rob said, and no personally I would not put a fan.

Next step is to have it running for a week or two and make sure it works and provide proper temps, dialing everything before having to use it will save you the worries.

Will do!

For putting the probe inside the tub, you mean burning a little hole to stick it through?

I drilled a small hole in the top of my lid to place the probe through and then sealed it up with foil tape, worked great. Instead of water bottles I used another tub and filled it with water and then sealed it shut with foil tape, the incubator box rested on top of the water filled tub better than it fit on the rounded bottles.

Okay will do =)

Unrelated news, I just offered my new butter female an f/t medium rat, and she didn't want anything to do with it. And it made me realize I TOTALLY forgot to ask the seller what kind of prey she was on.

I'm screwed...

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

Will do!

For putting the probe inside the tub, you mean burning a little hole to stick it through?

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I usually still a hole, get the probe through tape it in the inside of the lid and put tape on the outside also to cover the hole.

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

Okay will do =)

Unrelated news, I just offered my new butter female an f/t medium rat, and she didn't want anything to do with it. And it made me realize I TOTALLY forgot to ask the seller what kind of prey she was on.

I'm screwed...

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Just call them and ask.

Just give them a ring, unless you're saying you're screwed because you have no place to get live in case that's what she was eating.

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Originally Posted by Neal

Just call them and ask.

Just give them a ring, unless you're saying you're screwed because you have no place to get live in case that's what she was eating.

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I did ask and got a reply soon after I posted, and she was on live rats. I'm just glad she wasn't a mouser!

I guess I have some work cut out for me... I'll need to try converting her to f/t, because the most local live rat provider I know is still a 40 minute drive.

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

I did ask and got a reply soon after I posted, and she was on live rats. I'm just glad she wasn't a mouser!

I guess I have some work cut out for me... I'll need to try converting her to f/t, because the most local live rat provider I know is still a 40 minute drive.

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Ouch, that sucks.

If you like I will give you some recommendations on ft feeding that may or may not help you.

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Originally Posted by Neal

Ouch, that sucks.

If you like I will give you some recommendations on ft feeding that may or may not help you.

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Of course, any tips or recs would be great! Because apparently the method I used to get my male onto f/t didn't work for her at all. (Scenting the thawed rat with mouse poop and dunking it in warm water)

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

Of course, any tips or recs would be great! Because apparently the method I used to get my male onto f/t didn't work for her at all. (Scenting the thawed rat with mouse poop and dunking it in warm water)

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Yea, I won't even go there, lol.

Okay, so after you've thawed and heated up, try this:

The rats on whatever you put them on, take your hairdryer and turn it on the low setting and heat them up with the hair dryer which will also scent the room very well and trigger that feeding response. The one thing you have to watch out for is lunging snakes.

So when you're trying to feed your girl, instead of grabbing the rat by the tail, which most people do, use the tweezers/forceps(long ones) and grab the rat behind the skull, somewhere before mid back and make him move. You can have him hover above the substrate and all. Hopefully this will work. I've used this method on my stubborn ones who didn't want to convert.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Neal

Yea, I won't even go there, lol.

Okay, so after you've thawed and heated up, try this:

The rats on whatever you put them on, take your hairdryer and turn it on the low setting and heat them up with the hair dryer which will also scent the room very well and trigger that feeding response. The one thing you have to watch out for is lunging snakes.

So when you're trying to feed your girl, instead of grabbing the rat by the tail, which most people do, use the tweezers/forceps(long ones) and grab the rat behind the skull, somewhere before mid back and make him move. You can have him hover above the substrate and all. Hopefully this will work. I've used this method on my stubborn ones who didn't want to convert.

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Thanks, I'll try the hairdryer method. I've seen it posted but never needed to use it.
I do the whole scruff of the neck and twitching slightly thing every time now, which I found out about way back when I was trying to convert my last stubborn live eater... And now I've got another one on my hands. :zerb:

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

Thanks, I'll try the hairdryer method. I've seen it posted but never needed to use it.
I do the whole scruff of the neck and twitching slightly thing every time now, which I found out about way back when I was trying to convert my last stubborn live eater... And now I've got another one on my hands. :zerb:

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Yea, the hairdyer thing works great because what I tend to notice is that after warming up in warm water, they can lose temperature quicker than you want, with the hairdryer method they seem to stay warmer a bit longer, plus it puts them into that feeding mode.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by redshepherd

Thanks, I'll try the hairdryer method. I've seen it posted but never needed to use it.
I do the whole scruff of the neck and twitching slightly thing every time now, which I found out about way back when I was trying to convert my last stubborn live eater... And now I've got another one on my hands. :zerb:

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Getting the prey warm enough is step number one. After that, the most common mistake when trying to convert to f/t is being too eager and shoving it in their face - which is just going to set you back to square one 9/10 of the time. Work that rat like it's alive. Sometimes a break in the line of sight helps to get them interested. If you have a big water dish you can "crawl" the rat around, bringing it just within striking range then back out a few times.

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Originally Posted by John1982

After that, the most common mistake when trying to convert to f/t is being too eager and shoving it in their face - which is just going to set you back to square one 9/10 of the time. Work that rat like it's alive. Sometimes a break in the line of sight helps to get them interested. If you have a big water dish you can "crawl" the rat around, bringing it just within striking range then back out a few times.

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Never tried or heard of that one before, so I'll try it- thanks! I do stick the rat's nose in their faces.

Cool job on the incubator! Grats. :gj:

Question: I have heard that tape is not safe with snakes. What type of tape IS safe? So is Fiona's reflective tape okay?

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Originally Posted by mom_of_bananachip

Question: I have heard that tape is not safe with snakes. What type of tape IS safe? So is Fiona's reflective tape okay?

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Tape is not safe in a snake enclosure they will sooner or later get caught in it and it should be avoided.

This is an incubator and an egg box that will contain eggs and where hatchlings will be pulled out soon as they hatch.

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Originally Posted by mom_of_bananachip

Question: I have heard that tape is not safe with snakes. What type of tape IS safe? So is Fiona's reflective tape okay?

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Something felt weird when I read this and I realized it's because you called me by my name! LOL

Yeah, there are no snakes in this box, it is just an egg incubator.

oh wow looky u! 1st u built a GTP enclosure and now an incubator! congrats!

remember it's a 10k walk to hatch the coolest ones. ;)

I just wanted to add, since it was the topic, my adult butter girl ate f/t!!! I thawed the rat on top of her tub with holes the entire afternoon, heated the rat with a blowdryer near her tub, and she was ready to eat by the time the rat went in. I hope this keeps up!

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Originally Posted by Ax01

oh wow looky u! 1st u built a GTP enclosure and now an incubator! congrats!

remember it's a 10k walk to hatch the coolest ones. ;)

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Right?? I could totally build a house now :P