Maybe? Styrofoam cooler help

In the last 4 days I've noticed that my normal girl who I hooked with my het pied...has wrapped her self up tight on the warm side and has gained a bit of girth all around. Last night her tail looked a bit sucked in and her end half was laying on it's side. No ovulation or shed as of yet but I have a feeling that she has something going on inside of her. She seems to be getting a bit on the lighter side.


I'm going have to build an incubator asap! I was going to take Jen/Gin's incubator idea... but I've yet to be able to find a locking Styrofoam cooler and would you believe that a huge fish store here will not let me have OR buy a fish cooler that they get fish shipped in. >.<

Any one know where I can get a locking/tightly sealed Styrofoam cooler? I have a red playmate cooler down my basement that I could use... but the flexwatt wire makes the lid not fit completely tight.


I'm just freaking out now because I've seen other threads saying their snake laid eggs with out any sheds or caught ovulation. She looked to be in "egg laying" position last night before I went to bed. I was hoping to god that I wouldn't fine any eggs this morning.


Here are two pictures of her:

http://primevalbeauty.com/DSCN0742.JPG

Does your plastic cooler have a water drain?

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Originally Posted by PythonWallace

Does your plastic cooler have a water drain?

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No it does not. If it did I'd have no problem running the flex wire though it.

That's what I was getting at. :) You can use the plastic cooler or buy a new cooler and drill a 5/8" hole in the bottom and make your own drain hole using this: http://www.wormsway.com/detail.asp?sku=R303CT
You can epoxy it in and it will be permanant and water tight, but you can unscrew the end to drain water and put your probes and cord through while incubating. Just trying to be inexpensively creative.

around here in cali, the 7 elevens have cheap styrofoam coolers with a handle that locks the lid. becuase they are so cheap you can put hols right in the side just big enough for your probes wires and what nots.

Thats my problem. I can't find a cooler around here in January. >.<
I guess I can drill a hole on to the one I have.

Argh. I can't believe that they won't at least sell you a cooler. :( Have you tried outdoor-type stores? Maybe they'd have them.. not sure. If not, your regular cooler sounds like it'd work fine. It might actually insulate better, as my styro one had a lid that set-on top, but it did not lock and required some weight (a few bricks) to hold it shut firmly. I wanted to go with the "food cooler" option, but mine was way too small for that..
I would get something together fast! That tail-puckering, in my experience, is a good forerunner of egg-laying. I put my incubator together last year in about one day (had the FW, thermostat, soda bottles and eggcrate.)

I'll be making one tomorrow.

I have to find a box that will fit in to the cooler I have. I also have to find perlite mix OR I may just buy hatch right offline. She's back to normal again. Don't know if that was ovulation or not.

Allison,
This is another thought for you that I learned from a friend (we use it for actual coolers used for icing down drinks, but it would apply to cooler incubators too). Most plastic coolers have a lid that is hollow, yet have insulation on the sides and bottom. Our way to fix this is to drill 2 holes in the side of the lid, one on each side. Then go to Home Depot and buy a can of Great Stuff. Insert the Great Stuff extension in to the hole and fill the lid with Great Stuff. After it dries, you will have a lid that is insulated as well as the sides of the cooler. Some Great Stuff will come out of the holes after it is finished expanding, and we just trim that off.

I would think that this method would also help to keep in heat, and make a more stable incubator.

Hope this helps.

That's a good idea Tim. I never liked the fact that coolers have hollow lids, but I never thought about using expanding foam to fix it.

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Originally Posted by PythonWallace

I never thought about using expanding foam to fix it.

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It'll keep a case of beer cold for days, even if you leave the cooler in the back of the boat in the sun. (I promise, we've done it many times) It will keep ice for at least three days.

p.s. we learned this idea when we were out of power for 31 days after Katrina.

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Originally Posted by lillyorchid

Thats my problem. I can't find a cooler around here in January. >.<
I guess I can drill a hole on to the one I have.

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My Walmart had styrofoam coolers just last week in the camping area.

Thanks Tim for the idea. I set up the cooler I have now and I'm currently giving it a test run to see if it will work for an incubator. I think I'll go out and grab a can of Great Stuff and do that as well.

Allison,
If you do the Great Stuff, let me know if it improved your temps in the cooler.

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Originally Posted by lillyorchid

Thanks Tim for the idea. I set up the cooler I have now and I'm currently giving it a test run to see if it will work for an incubator. I think I'll go out and grab a can of Great Stuff and do that as well.

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Cool! I am glad that things are working out for you.

Have the the helix temp set to 89.. and the air temp in there is only 73. How long does it take to stabilize?

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Originally Posted by lillyorchid

Have the the helix temp set to 89.. and the air temp in there is only 73. How long does it take to stabilize?

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It depends on how many watts total your flex watt is. When I set mine up with 5' it took about 2 1/2 hours. When I doubled it it only took about 45 minutes.

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Originally Posted by muddoc

Allison,
This is another thought for you that I learned from a friend (we use it for actual coolers used for icing down drinks, but it would apply to cooler incubators too). Most plastic coolers have a lid that is hollow, yet have insulation on the sides and bottom. Our way to fix this is to drill 2 holes in the side of the lid, one on each side. Then go to Home Depot and buy a can of Great Stuff. Insert the Great Stuff extension in to the hole and fill the lid with Great Stuff. After it dries, you will have a lid that is insulated as well as the sides of the cooler. Some Great Stuff will come out of the holes after it is finished expanding, and we just trim that off.

I would think that this method would also help to keep in heat, and make a more stable incubator.

Hope this helps.

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OMG!!!!! Tim a million genius points for you today bro!!!!!:bow::bow::bow::bow::bow::bow:

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Originally Posted by PythonWallace

It depends on how many watts total your flex watt is. When I set mine up with 5' it took about 2 1/2 hours. When I doubled it it only took about 45 minutes.

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The piece of flex I have in the cooler now is 11"X1 foot. It's been in there for about 6 hours now. Hmmm I don't think this is going to work. :confused:

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Originally Posted by lillyorchid

The piece of flex I have in the cooler now is 11"X1 foot. It's been in there for about 6 hours now. Hmmm I don't think this is going to work. :confused:

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No way. It'll never do. :tears:

Hm.. I put the thermostat probe right into the substrate of one of the egg boxes.
If it was in there that long, I think that maybe you need a larger piece of FW? I used enough to completely stretch from one side of the cooler to the other. I actually had too much (3 feet) last year, so lobbed it off for 2 feet.

A MILLION thanks to Amber aka ivylea77!!!!

She had an old little mini fridge that she turned in to a incubator. She no longer needed it and offered it to me. My b/f and I drove up there yesterday and picked it up. IT WORKS GREAT!!! Thank you so much once again!!!!!

Quality Dairy will sell you a locking top styrofoam cooler for like.. 7 bucks...