Planning ahead ... Incubator concerns

[Serpent_Nirvana]

I've been dabbling in python breeding for several years now, with a few successful babies hatched, but the part that has always confounded me is incubation. I love pythons (balls and bloods) but the incubation aspect has always made me contemplate throwing in the towel and buying a bunch of boas.

This year, I thought I had a fail-proof incubator -- I built it out of a perfectly-sized dead minifridge, hooked it up to a good proportional thermosdat, and even added a fan to circulate the air. Very quickly, we discovered that it was overheating in the extreme heat waves the northeast got this year, so we moved it to the basement. This worked for awhile but eventually the basement heated up, too (not exceedingly so, mind you -- never greater than 78F or so) and the 'bator started to cook again.

Towards the end, the ambient temp in the basement was ~77F, but the incubator was pushing 95-97F consistently despite my eventually unplugging the heat source entirely. (I would open the door a crack to cool it down, which sometimes worked but sometimes made it TOO cool ) What baffled me even more was that after the few babies that made it were safely removed and whisked away to their tubs, the (now empty) thing soared to 100F despite ambient temps being no more than 78F, and no heat source plugged in at all.

My thought for this upcoming season is to upgrade to a larger 'fridge in the hopes that a bigger space will hold the temps more stable ... But I'm still very concerned.

Has anyone ever dealt with this before? What do all y'all do in even hotter parts of the country?

[kellysballs]

You could just buy an incubator. We used a Georgia Quail Farms 1250R for 2 years before we built our fridge incubator.

One thing is your incubator needs to be kept in a room with a constant temp. It also sounds as if you may need to make sure your thermostat is keeping proper temps. (can't think of the work right now but it means when the thermostat says it is 80 degrees it really is 80 degrees).

The only other thing I can think of is your heat source may be to much for the space? ( doesn't seem like it should matter but just a thought)

[kellysballs]

(can't think of the work right now but it means when the thermostat says it is 80 degrees it really is 80 degrees)

calibrate!!!

[mpkeelee]

calibrate!!!

LOL

[Gloryhound]

I don't think the 1250R incubator is available anymore. I think they are up to the 1550R with a digital T-stat and to get the R version you have to call and make a special request.

With that said we use a 1250R we got before the line ended and on day one of getting it I rewired the whole thing with Ranco T-stats. I also make sure to use more than one T-stat on an incubator that way I have a comparison. This year we also tried out a natures spirit incubator. It worked, but I was a little disappointed in the cost verses materials. The walls are only about a 1/4" thick which IMO is way too thin for good insulating qualities. I'm going to make some mods and see if I can't make it a little more efficient for next year.

As far as your temperatures climbing like that goes, something external had to be adding heat. Be it sun through a window or the rooms actual temperature was exceeding what you thought was only 77 degrees. Heat is a version of energy. Energy can not be made for free. If your Frig is going to 100 degrees without being plugged in or any external heat source being added, I would be selling the thing for millions!

[dr del]

Hi,

In situations like that most people find it is the fan that is producing the heat.

12v computer fans produce less heat than mains voltage ones in general - as the transformer is outside with the 12v fans this is also a major factor as those kick off a fair bit of heat in an enclosed space.


dr del

[mechnut450]

i guess i am just lucky . i never had a problem with my home made one (outside the weekend th ac died and it was like 94 inthe shade the incubator got to like 93 but i have had no issues withit . i also say either it too larger od a heat source or your using a 120 fan ( they make some heat ) I have my coke machine set up with 4 in flexwatter ( about 8 ft ) and it bearly ran once up to the set temp. I founfd the dual reading acrite temp gauhes work great have it setting on the top and the probe part inside the rack ( hanging righ wit hte thermostat probe ) and get a reading. i run a third oneto juct measure the egg temps so I can see how much adjustment I might needot makewhe nI set it all up.( weeks befoer the eggs are due start setting up and aajduting it until you get a stable temp reading).

[Serpent_Nirvana]

Oh man, I think Dr. Del hit the nail on the head. Just checked it and now that the fan is unplugged, the 'bator is the same temp. as the rest of the basement. Dangit! And I thought I was being so clever by adding one.

... I'll get this right one of these years ...

So, now, new question Assuming I can't find a Georgia Quail Farms 'bator (which I think I am going to look for; you're the 2nd person now who has recommended them ), what do people recommend using for a fan? Should I look for a different (smaller) fan? Or should I try and upgrade the size of my 'fridge in the hopes that A. the amount of heat the fan puts out will be dissipated in the larger interior space and B. I get enough clutches to justify (and necessitate) a larger 'fridge?

Thanks everyone!

[Quiet Tempest]

If your incubator is holding temps well without it, I wouldn't worry about the fan.

[dr del]

Hi,

Most people use the computer case fans run from a phone charger or similar small transformer I think.

You don't need a huge powerful fan just to keep the air moving - but bigger blades turning at a slower speed is probably going to work out best. You can also add a dimmer switch after the transformer to allow you to further control the speed of the fan.


dr del