Home made incubator

[Jlant85]

Ok.... last year i was very successful on the home made incubator that i made from a styrofoam box, 75 watt light bulb and a hydrofarm temperature thermostat. I was able to hatch 10 out of the 11 eggs that Shelby laid. Only reason way i say 10/11 is because one was not fertile. Any ways, this year i really want to up my game by building a new incubator. yes i can just buy an actual incubator but building one is a lot more fun. Plus, feels great knowing im able to hatch them myself knowing its from an incubator that i built. (i know im weird lol...) Anyways, my game plan this time around is using a wine fridge w/ a glass front. I like being able to look into the window and see the process. The last one i built was not ugly buy I had it by my bed side entire time I was incubating the eggs and i would like to have something a little nicer hence i picked a wine fridge to build my new incubator... I plan to use wine fridge, Flex Watt Heat tape and for the thermostat i plan to buy a new one....so here is my dilemma... what brand do you guys suggest? i was look at this on ebay and wanted to know your opinion...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/IncuKit-XL-...005&rk=3&rkt=6&mehot=pp&sd=330816690998&rt=nc

 

[tglazie]

I feel like a goof for not having done enough research in acquiring parts for my incubator. I'm also converting a wine fridge, but for it, I bought an EV-200 thermostat, a 40 watt heat pad, an EV thermometer/hygrometer (which I always second guess with my temp gun), and a jerry-rigged computer fan that I powered with a jerry-rigged old cellphone charger. All told, I spent twice what you did.

T.G.

 

[Jlant85]

What brand is the EV-200 thermostat? I tried googling it but can't seem to find it? I was actually thinking of getting the helix DBS-1000 but I want to see what other options I have.

 

[Jlant85]

The herpstat 1 is also looking nice... Uggggg so many options...

 

[Jlant85]

Vivarium electronics.... Lol... Saw a video about it... Hahahaha

 

[Millerlite]

I actually just was givin a wine fridge which has a glass front and two areas. I'm gunna convert it to a incubator. Using heat tape and thermostats I have not started yet but probably in the next week or two ill start it. The wine cooler is a good way go. Craigslist is where I got mine. Also mini fridges would work well. Those are more likely to find a free one on craigs.

Kyle

 

[Jlant85]

Yeah I've search Craigslist and I can't find one for free and the one I want will cost me about $50-80 easy... With the cost of the wine fridge and the thermostat, it'll run me bout $150+ easy... I ran into the Digital Exo-Terra Reptile Egg Thermoelectric Breeding Incubator LED Indicator and thinking of just buying it... I can use it all year round and specially for hibernation season... It's both and incubator and hibernation fridge... Will see in a week or two what I go with...

 

[Jlant85]

Uggg can't fall asleep... Can't decide on what to do... lol

 

[tglazie]

Sorry I didn't see the posts earlier. Busy busy. Yeah, stick with the homemade plans. The exo terra isn't worth a hundred and fifty bucks. You can get a hovabator or that Zoomed Reptibator, and you'd basically be getting the same thing. When I get my EV-200 hooked up later this summer (basically, when the summertime blues sets in for my embroidery biz and all my time isn't monopolized by spring planting and seeing the tortoises fattened up for the summer slow down), I'll have more to report on it's effectiveness. I really should try the thing out. I mean, it's just sitting there on a shelf above Graecus' indoor enclosure, still in it's box. I really should try it out just to make sure it works, just in case.

T.G.

 

[argus333]

i built one out of a old cooler. was easy. heat tape and reo stat. back in the day i used cooler with 4 inch of water in it and a 30 gal fish tank heater put eggs on rack up above water. jus have to check water level everyday.