Last minute stress, please help!

[ADEE]

Ok, Arian had her prelay shed and were expecting eggs in about 20 days or so... heres the problem. We had counted on getting an incubator in daytona, that didnt happen because there was one person with them and it was HUGE! so now were down to the wire and we MUST get an incubator at least set up and running soon. I have absolutly no know how or ability to make my own, ive seen the DIY stickies and my DH does NOT trust either of us to be able to make one, so what do you suggest we get? Where should/can we order an incubator that can hold 2-3 clutches?? (at least 1 right now, we have another female who should have her prelay shed anytime)

Of course because this is our first time around im FREAKING out that were going to get eggs and have NO WHERE to put them!!!

help

[littleindiangirl]

Your expecting 1 or 2 clutches? A cooler incubator I think is your best bet. You can't really screw up making it. The thermostat does all the work. You just line the top edge with the 3" flexwatt, put in your medium, if you choose to use one, then seal the top with press and seal, voila! Egg incubator!

If you would still like to buy one, I think of Nature's Spirit. They make a nice one out of PVC, and has a helix... but I really can't think of any smaller sized ones off the top of my head.... >.<

Maybe your breeder friend has a some extra room?

[JasonG]

I'd go with the coolor incubator...You cant really go wrong with it.

[Spaniard]

If you don't trust yourself, Jake (Pythonwallace) has some nice looking incubators for sale...

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=64343

[FatBoy]

Have you concedered picking up a couple of Hovabators? I think they can be purchased at most any reptile supply online store. I have never used one but I understand they are pretty simple to use. Reptile Supply has them for $45 each. Not sure how many eggs they will hold. May be a quick fix to get you by this year.

[ADEE]

Thanks so much for your help everyone!!!

I have considered getting a hovavator but they are $79.99 down here and as far as i know only hold one clutch at a time, ive also heard they arent very reliable. It would work to get us by this year if we cant find something else in the meantime. I have read over the DIY and it doesnt look *that* bad. Is it really necessary i wonder to use the lighting (led) that is provided on the DIY sticky? I wonder if we can skip that part all together???

I spoke to my friend who is a breeder (Gold Coast Reptiles, he was right next to BP.net table this year) and he said he will take a look and see if he has a couple extra feet of flexwatt i can buy, as far as he knows you can only get a hundred feet at a time and obviously i only need a couple feet. If he does not have any flexwatt he has offered to lend me one of his small incubators to get us by until we can build our own. He said he would sell us a couple feet of it, he builds melamine racks every once in awhile (one of my racks came from him)

**CROSSES FINGERS**
im going to head to home depot this afternoon and see what i can get. I did buy an extra thermostat in case we decided to build our own incubator at the expo so thankfully i did one thing right hahahaha

[littleindiangirl]

as far as he knows you can only get a hundred feet at a time and obviously i only need a couple feet.

**CROSSES FINGERS**
im going to head to home depot this afternoon and see what i can get. I did buy an extra thermostat in case we decided to build our own incubator at the expo so thankfully i did one thing right hahahaha

You can buy as little as 1 foot of flexwatt if you wanted. Reptilebasics sells it that way.

You don't need anything fancy, just a cooler, flew, thermostat, medium and press and seal. I believe in you!!!

[ADEE]

Thanks Connie!!

I was just on beanfarm.com and was looking at 3 ft of the 11" flexwatt... its SO CHEAP (looks like reptile basics is even cheaper!)! why do people buy incubators retail cost lol.. im hoping i can make the incubator myself hahaha. It really doesnt look that hard at all. I wonder how many people have been successful with incubating not using a medium, i have read and heard people incubating the eggs right on the egg crate with a bit of water underneath it, the eggs never come in direct contact with the water, have you used that method?

God I feel like a new mommy all over!

[littleindiangirl]

i have read and heard people incubating the eggs right on the egg crate with a bit of water underneath it, the eggs never come in direct contact with the water, have you used that method?

God I feel like a new mommy all over!

We used that method. The eggcrate method, and so far I'm loving the results! *grabs pic*

Pretty much, we left the vermic soaking wet (so in case babies get underneath the crate, they don't drown in just water), and put some pvc connecters in the substrate to keep the egg crate up so it doesnt sink under the weight of the eggs. We sealed it up with the press and seal, and we have had excellent humidity, very little condensation, and so far the eggs look really good.

It's going well, and we have 8 days left!

[ADEE]

frackin' awesome Connie! Those eggs look awfully good if you ask me Good luck with them!! I have a "first timer" question for you.. im going to PM you with it though, thanks so much for all your help. I will be leaving here in a few to pick up supplies we need and wait for the order from Rich to get the flex watt.. by the looks of it i should be able to handle it, rich even said he would wire the flex watt for me so i dont have to electrocute myself hahahaha. (its in the fine print where he has the outlet wire advertised)

That looks great, Im going to for sure without a doubt do it that way. I spoke to Andrew (from here) and he said he used no substrate at all, just water under the egg crate and has had almost 100% success with it. I might even consider going that route (or something similar) with our leo eggs.