Last year, being my first year back in the ball python breeding game, I simply fired up one of the scientific incubators in my lab and incubated the eggs there. This year, that incubator was not holding a constant heat, fluctuating from 85 to 90. So, I decided enough was enough and I sourced an old Red Bull drinks cooler off of a Facebook group. Ordered some heat tape from Rich at Reptile Basics, and set about converting the cooler. I striped out the cooling system, the old fan, and then cleaned and sterilized it. Installed the tape, installed two fans (with blue LEDs as that is my daughters favorite color and she loves checking on the snakes), and added a few additional shelves, then fired it up. It is wired to a Vivarium Electronics VE200 set on pulse proportional heating, then backed up with a VE100. It holds temp beautifully and is thermally homogenous throughout the incubator. For under $200, I now have an incubator that can hold 12 Rubbermaid shoeboxes or 18 Iris shoeboxes. I am only running two of the heat tapes and the third is simply a backup if needed.
Completed incubator
As I got it.
Warren