Official Incubator Thread-Tips & Comments

im posting up pictures of my first attempt at making an incubator. it consists of a styrofoam box, plastic tub, "egg crate" lighting cover, and fish tank water heater. i will add a thermostat later on for precise temps.

styrofoam box

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...cubator005.JPG

inside w/ egg box

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...cubator001.JPG

inside w/o egg box

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...cubator003.JPG

inside w/o "egg crate" cover

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...cubator004.JPG

the materials used are easy to find. the styrofoam box was given to me by the fish department of a pet store. the water heater and plastic tub(small kitty litter tub) were purchased at a pet store. the "egg crate" ceiling tile was purchased at home depot. the egg box can be found at any department store. and i will be ordering the thermostat online.

so far the temperature inside the egg box is hitting 92-93 w/o a thermostat at full power. those temps are too high for bps eggs and i will be adding a herpstat or helix to get the temps perfect.

i have read that ball python eggs must be incubated at 88-91 degrees.

the egg box measures 10" x 16" and i will be using vermiculite as a substrate.

i'm not sure what the wattage of the water heater is but without regulation at full power it reaches 92-93 degrees inside the egg box so the addition of a thermostat is all that is needed to correct this.

right now i am testing the incubator before i get eggs so i am ready for them when they come!

many people ask about incubators so i hope this thread can help out. please comment on my incubator and make suggestions on what i can improve. i encourage readers of this thread to post pictures and information about their methods of incubating eggs whether its 1 or 100 clutches.

enjoy!

Your incubator set up looks good, I did the same thing back in my colubrid days.

A few pointers I can share, keep an eye on the aquarium heater, not sure of the quality you are using but the ones I had would crack from over-heating after a while. I then purchased a Ebo-jagger and never had that problem afterwards.

You also might not be able to incubate more then 2 clutches of BP eggs in that setup. Looks good to go after you calibrate it with a rheostat or t-stat. As for temps, aim for 89 and you'll be fine.

Good luck

Marc

One word:

Helix.

im kind of a herpstat kind a guy...

i guess ill have to make another incubator to be safe then. im hoping for at least three clutches this year.

do you think that the water heater can create hot spots directly above it?

No, it won't create hot spots. One thing I would suggest would be an airstone just short enough to fit inside the long side of the tub, opposite of the heater, and an air pump. This will get your humidity up to 98-100%, and will circulate the water sufficiently to keep it "fresh"

I would also suggest getting the highest wattage aquarium heater you can find that will fit in your tub, or possibly two smaller ones. This will reduce the load on the heater(s), and lessen the likelyhood that you'll have a burnout.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bigballs

im kind of a herpstat kind a guy...

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I'm a herpstat guy also! :)

Wow, you have me re-thinking my incubator plans. Yours is so simple (and that's a good thing)! Thanks for posting that!

anything for you robin!

im actually going to buy two 200 watt water heaters and build another incubator just like this. then ill wire the herpstat to control each one. i may need more room for the clutches.

the air stone is a good idea!

thanks guys.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bigballs

anything for you robin!

im actually going to buy two 200 watt water heaters and build another incubator just like this. then ill wire the herpstat to control each one. i may need more room for the clutches.

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Why dont you just get a fridge/mini fridge off craigslist? It would cost you less than one herpstat. Then you could go with a different heating element, such as flexwatt. And thne you would only need one herpstat.

i will only need one herpstat to control both styrofoam incubators as well. the heat source for both incubators is a 200 watt water heater so one herpstat should be enough to control them.

i only hoping for a few clutches this year anyway so hopefully this works for me!

I made something like that for my first ball clutch. Only out of a 10 gal fish tank. Covered with a piece of glass. Work pretty good i had 3 out of 4 eggs hatch. The one that went bad didnt look good when i found it. Now i do the old fridge thing with 4 foot of 11 inch heat tape on a Helix. The tank thing worked but i feel better about the fridge on the Helix. Also it will take me some time before i need to get something bigger. The only thing i didnt really like about the fish tank setup. Was that i was always adding water to it. The heater needs to stay under water all the time so it dont burn up i guess. With what i use now i only had to add water once in 60 days. I had 95% to 97% humidity the whole time.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bigballs

anything for you robin!

im actually going to buy two 200 watt water heaters and build another incubator just like this. then ill wire the herpstat to control each one. i may need more room for the clutches.

the air stone is a good idea!

thanks guys.

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Make sure that those heaters won't blow the herpstat...that's 400 watts of power, and I don't know how much power that herpstats are rated for...I know that it isn't very high.

Using an 11" piece of flexwatt in each cooler will be a whole lot more efficient than the aquarium heaters, as well as eliminate the possibility of the water pan drying out and killing the heater. A single piece of flex will have no problem heating that cooler to 88-89 degrees...just my .02

Quote:

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

Make sure that those heaters won't blow the herpstat...that's 400 watts of power, and I don't know how much power that herpstats are rated for...I know that it isn't very high.

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They are rated for 500 watts, the exact same as the DBS-1000. Herpstat II is rated 700 watts at each output.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by elevatethis

Make sure that those heaters won't blow the herpstat...that's 400 watts of power, and I don't know how much power that herpstats are rated for...I know that it isn't very high.

Using an 11" piece of flexwatt in each cooler will be a whole lot more efficient than the aquarium heaters, as well as eliminate the possibility of the water pan drying out and killing the heater. A single piece of flex will have no problem heating that cooler to 88-89 degrees...just my .02

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the flexwatt idea sounds pretty good. i think i'll try it out tonight. do you rely on only vermiculite to keep humidity up in a setup like that? i guess the egg box should still be elevated over the heat tape right?

My herpstat pro is rated at 400 watts

Why not go with Flexwatt? I would wager that it's more inexpensive than even a cheap aquarium heater (not including t-stat, but you need that anyway.) Here are some pics of my incubator from this season that worked stellar. I had 2 feet of 12-inch flexwatt in the bottom. I then put some water-filled pop bottles for ballast, that hold the temp. of the FW and store heat and help evenly distribute it. Then the light-crate went over that and acted as a shelf for the tubs.

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...ncwholed-2.jpg

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s...ncboites-1.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bigballs

the flexwatt idea sounds pretty good. i think i'll try it out tonight. do you rely on only vermiculite to keep humidity up in a setup like that? i guess the egg box should still be elevated over the heat tape right?

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Exactly...you'd want your egg box to be sealed.

Remember, with a warm pan of water in the incubator, there's going to be a TON of condensation all throughout the egg box. Moisture + heat = mold.....

Using a sealed egg box keeps the humidity where it counts and keeps the rest of the incubator clean.

I'm not saying the aquarium heater won't work...I just think that flexwatt might be a more simple alternative.

nice setup jen!

ok brad, so next question is: ventilation holes or no holes in the egg box and why?

The boxes you see, actually, I put holes into them shortly after setting up. I was noticing too much condensation in the boxes. And I was reluctant to place an open dish of water directly into the incubator, because I do not like the idea of mixing high humidity/water droplets, with flexwatt and electricity. So on a whim, I melted the holes into the boxes, and it helped to get rid of the condensation and even things out in that department. I am nto sure that holes in the boxes would work for everyone, but it worked for me.
I should add; my substrate was a mixture of larger-particle vermiculite and perlite.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bigballs

nice setup jen!

ok brad, so next question is: ventilation holes or no holes in the egg box and why?

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No holes in the egg box. If it makes you 'feel' better, you can open up the egg box once a week for fresh air, but it's not necessary, probably depending on the size of the egg box. Doing that traps in the humidity as well as stops any flow of air in and out of the box - a key element to maintaining a consistant temperature in the box itself.

I used 15 qt sterilites with Glad Press 'n Seal over the top with the lid snapped on. 100% hatch rate.

so as long as the eggs dont get wet they should be fine and im guessing that the eggs dont need too much oxygen to develop and survive.
i have seen some pictures of eggs almost fully buried in vermiculite and then i have seen others of the eggs sitting on top of lighting crates on top of vermiculite.
i know that both methods work but what are the benefits of each? im still debating on which method i should use.

i have never attempted this before so im sorry to drag this on and on but this is my first year breeding and i really want all my eggs to survive. thanks for everything so far!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bigballs

so as long as the eggs dont get wet they should be fine and im guessing that the eggs dont need too much oxygen to develop and survive.
i have seen some pictures of eggs almost fully buried in vermiculite and then i have seen others of the eggs sitting on top of lighting crates on top of vermiculite.
i know that both methods work but what are the benefits of each? im still debating on which method i should use.

i have never attempted this before so im sorry to drag this on and on but this is my first year breeding and i really want all my eggs to survive. thanks for everything so far!

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I like the idea of the eggs being half-buried in the subsrate. Eggs like consistent temps, so being buried in the thermal mass of the box, I see less opportunity for fluctuation.

However, a lot of people are having good success with the no-substrate method, so it really amounts to just doing whatever helps you sleep best at night for that long 60 day span...

ok but if the substrate is too wet or too dry will it not kill the eggs? thats what im a little unsure about as i have never mixed vermiculite before. so i read its easier to save an egg that is a little dehydrated compared to one that absorbs too much water. im just not sure how much water is too much or too little. i guess i can play around with it until my hygrometer says 90-100%but that still doesnt measure the wetness of the vermiculite so i can see how some are comfortable with the substrateless method. although, like you i would feel a little more comfortable with eggs "sitting" on something...

i modified my incubators to use 11" flexwatt as the heating element.

heres how it looks now:

https://ball-pythons.net/gallery/fil...0443_thumb.jpg

it heats up great and no outside moisture can get into the egg box.