# Best Incubators



## clintdowns (May 25, 2015)

What is the best Incubators for tortoises. I have not purchased yet but it is a very good possibility that what i purchase may be gravid. im looking at russians or hermanns.


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## ALDABRAMAN (May 25, 2015)

clintdowns said:


> Incubators for tortoises.



~ We have tried many and found that these are the most reliable and dependable!


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## mike taylor (May 25, 2015)

I have the same one Aldabraman uses .


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## clintdowns (May 26, 2015)

I see that you are using the Genesis it looks like. Is there any special reason why you dont have the one with the difital thermostat and digital setting.


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## N2TORTS (May 26, 2015)




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## Tom (May 26, 2015)

@N2TORTS 

Who makes that one and what is the model number?


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## Tom (May 26, 2015)

clintdowns said:


> What is the best Incubators for tortoises. I have not purchased yet but it is a very good possibility that what i purchase may be gravid. im looking at russians or hermanns.


I've used Little Giants, Hovabator, Reptile-bator from ZooMed, and for the last few years I've been using a Brinsea large bird brooder with great success. In my garage I have an old stand up freezer with the guts removed that will one day be converted into a giant incubator too.


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## clintdowns (May 26, 2015)

Still air or bator with the fan??


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## N2TORTS (May 26, 2015)

Hi Tom……the “cooker” is GQF #3258….an excellent bator’ indeed. Will hold 200 eggs+ and even a new born transfer spot on the bottom. VERY accurate with temps and humidity using a “wick type” watering system, easy to maintain and doesn’t really draw all that much power – They are around 800 bucks. I myself have used the styro-bator type as backups or using for overload of eggs along with trying different temps/species requirements. There are pro’s and con’s to having just one main bator’ the most recognized problem – if it fails then all the eggs fail- as opposed to multi setups. On the other hand, this is much more of a specialized cooker with no guess work and can like mentioned hold a lot of eggs. I also have used another type of a very high end incubator from the lab that was used to grow tissue culture cells. Fully water jacketed walls and precise temps. Down fall of the unit …it is heavier than heck and runs on 220v.




PS:.....I have another GQF like the first post/ pics in excellent condition I may be parting with. Your local so if your looking for one give me a buzz.


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## Kapidolo Farms (May 26, 2015)

Most any incubator will work fine as long as it is in a room with stable conditions that are 'less' than your desired parameters. Less meaning a slightly lower temp so the incubator does not need to cool and dryer so you can up the humidity, not have to reduce it. A quite darkish room or closet can be good. If you have a basement all the better.

I use the foam still air type like Aldabraman uses, both the little giant and the newer reptibator by ZooMed. The reptibator has a proportional thermostat so might be slightly more stable, as it only heats just enough to keep a temp, not all on all off like most still air incubators.

Humidity is easy to maintain even in the dryest places just by having a water tray in the incubator. This also helps stabilize the temp as the water is a large mass that holds the temp desired. You can increase the surface area of a small water container by putting a ball of sphagnum in it, all the fiber sticking out of the water wicks into the air.

Maybe to late right now, but they cost so little to run, have it up and running all the time, so you don't have to fool with setting it up when you do get eggs. The little giant type are not 'digital' while the reptibater is, so set up is easier.

Making one from a ice chest works just as well with an aquarium heater in the water. The critical part of any incubator, as long as it is working where it needs to heat and not cool, is the thermostat. that's the device that senses the temperature and turns the heat on and off. No matter the fancyness of the cabinet, if the thermostat fails you are likely going to not have success.


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## N2TORTS (May 26, 2015)

Heck Mr. Will....Aquarium heater and an Ice Chest is 1970's flash back ....
With out a debate I don't see Ohio in December with a tray of water to maintain 80% humidity in any kind to the above mentioned. One thing to mention is where you "live" and the constants within the seasons when your breeders are laying and incubation times within .Example : I have CherryHeads Laying in December here , as well as the spring and summer months. If the set up is solely artificial and the seasons and temps can be maintained yes it is possible to make any Bator work or ... making your bator work harder, not so accurate and many more check ups. Your right the cabinet has nothing to do with it,but ironically the foam bator's when heated... it gives off hydrogen bromide gas and that's no Bueno...yet for 20 years we have seen no ill effects within the reptile/ bird industry~ yet.
Maybe some helpful info the members......
*How do electromechanical, manual, and programmable thermostats differ?
Electromechanical - or manual - thermostats are the old-fashioned mercury units that have internal coils to expand or contract in response to temperature change. This type is becoming obsolete for two reasons: digital thermostats are able to more accurately register and respond to temperature changes, and the purchase of products containing mercury has been restricted or banned in many states. However, manual thermostats remain popular due to their low cost, the familiarity of their controls' design, and the ease of their use.

Manual digital thermostats use an electronic temperature sensor to register changes in the room temperature that then compare these changes with the settings selected by the user. If there is a difference between the room temperature and the set temperature, a command is sent to the heating or cooling system that action is needed. For this type of unit, you will still have to physically adjust the setting of your preferences whenever you would like to adjust the room temperature.

Programmable digital thermostats are an upgrade from the digital manual thermostats as they are far more convenient and can help save energy costs. Once you program the thermostat to fit your lifestyle and schedule, all you have to do is relax and let it do all the work. To stay comfortable and save energy year-round, you simply must program the temperatures into the memory of the unit, along with the times of day that you would like the changes to occur. For example, you can set a thermostat to a comfortable temperature for when you wake up in the morning, have it go into energy-conservation mode - while you are away at work, and then have a temperature set to go before you return home! You only need to program your thermostat once - 
More info can found here: http://www.air-n-water.com/Thermostat_Basics.htm*


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## clintdowns (May 26, 2015)

Which one is the best small one.


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## Kapidolo Farms (May 27, 2015)

The reptibator is most easy to use as you 'set' the temp with a digital control, this model also has a humidity gauge. It is a good idea to have a thermometer to check what the actual temperature is. As stated above, no matter where you live (Ohio, or say the Netherlands), *the room you put the incubator in should be stable* and 'less' than your incubation parameters. In still air incubators temperature stratifies, the air right inside the top can be as much a four or five degrees warmer than the air on the inside floor. Place your thermometer right beside the eggs and adjust the control up or down. Humidity can be adjusted by the surface area of water inside the incubator. You can use a large open container, or a small one with some sort of wick, I use sphagnum moss. 

Some people also adjust humidity inside the incubator by placing the eggs inside a box or other container with limited air (not completely sealed) exchange. A small Tupperware container with moistened media (vermiculite, perlite, sphagnum, cypress mulch, etc. strong debates about all these ) with the eggs sitting on the media inside the small container inside the incubator. These smaller containers will keep a higher humidity than the whole incubator. It's another level/layer of stability between the egg and undesired parameters. What the humidity should be seems to be wildly debated. With descriptions such as 'on the dry side' to 85% RH are recommended for all kinds of chelonian eggs. Eggs need just a few things to be right to hatch. Temp, humidity and air exchange. Most eggs will work within a wide range, but their is an optimal for each species, and frankly each clutch, each egg. 

Best not to get too emotionally tied to eggs in an incubator. Do your best, and if it does not work seek more information.

Good luck with your eggs.


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## clintdowns (May 27, 2015)

Thankyou so much. That was very informative. Temperature: I guess any bator can do a good job with this. Humidity: this is up to me. Air Exchange: shouldni stick with a still air with no fan or could i use a Hovabator with a fan. 

Is your suggestion the green reptibator?


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## Kapidolo Farms (May 27, 2015)

All the still air incubators have passive air exchange built in via small holes or gaps in the bottom or with the lid. The once a week open the lid to carefully inspect the eggs before any chance of hatching ensures enough air flow. Some folks incubate on 'the dry side' (I'm sorta making fun of that statement as I really don't know what it's supposed to mean) and use a water sprayer to spray water into the incubator (not directly on the eggs) and that too increases air flow.

Air flow is nothing to get too worried about, eggs do incubate under ground after all. The incubators with fans don't specifically exchange air, they move the air in the incubator around, which reduces temperature stratification and aids in increasing humidity by moving air over the open water. They may increase air exchange in that moving air will travel over the holes and gaps and 'exchange' more than still air. I have not used circulating air incubators.

Following is blah blah blah ...The best incubator I have used I made from an ice chest, a good one where it's a plastic box that has a foam core. I used a low wattage (25 or 50) aquarium heater set so the air temp on the wire rack where the eggs sat would be just one or two degrees higher than my target. The aquarium heater was plugged into a water bed controller with it's thermostat right at the level of the eggs on the rack, and that controller had the target temp dialed in. As the lid was opaque I would lift it once a day to see what was happening. As the eggs were down inside the chest the few moments the top was off did not affect the temp so much. Humidity was always great as the whole bottom had several inches of water. All that water was like a huge heat sink, so even after I closed the lid again, the heater would not necessarily turn on as the water volume kept the air right at my set point. This incubator was in a small basement, so the room was incredibly stable. That was so long ago, you could sell neonate sulcatas for $250 with a waiting list. I incubated many sulcata eggs, EBT eggs, wood turtle egg,s etc. in that incubator. I also incubated many hingeback eggs in there, but as a single temp incubator and before my current awareness of diapause none hatched out. This incubator was good because all those elements were managed and stable, air, humidity and temp. both in the incubator and in the basement

If I build another one like that, which I plan to do, I will use two heating elements and have two set point, so that I can fluctuate the temps a little, better emulating the cycle of natural nests. The even more will be to have a separate chill unit for eggs with a cold cycle diapause. These options are what I have seen at a few zoos and some private collections. Multiple incubators with different high and low cycled temps would allow the keeper to split single clutches for male and female offspring. Three units and you could go crazy with what you produce. The most important issue is to have those units in rooms where the background climate is very stable so your units will do their job.


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## byhero (Aug 9, 2015)

ALDABRAMAN said:


> ~ We have tried many and found that these are the most reliable and dependable!
> View attachment 131545
> 
> 
> View attachment 131548


Please told me, this one can control humidity??


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