getting ready for eggs!!!!

ok well about 5 months ago i started on an incubator, i was making it out of a door fridge, well i realised that it would only hold like one small clutch box, so now i built one out of a big fridge. and i added the two strips of 3" by 3' flexwatt i had for the small one its not enough so now my question is can i run two mor peices at 6 foot lengths or do i need to do 4 at 3'. another words will it hurt to run a couple differnt flex watt lengths on one therm.

also what size tubs should i use and how often should i open the incubator and the tub to check it. and do you ever add water to the vermiculite perilite mix or does the humidity keep it rite durring the entire incubation.

im just currious what everyone does during the incubation time.

i use sweater boxes with UTH taped to bottom. t-stat probe inside by eggs. and i set the tub on top of snake racks. room is heated too 83 degrees 24/7 365.

I dont set the tubs up into a egg holding compartment

My last incubator I had two strips, equal lengths, each wired separately and plugged into my t-stat and it maintained temps within .5 degrees over the 2 x 60 days without concern.

I would be concerned about the size of the fridge though, each time you open it you will get heat loss and a lot, will take awhile to get your heat back. But if your tub temps are on track it should not be huge.

I run my thermometer inside the tubs... and I used tubs that were a bit wider and shorter than a shoebox. That fit 6-9 eggs comfortably.

And yes, you have to top off your water throughout. Every time you open them you lose moisture.

I used hatchrite as well and was very pleased with it.

Hope that helps, I am sure others will chime in with good info.

Bruce

i was told to put a ton of water bottles in there to retain heat. the bottles warm up and help to get it back to temp faster.

when you said you topped off the water in the egg tubs how did you do that.

i have noticed that some people when setting up an egg box some put the eggs strait on the vermiculite, and some use the light defusers what do yall feel is best?

First off let me explain the benefits of a light diffuser. when using Vermiculite if your Eggs can either be too wet, or too dry, it needs perfect amount of water. You want as high of humidity as possible to get a good hatch rate, this is easily achived with a light diffuser, you see you can add tons of water to the substrate with a diffuser and keep near 100% humidity. If you tried this without the diffuser, and the eggs were touching the substrate, and it was too wet? well your eggs could mold, or go bad. Basically the light diffuser is for piece of mind, and its not as critical to get the water to substrate ratio so precise.

I dont use a light diffuser BTW, it works great either way....but without light diffuser, measuring your water needs to be more precise. I just add enough water to the vermiculite that when i ball it up in my hands it clumps, but no water drips out, and when I crumble it up, it falls apart.

Good Luck, BTW the more water weight you have in the incubator the sooner your temps recover after opening the fridge.

I use an upright freezer. Its about 5 foot tall and about 2 foot wide. I have 1 piece of 11 in heat tape running down the back. That didn't seam like it was enough so I had some extra heat tape laying around. I added another two foot piece on the side. I use 6 qt or 12 qt tubs depends on size of clutch. I set up my incubator and egg boxes early like in January. I use the wireless thermometers from Walmart, the 9.00 ones. I also have two computer fans in the incubator. One on the top and in the back half of the freezer blowing down. One on the bottom in the front half of the freezer blowing up. With a fan you will want to make sure your egg boxes are sealed air tight. Most people I think use press and seal to seal their egg boxes. Or some kind of plastic. I like to air out the boxes once a week. Just open up check eggs and seal back up. I don't fan them or anything like that.

I mix my vermiculite like most people. Just enough water to clump, no water drips out, and falls apart when I break it up. The whole mixing vermiculite thing. Its not to hard, but easier if you can have someone show you. Check out Youtube some videos on there on how to mix up your vermiculite. Ive ordered a new video camera so when it gets here Ill try to get a how to video up. If your using the finer vermiculite Id add some pearlite to it. Maybe 1 cup pearlite to 2 cups vermiculite. That's about what I do. If your using the bigger stuff. Then you shouldn't have to. Also my egg boxes I fill them about half way up with the vermiculite. Anyways check youtube tons for videos on setting up eggs and all that.

thanks everyone. but when the eggs are in it do they maintain moisture in the egg tubs or are you adding water. if the eggs are on the vermiculite how would you add water and mix it without moving the eggs?

ok well im not finished with the incubator but i will post what we have so far.
the fridge!
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l8.../incubator.jpg
the latches to keep it closed and make the pos seal perfectly.
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l8...incubator2.jpg
the therm and power strip. (still have to make everything neat)
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l8...ncubator-1.jpg
inside it with fan.
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l8...tapeandfan.jpg
all inside view i need more heat tape.
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l8...eincubator.jpg

I use hatchrite, but I regularly wipe the lids of my egg boxes to keep moisture from dripping down onto the eggs. That is why I top the water up.

I did not use the light diffuser method, but have heard good things about it.

I could kick myself for not having this handy, but I believe Becky (SatanicIntention) has a great method handy for doing this. That way you do not have to worry about your eggs coming in contact with too moist a substrate or getting too dry.

A few times I did end up with my eggs getting small soft windows from too much moisture, but in all honesty it was not that hard to correct. I add very small amounts of water at a time, but I would not recommend it, as it may only take once to lose a clutch.

Check into the substrate-less means of hatching if you are concerned.

Bruce

can someone locate the link to the light defuser method?

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...t=71770&page=2

Post 13 gives an example... I guess same deal as setting up the usual, just you have a bit more leeway with your moisture. :)

Bruce

where would one find a light diffuser for the egg incubators.

Home Depot, or any other closely related store.

Bruce

i have seen them at pretty much all home improvement places.

Yep, I set up my egg tubs pretty similar to that. I mainly just use perlite though since vermic can be expensive in my area. Tiny bags for about $7, bleh.

I used 15qt tubs and 6qt tubs last season depending on clutch size. Filled the tub about 1.5-2" with perlite/vermic(or a combo of both), then fill with warm water until it's soppy, but firm enough so the grate doesn't sink into it. The mixture will drip when you pick it up and squeeze it. That's the point.

Then get some wire cutters and cut the light grate to the size of the tub. Lay it on top of the perlite/vermic mixture and press down and see how far it goes in(yes, I'm so scientific, LOL). If the grate sinks too far, then you have too much water. You want a little water pooling in the bottom of the tub, but not much.

Then get some Press N Seal or Saran Wrap(I've used both) and stretch it across the top of the tub. Make sure it's taut so that no droplets pool and drip on the eggs.

Get your digital thermometer probe and stick it in there in the middle. When you have eggs, stick the probe on top of the eggs(just resting on top).

I would consider removing the 3" and getting some 11". The 3" takes more electricity to keep the incubator at a steady temp and will constantly be on. The 11" doesn't take much effort to get temps up to par and then will turn off. Less heat and less electricity used.

If you can, I would try to make your fan point down, and get another fan to install on the bottom to direct air upwards. This will make the heat circulate more efficiently.

You will also want to have a tub of water(6-15qt) in the bottom of the incubator. This gets the relative humidity of the incubator up and will create alot less(or no) condensation in the egg tubs. No condensation means no drips. This helped me alot and none of my eggs got dripped on.

Also, tape up or silicone any wiring. It's not going to hold up to the humidity and can fail or worse, short and cause a fire. Seal it up as best you can with electrical tape and then tape around it all with the foil tape.

I have some pictures of my glass front fridge(6+ft tall x 2ft x 2ft) if you want to see it. Egg tub pictures are somewhere :)

just curious... in the substrateless method, why are you still using substrate?! Why not only use water? as long as its not deep enough to get past the difuser, then why use the substrate at all?

The substrate keeps the water from sloshing around and getting the eggs wet. It also holds up the light diffuser grate instead of having other things underneath, such as pieces of PVC tubing, hold it up.

Plain water and light diffuser suspended by something works fine also, I just never have used it because of the slosh issue.

when you put the temp prob in do you run it in between the tub and the press and seal or do you put a hole in the lid and the seal.

so do yall add tons of water bottles to the void areas like all the door shelves. or can you have to many

Or you can use the wireless thermometers and just have the wireless unit sitting next to the eggs and the larger receiver on top of the egg tub it is measuring(I numbered mine and just had them all sitting on an empty shelf).

Two Liter bottles filled with water in the door would be great. Alot less heat loss when you open the door. I didn't do that because well, I don't buy 2 liter bottles. Maybe I'll try it the next season and see how it goes.

i bought several cases of water battles and im just lining the doors and a few empty shelves with them. there will be something like 50 water bottles in it lol. it dont look the best but im after function not fashion.

does anyone have any tips or pointers, or see anything wrong with the incubator.

ok the incubator are up and running. i added two 8 foot peices of heat tape and it much better now. so which temp should i go by the temp in the incubator or the temp in the egg box?

what does everyone think the perfect humidity in the egg tubs should be.