# Eggs cooked! (Warning regarding exo-terra incubator)



## turtlesteve (Jan 5, 2016)

OK I'm more than a little unhappy right now. I've been excited all month as my redfoots are laying. 
But came home from lunch today to find the incubator malfunctioned and eggs cooked. The incubator gauge indicated 39F, but a second thermometer inside was pegged at >140F. After powering off/on, it reset and the temperature reads correctly.

This was an exo-terra heat/cool incubator. So please if you use one of these incubators, take precaution (hook it up to a separate temperature controller or something)!

I wish I had researched this better before using it, seems like reviews on this unit are mixed.

At least it didn't wait a month, only had 3 eggs so far and expect the female to lay again.

Steve


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## Jodie (Jan 5, 2016)

That stinks. Thanks for the info.


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## Maggie Cummings (Jan 5, 2016)

sucks


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## Pokeymeg (Jan 5, 2016)

What a shame :-(


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## wellington (Jan 5, 2016)

So sorry. So are you getting a different one or hooking this up to a thermostat?


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## Kapidolo Farms (Jan 6, 2016)

I had one of these for awhile and passed it on to someone with essentially your warning. I've found the Reptibator from ZooMed to be the better quality/price point incubator out there. No cooling feature, but they keep the temp real well.

You can increase their capacity by using foam insulation board and making them an inch or two taller as well, they still work with the slightly expanded capacity.


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## turtlesteve (Jan 6, 2016)

wellington said:


> So sorry. So are you getting a different one or hooking this up to a thermostat?



I tried to turn the faulty incubator back on today and now all the display says is "EE". So looks like I'll be using a reptibator if she lays again. In any case I intend to use a second (redundant) temperature controller. 

Steve


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## cdmay (Jan 7, 2016)

Sorry. But the good thing is that you will likely get more eggs and then proceed from there.
I've been accused (rightly so, I might add) of being too Old School by the likes of Allegra and others. But I have to say that there is something to be said for keeping it simple. There are many 'new' and complicated incubators on the market now but I've found that the very simple and easy to use Hov-A-Bator bird egg incubators are still the best. Been using them since 1980 and have had no reason to change.
They're inexpensive, easy to set up and work for years--I have one going now that is ten years old. 
Yes, there are many 'hi-tech' incubators out there now, but you can keep 'em... I'll stick with the Old School stuff.


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## Kapidolo Farms (Jan 7, 2016)

cdmay said:


> Sorry. But the good thing is that you will likely get more eggs and then proceed from there.
> I've been accused (rightly so, I might add) of being too Old School by the likes of Allegra and others. But I have to say that there is something to be said for keeping it simple. There are many 'new' and complicated incubators on the market now but I've found that the very simple and easy to use Hov-A-Bator bird egg incubators are still the best. Been using them since 1980 and have had no reason to change.
> They're inexpensive, easy to set up and work for years--I have one going now that is ten years old.
> Yes, there are many 'hi-tech' incubators out there now, but you can keep 'em... I'll stick with the Old School stuff.




These are great, and you can increase their capacity the same way, using a fish shipping foam box or insulation foam board. I only fault them for being to short on the inside. But for a few eggs that's not an issue.


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## Tom (Jan 7, 2016)

cdmay said:


> Sorry. But the good thing is that you will likely get more eggs and then proceed from there.
> I've been accused (rightly so, I might add) of being too Old School by the likes of Allegra and others. But I have to say that there is something to be said for keeping it simple. There are many 'new' and complicated incubators on the market now but I've found that the very simple and easy to use Hov-A-Bator bird egg incubators are still the best. Been using them since 1980 and have had no reason to change.
> They're inexpensive, easy to set up and work for years--I have one going now that is ten years old.
> Yes, there are many 'hi-tech' incubators out there now, but you can keep 'em... I'll stick with the Old School stuff.



I 100% agree! I've incubated dozens of clutches in plain old regular Hovabator still air incubators. Frankly they work, the are reliable, and they are half the price of the new fancy ones. Little Giants work well too.

I tried one of the ZooMed Reptibators. It worked fine, but the temperature on the digital read out was no where near the inside temp. I had to ignore the display and just set the temp inside according to my thermometers. It also had too much ventilation and I had to plug a bunch of holes to keep humidity up.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!


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## Anyfoot (Jan 7, 2016)

Tom said:


> I 100% agree! I've incubated dozens of clutches in plain old regular Hovabator still air incubators. Frankly they work, the are reliable, and they are half the price of the new fancy ones. Little Giants work well too.
> 
> I tried one of the ZooMed Reptibators. It worked fine, but the temperature on the digital read out was no where near the inside temp. I had to ignore the display and just set the temp inside according to my thermometers. It also had too much ventilation and I had to plug a bunch of holes to keep humidity up.
> 
> If it ain't broke, don't fix it!


Huh, my reptibator is set 2.5°c higher than I want so I get correct temp inside at egg level. Also I'm struggling to keep humidity up. I have 2 water trays in and 2 wet sponges to aid with humidity. 
I was considering taping some of the lid to the base to seal it better, but was worried about air flow.


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## Tom (Jan 7, 2016)

Anyfoot said:


> Huh, my reptibator is set 2.5°c higher than I want so I get correct temp inside at egg level. Also I'm struggling to keep humidity up. I have 2 water trays in and 2 wet sponges to aid with humidity.
> I was considering taping some of the lid to the base to seal it better, but was worried about air flow.



Whoomp. There it is.


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## cdmay (Jan 7, 2016)

This is my oldest Hov-A-Bator that's still in use. Yes, it sure is ugly. And moldy. And I have clear shipping tape over some of the holes in the top. But I've probably hatched close to 500 cherry-heads out of this thing. Oddly, it still keeps perfect temperatures. I know this because I have the factory thermostat, two aquarium thermostats, and even a swimming pool thermostat inside-- and they all pretty much agree with each other. Told you I was Old School.




And look...you can jam a bunch of eggs into them...




Alright, I'll admit that this is too many eggs in one basket... so to speak. And some of my girls haven't even started laying yet. 
I am plugging the bottom holes in a new Hov-A-Bator right now with silicone cement and the newer eggs are just waiting for the silicone to cure before I fire up the new unit and move them into it. Which brings me to the single drawback to Hov-A-Bator incubators... they come with ventilation holes in the bottom and it's a good idea to seal these off with silicone cement before using them. Otherwise, you'll get water dripping out of the bottom onto your nice clean floors.


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## Anyfoot (Jan 7, 2016)

cdmay said:


> This is my oldest Hov-A-Bator that's still in use. Yes, it sure is ugly. And moldy. And I have clear shipping tape over some of the holes in the top. But I've probably hatched close to 500 cherry-heads out of this thing. Oddly, it still keeps perfect temperatures. I know this because I have the factory thermostat, two aquarium thermostats, and even a swimming pool thermostat inside-- and they all pretty much agree with each other. Told you I was Old School.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Wow. I'm liking that set up though. Howmany eggs in there. I tried counting them but eyes keep going funny. Lol. I counted 45 eggs I think.


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## saukee9 (Feb 4, 2016)

cdmay said:


> This is my oldest Hov-A-Bator that's still in use. Yes, it sure is ugly. And moldy. And I have clear shipping tape over some of the holes in the top. But I've probably hatched close to 500 cherry-heads out of this thing. Oddly, it still keeps perfect temperatures. I know this because I have the factory thermostat, two aquarium thermostats, and even a swimming pool thermostat inside-- and they all pretty much agree with each other. Told you I was Old School.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## saukee9 (Feb 4, 2016)

I use this exact same one and I have had lots of success with it!! My Hov-A-Bator had brought several clutches into the world!!


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