Official Incubator Thread-Tips & Comments

[ama1997]

I made something like that for my first ball clutch. Only out of a 10 gal fish tank. Covered with a piece of glass. Work pretty good i had 3 out of 4 eggs hatch. The one that went bad didnt look good when i found it. Now i do the old fridge thing with 4 foot of 11 inch heat tape on a Helix. The tank thing worked but i feel better about the fridge on the Helix. Also it will take me some time before i need to get something bigger. The only thing i didnt really like about the fish tank setup. Was that i was always adding water to it. The heater needs to stay under water all the time so it dont burn up i guess. With what i use now i only had to add water once in 60 days. I had 95% to 97% humidity the whole time.

[elevatethis]

anything for you robin!

im actually going to buy two 200 watt water heaters and build another incubator just like this. then ill wire the herpstat to control each one. i may need more room for the clutches.

the air stone is a good idea!

thanks guys.

Make sure that those heaters won't blow the herpstat...that's 400 watts of power, and I don't know how much power that herpstats are rated for...I know that it isn't very high.

Using an 11" piece of flexwatt in each cooler will be a whole lot more efficient than the aquarium heaters, as well as eliminate the possibility of the water pan drying out and killing the heater. A single piece of flex will have no problem heating that cooler to 88-89 degrees...just my .02

[jhall1468]

Make sure that those heaters won't blow the herpstat...that's 400 watts of power, and I don't know how much power that herpstats are rated for...I know that it isn't very high.

They are rated for 500 watts, the exact same as the DBS-1000. Herpstat II is rated 700 watts at each output.

[bigballs]

Make sure that those heaters won't blow the herpstat...that's 400 watts of power, and I don't know how much power that herpstats are rated for...I know that it isn't very high.

Using an 11" piece of flexwatt in each cooler will be a whole lot more efficient than the aquarium heaters, as well as eliminate the possibility of the water pan drying out and killing the heater. A single piece of flex will have no problem heating that cooler to 88-89 degrees...just my .02

the flexwatt idea sounds pretty good. i think i'll try it out tonight. do you rely on only vermiculite to keep humidity up in a setup like that? i guess the egg box should still be elevated over the heat tape right?

[West Coast Jungle]

My herpstat pro is rated at 400 watts

[Ginevive]

Why not go with Flexwatt? I would wager that it's more inexpensive than even a cheap aquarium heater (not including t-stat, but you need that anyway.) Here are some pics of my incubator from this season that worked stellar. I had 2 feet of 12-inch flexwatt in the bottom. I then put some water-filled pop bottles for ballast, that hold the temp. of the FW and store heat and help evenly distribute it. Then the light-crate went over that and acted as a shelf for the tubs.

[elevatethis]

the flexwatt idea sounds pretty good. i think i'll try it out tonight. do you rely on only vermiculite to keep humidity up in a setup like that? i guess the egg box should still be elevated over the heat tape right?

Exactly...you'd want your egg box to be sealed.

Remember, with a warm pan of water in the incubator, there's going to be a TON of condensation all throughout the egg box. Moisture + heat = mold.....

Using a sealed egg box keeps the humidity where it counts and keeps the rest of the incubator clean.

I'm not saying the aquarium heater won't work...I just think that flexwatt might be a more simple alternative.

[bigballs]

nice setup jen!

ok brad, so next question is: ventilation holes or no holes in the egg box and why?

[Ginevive]

The boxes you see, actually, I put holes into them shortly after setting up. I was noticing too much condensation in the boxes. And I was reluctant to place an open dish of water directly into the incubator, because I do not like the idea of mixing high humidity/water droplets, with flexwatt and electricity. So on a whim, I melted the holes into the boxes, and it helped to get rid of the condensation and even things out in that department. I am nto sure that holes in the boxes would work for everyone, but it worked for me.
I should add; my substrate was a mixture of larger-particle vermiculite and perlite.

[elevatethis]

nice setup jen!

ok brad, so next question is: ventilation holes or no holes in the egg box and why?

No holes in the egg box. If it makes you 'feel' better, you can open up the egg box once a week for fresh air, but it's not necessary, probably depending on the size of the egg box. Doing that traps in the humidity as well as stops any flow of air in and out of the box - a key element to maintaining a consistant temperature in the box itself.

I used 15 qt sterilites with Glad Press 'n Seal over the top with the lid snapped on. 100% hatch rate.