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What incubator is the best to use for incubating tortoise and turtle eggs??

I use a Hovabator STILL AIR MODEL Incubator for my box turtle eggs. It has worked very well for me.

I like the Little Giant because it's priced right and the LID fits over the base.. so when placed the right distance from the wall it can be opened like as if it has "hinges".. as opposed to other manufacturers. The thermostat is consistent.. especially when used in a location where it has to "work" to stay UP to temps.. which is a universal rule anyway..



My eggs don't hatch chickens tho' - they hatch these.. [ sorry 'bout this ]..

I have a little giant , havent hacthed any eggs with it yet. (they are still incubating) But it runs great! That little light comes on and off, and it keeps a constant temp. I paid 49.00 for mine

I was just looking at my incubator and guess what? It's not a Hovabator, but a Little Giant 9200 like the one Redfoot NERD posted above. It's has worked well the past few I've been using it.

Oh man a guy was selling one for 20 bucks, I missed out on that one. Cute picture Terry, I would much rather have a tort then a chicken anyday!!

Jen, I use the Hovabator STILL AIR MODEL. It is the only one I have used but it got me my three new hatchlings. And seemed to work fine. Not too expensive and they have them on e-bay as well as feed and grain stores around me.

Some advice , never buy a used one. This is one time its worth shelling out a few extra bucks. When it comes to our eggs its worth it.

Great advice RFBT I totally agree.

Thanks for that advice, that is actually why I missed out on it, I was worried about buying a used one. I am going tomorrow to buy one from the feed store. How long do they usually last??

Ok so I got my incubator - what temps do I need to incubate at to get females? Russians, Sulcata, boxies? I was given a sulcata egg to use for a demo and it was suppose to be nonfertile but It has turned white and has a solid dark mass at the bottom, so I thought about putting it in the incubator to do a test run? I have the temp at 85. For those of you that have the little giant do you remove both red plugs or just one?

Do you put water in the wells on the bottom or in a cup??

Jen, I only removed one red plug (careful put it someplace safe-I lost mine) and I put the water in a bowl with a sponge or paper towels in it. The egg I put in another bowl with vermiculite in it. You need to make sure you have a humidity monitor in your incubator as well as the thermometer (I kept my humidity at about 70 % but that was for Greeks). Good luck on your egg. Sounds fertile to me. Any stats on this from Sulcata breeders?

PATMAN Wrote:I was just looking at my incubator and guess what? It's not a Hovabator, but a Little Giant 9200 like the one Redfoot NERD posted above. It's has worked well the past few I've been using it.

I was under the impression that the Lil' Giant and the Hovabator are one and the same...just different brand names on them.

Yvonne

Yvonne, here is a site that compares the two they are actually made by different manufacturers and have different heating systems.
http://www.poultryconnection.com/quacker...rtest.html

hovabator is on your left (with egg turner, which we do not want) and the Little giant is on the right


Seems the biggest difference is in the way they are heated.
Hope this helps.