need help confused setting up incubator

I have a couple weeks before she lays but I want to make sure this thing is up and running and holding its temp before she does.
i bought a hovabator 1602N. It is used. First I want to make sure there are no missing parts I am not aware of so I have pictured all it came with. Second the instructions are geared towrds chicken eggs. I planned to use vermiculite and egg crate but this thing came with some plastic tray thing and a metal screen.

I am unable to get a thermostat for it so I plan to put a temp strip in it as well as a flukers digital hygrometer/thermometer and cheack on it 2 x a day to make sure temps are steady as well as I have a temp gun.

here is the bottom

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/DSCF8483.jpg

this is the top

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/DSCF8486.jpg

this is the plastic tray

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/DSCF8484.jpg

the metal screen

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/DSCF8485.jpg

this is the top it has holes in it, this is ok? not to much heat and humidity will be lost? The bottom has a few around the edges too.

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/DSCF8487.jpg

this is the instructions

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/DSCF8488.jpg
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/DSCF8489.jpg

and this part is where I get confused, cann I not just put wet vermiculite in the bottom?

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...7/DSCF8490.jpg

so how do i set this up? can i use the metal screen instaead of egg crate or should i use the egg crate or both?

how full of vermiculite should i use, or use the tray or both?

to take temps with my temp gun is it safe to open the bator? 2 times. 1 time in a day.
should i take the temp of the actuall eggs?
do you need to rehydrate the vermiculite any time during incubation? if so how much water should be added? I know it should be wet enough that only if you squeeze it should water release, but you wont be able to squeeze it once there ar eggs ontop of it.

any other info i am missing please add.

i dont have a hovabator so i dont know what should all be in it, sorry
you would be better off buying a digital thermometer. there is one people say is decent that can be found at walmart for around 12 ish bucks. Cant remember the name though

Quote:

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Originally Posted by matt71915

i dont have a hovabator so i dont know what should all be in it, sorry
you would be better off buying a digital thermometer. there is one people say is decent that can be found at walmart for around 12 ish bucks. Cant remember the name though

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i have a digi thermometer/hygrometer, made by flukers. it reads both humidity and temp. what i dont have is a thermostat. |I went to the hardware stores and wallmart but there wasnt anything that looked like it could be used with the hovabator

my bad i read over the digital part :)

I have that same model, and I made a few changes. First take out the tray and metal screen. I put all of my eggs (4) in a rubermaid tub, 6 Qt. I believe. I had plain small vermiculite in the bottom of that. You want the vermiculite wet, but not so wet that when you squeeze it, water will come out. After the eggs and vermiculite are in it, put some press and seal over the top. This will not fill the entire bator. I also put a small bowl of water in it, as well as a bit of wet spaghnum moss around the bowl. I put my digital thermometer/hygrometer outside of the 6 Qt. tub, and took the wire lead for the "outside temp" and placed it into the tub with the eggs. I also took the lead for my thermostat, and placed it in the egg tub.

The way I handled the temp issue is to start early. Way before the eggs get there. First, I adjusted the built in thermostat. it is not a good one on the Hovabator, so it is good to have an external backup. once I was anle to get that stable, I plugged it into my external thermostat, and adjusted it so that it would go off just before the Hovabator was set to go off. I have heard that if some thermostats fail, they will continue to heat. Having two will help a lot.

I do not have any pics right now as I already took my setup down. I hope this helps.:D

well i will not be able to get a thermostat, ive tried and cant find one that will work so I have no choice but to just check it alot. The only kind i can find are the kind that you wire into the walls of your home.

Hi,

Somewhere must sell reptile thermostats online surely?

You could even try dropping an email to some of the bigger Canadian reptile breeders and asking where they recommend to buy them.

I know over here only stores with a good reptile section sell thermostats - mostly they need to be ordered online unless you live nearby.


dr del

Hi,
I've never incubated before but I would think the holes--as big as they are--would be a problem for humidity. The reason they are there, most likely, is for air transfer as this is geared towards bird eggs, which from what I have read require fresh air. As I have heard that ball eggs do not, if I were you I would attemp to seal most of not all of the holes for the preservation of humidity. Saran wrap with tape overtop of the saran wrap to secure it down would work well to hold in humidity without possibly exposing an industrious, energetic baby to tape.

Just my thoughts.

Good luck!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kryptonian

well i will not be able to get a thermostat, ive tried and cant find one that will work so I have no choice but to just check it alot. The only kind i can find are the kind that you wire into the walls of your home.

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Greg West advertises herpstat thermostats for sale all the time on the ERAS forums.

Robin
H2 Exotics

ok well i am left in a pickle then, there is no way i can afford a couple hundred for a herpstat until the end of the month. I went off someones advise on a forum that you could use a themostat from a hardware store and that they got one from home depot. so for the last couple of weeks I have been trying to hunt one down with no luck. By the time i can get a herpstat payed and delivered these eggs will be layed and a couple weeks in. Just goes to show you cant always trust an "experts" advise. So I would like to know how to set this thing up and if its at all possible to hatch them without the thermostat. Perhaps someone on here has a non herpatat but a thermostat they are using for thiers that they could so kindly provide me with a brand and model number and then I can phone every hardware store in town. Even some pics or suggestions of a thermostat that will work that I can take to a hardware store and maybe get help. Something to get them by till I can get a herpstat.

If its an emergency situation which it appears to be, hit up your local pet store giant and buy a ReptiTemp 500r. It'll run you 20 bucks or so. Other alternatives are Ranco or Johnson Controls. Good luck.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pavlovk1025

If its an emergency situation which it appears to be, hit up your local pet store giant and buy a ReptiTemp 500r. It'll run you 20 bucks or so. Other alternatives are Ranco or Johnson Controls. Good luck.

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ya the petstores here dont carry that i have checked and the closest thing they have is the digi thermometers. I looked up ranco at the big harware stores already, i think that may only be a US sold product, ill check the johnson controls right away.
I am very frustarted now since I am getting so many mixed messages for advise and I am using a couple of forums. On another forum I was told that the model hovabator i have has a built in thermostat and that the guy was incubating corn eggs no prob with that alone. but here im told i need the herpsatat. Another forum i was told to go to the hardware store, did that. Argh!!!:mad:

i will call a couple of the small mom and pop pet stores tomorow for that repti temp but i doubt they will have it if the big chain stores dont. Otherwise i guess ill be spending alot of time at home for a while and checking the temp every few hours and adjusting the thermostat on the incubator if needed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kryptonian

ya the petstores here dont carry that i have checked and the closest thing they have is the digi thermometers. I looked up ranco at the big harware stores already, i think that may only be a US sold product, ill check the johnson controls right away.
I am very frustarted now since I am getting so many mixed messages for advise and I am using a couple of forums. On another forum I was told that the model hovabator i have has a built in thermostat and that the guy was incubating corn eggs no prob with that alone. but here im told i need the herpsatat. Another forum i was told to go to the hardware store, did that. Argh!!!:mad:

i will call a couple of the small mom and pop pet stores tomorow for that repti temp but i doubt they will have it if the big chain stores dont. Otherwise i guess ill be spending alot of time at home for a while and checking the temp every few hours and adjusting the thermostat on the incubator if needed.

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They do have a thermostat built in but it is known to be unreliable. You can chance it, but I dont recommend it and Im sure nobody else here does it. Search this forum for hovabator incubators and you'll see that some have had success and you'll also find stories about people that have accidentally cooked their eggs. It's playing russian roulette. Personally, IMHO, I wouldnt chance it and instead would just setup for a successful maternal incubation, only because the circumstances you are facing justify that decision.

will this work?
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ATC-300-TERRARIUM...n%3D3%26ps%3D5
or one of these
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ZILLA-1000W-REPTI...3A1%7C294%3A50
or this one
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Portable-Thermost...3A2%7C294%3A50

That second one should, the first one Ive never seen or heard of. Go with the second one for a quick fix.

or this one
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Repti-Temp-Remote...A2%7C294%3A200

That would be the ReptiTemp 500R we discussed earlier dude.
Here's your options in your current circumstance-

The Zilla
The Repti-Temp 500R
Maternal Incubation

Good luck.

i just noticed that.

i am going to attempt to get the repti temp, there is a chance that she will lay before it gets here, so i am hoping that if i set up the incubator now and run it till she lays to make sure temps stay constant then hopefully the eggs will be ok till this arrives.

I am unsure how you would use this, where does the probe go, do i stick it through a hole or does the entir unit go in incubator?
how do you hook up the incubator to the thermostat? is it similiar to using a dimmer, plug the power cord of the incubator to the thermostat?

Good choice. I also suggest putting the incubator in your most stable temperature room. I have a walk in closet that Im going to use to house my incubator when its time.

considering you have been doing this for a few years, and you knew you had eggs coming, i find it hard to feel sorry for you. You had money to spend on new snakes(5 new ones no?), but not to spend on taking care of the ones that you are breeding? If you can't afford to take care of them properly, why are you breeding them then?

A basic bare bones herpstat will run you around $100. I am pretty sure you spent more than that on your new snakes. :rolleyes:

Robin
H2 Exotics

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dr_Gonz0

considering you have been doing this for a few years, and you knew you had eggs coming, i find it hard to feel sorry for you. You had money to spend on new snakes(5 new ones no?), but not to spend on taking care of the ones that you are breeding? If you can't afford to take care of them properly, why are you breeding them then?

A basic bare bones herpstat will run you around $100. I am pretty sure you spent more than that on your new snakes. :rolleyes:

Robin
H2 Exotics

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actually i didnt know until just a while ago. i paired her but when i had her previous owner looked her over who bred her before he didnt think she took and i never felt any follicles. then i cuaght the ovulation. i bought this incubator a long time ago and i asked at the time if it needed anything extra and was told no. this is my first breeding. then when i noticed the ovulation i started a thread asking questions on what i needed, i asked for all the info i could get, i stated what i knew and if there was anything i missed. i barely got any responce on that thread and fianlly on the 19th of june someone mentioned a thermostat not a herpstat, so i went looking for one. I have also been talking with people who breed on another foum and many of them said this modell didnt require a thermostat. others said i could buy a thermostat at home depot so i went there but they didnt have anything, so as you see i have gotten all sorts of mixed messages. taking advise is obviously not the best plan in this situation since how do you know whos advise is right and whos is wrong? I checked into the herpstat and if you are getting them for 100 please share. the cheapest i saw was close to 200. 150 plus tax and shipping. and not that my finaces are anyones business but i do budget my aninmals. I stock up on food, i have a plan with the vet that if i dont have the money at the time the animal can come in and i will be billed and can make payments.if i need an emergency supply i work at a reptile store and can take what i need and pay later, they simply dont have herpstats, I also keep extra supplies incase of failure like extra bins, heat tape, dimmers in case my herpstat running the tape fails that can be used until i replace the herpstat etc. so i am able to care for my animals just fine. i bought the incubator and everything that was i thought was needed for it before i paired my girl. As for the snakes i bought, they were 5 ch, you should know that isnt very much and i bought them before there was any indication this girl was prego. And for your info and not really your business but the cost of those really didnt come out of my pocket, i took half the babies from a bag someone else bought as earnings for helping them with stuff. I only buy new snakes when i have everything else thats needed (that im aware of needed)payed for already.
this situation was brought on by the lousy timing of correct information. I was going on what i thought was right and was prepared as far as i knew until just 2 days ago.and btw some so called experts who breed all sort of reps who have this model are telling me the ooposite info still on the other forum i use, (no not eras) so who is right who is wrong. are they as successful breeders wrong to tell me i dont need the thermostat ?are the people herr as succssessful breeders being overcuatious and suggesting i buy something i dont really need?
can you not understand the situation when someone new at this cant get consistent info, might not do the right thing?
if you go back to the beggining of this thread it was not a help me im deperate to get a thermostst thread it was help me set up my incubator. i started it thinkin i had all that was needed and was preparing the incubator ahead of time. alot more responsible then the people wo come on here with a thread saying, oh no she layed eggs now what?
and i do plan to get that reptitherm, why shouldnt it work? Just becuase its not a herpstat? its still a thermostat.
so maybe you should keep that kind of opinion to yourself unless you know the whole situation.
so i am through with asking peoples advise becuase obviously you can be in a bad situation whether you ask or not, and id rather be in the bad situation without being slapped around on a forum by doing things by myself then trust the word of others and going through this crap.
and dont even start on the whole experience thing, how does one get experience if they dont actually do what it is they need experience for?I did breed ONE snake to gain some experience. even though i have more than one breedable animals and could easily have gone gung ho breeding them all. I simply chose to use the animall that was bred before, was more than big enough and that came from someone who i still have contact with so I can get help from, and he also did not mention a thermostat yet succsessfully breeds alot of animals. You cant be an experienced driver, or cook or parent etc if you dont drive a car, cook someones supper or have a kid now can you?Of course you would do these things with guidance form someone experienced, this is what i thought i had done, ya right huh?

Advise is one thing, you coming on here RC, and ERAS and asking every single question, even the basics is another. New to this? Considering you have been talking about breeding for 2 years that i know about, one would assume you had done some research of your own instead of asking everyone else to do it for you. Google isn't hard really that hard to use. Neither is the search function on the reptile forums you frequent.

As for not asking about a thermostat but asking about a incubator, it is one and the same considering you need one. I don't why you would assume you didn't need one, or my personal favourite from another thread, that your thermometer would control the heat, which is beyond me, considering they are not even connected in any way, shape or form. You even own a herpstat already, so how you didn't know that was a thermostat is mind boggling.

Like you said, you had paired them up. If you are breeding animals, you need to be prepared. Considering you had never used that incubator before, might it not have been a good idea to see if it worked before even attempting to breed?

As for you blaming all these so-called experts for bad advise, it brings me back to my original point. Why don't you try doing some of this research yourself instead of blaming other people. The only person that got you into this fix was you and your assumptions.

As for my opinion, i will post it where i like. This is a public forum, and once you post a thread or post, it is anyone's right to respond to it. The fact that you don't like the answer doesn't have much bearing on it.

I can't say i am surprised by this though, from a person who takes her corn snake outside in winter with a smoke for her at the ERAS meetings. Snakes and minus 20 weather ... hmmmm.

Robin
H2 Exotics

As for these CH that you spent no where near $100 for. Isn't that what you are now selling them for? Even though they are still being force fed? I can't believe anyone would advertise a BP for sale that is not taking food on its own. I find it reprehensible.

Robin
H2 Exotics

Ok folks,


Time for a keyboard break.

If you are going to resort to bickering back and forth take it to PM's or put each other on ignore to prevent the possibility of someone getting carried away and earning infractions.

As to the incubator discussed it does contain a wafer thermostat which may be why people told you that nothing else was needed. However there have been a few posts of people reporting them as being prone to failure which is why a lot of people choose instead to use a third party thermostat in line with it instead.

There have been people both praising and condemming the reptitemp 500 and I have personally never used one to have formed a definate opinion.

There must be other thermostats available online in Canada, on off or proportional, that cost less than the top end models but still work effectively.

The chances of you finding them in shops may be small but emailing markus jayne or similar still sounds like a quick way to find out what is available and probably even where and how much it costs.


dr del

I am no longer responding to dr gonzo and have sent a pm asking for him to quit puttiong me down publicly. I do have a business and feel the need to correct his comment. he has left out parts of the truth and i dont need my reputation ruined becuase of that, Fpr others info, yes i have ch, so does alot of poeple. what i paid for them is no ones business. i sell them at the price I do to deter those who are looking for a cheap pet that they dont care about ditching later on. I am very successful selling them at this price and i have recieved feedback from the few i have sold in the past that has been very positive. I do not and will never sell a non feeding animal to the general public, i like any other breeder have advertised my snakes as being available soon not now for anyone who wants to put one on hold. I see alot of breeders advertise thier babies the minute they have hatched so I see no difference in what I have done. And I am not force feeding them, I am assiting and there is a difference. Forcing them is to actually cram the food down thier throat and into thier stomach. I assist bt simply placing the prey in thier mouth and allowing them to do the rest. If they dont take the prey this way I leave them alone till next feeding. I have gotten all my babies to eat well this way. Usually I only have tO assist them a few times and after that they are consistant on thier own. This is why i have advertised as available soon as thier feeding responce is getting much better and I have no doubt they will be consistant f/t feeders within the next couple of feedings. the others of the 5 are its just the 2 that need a little more time. As well as making sure my babies are feeding before i release them to a new home i offer to assist the new owner with any help they may need. If thier animal stops feeding i will help them to work out why and if that does not work i will take the animal back and get it feeding for them agian. I also offer a 2 month health guarantee, thats longer than alot of people offer. Anyhow if you find there is an error in my ways then by all means buy from someone else, Im not out there to gain customers with lies and false promises, i simply want my animals to end up in good homes and to have a good start in life. If that means keeping a baby till its a year old cuase it wont feed then I have no problem with that.