Tortoise money = New Incubator?

[-ryan-]

Since I've started selling off the hatchlings I am getting from my russian group I was trying to decide what to do with the money, and I figured it only makes sense to reinvest it back into the hobby.

My initial thought was to get a nicer incubator, like this one: http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...-incubators/-/lllreptile-pro-mr148-incubator/
Which seems to be available at a variety of places with a variety of names. But I was thinking this morning, the hovabator is yielding results and not costing me any money (outside of a little electricity), so should I fix something that isn't broken? My whole rationale was that the hovabator is pretty clumsy and sometimes difficult to work with (due to the temp controls), but I'm not sure if the tortoise money would be best spent on something that I don't necessarily need for them.

I am building a new enclosure for the russians (not as large as I want it to be, but larger than what they are in now), but I pretty much have all the money for that set aside. Maybe I should store it away for replacing light bulbs and buying food?

Opinions/suggestions?

 

[bettinge]

I like that "incubator" at LLL as well, its actually a mini fridge/heater for your home or car. Google "MR-148" and see some of the other uses. I wondered what variation in temps this thing has. I wish LLLReptile published that is was good +/- X degrees, from the set temp.

Because its original design is not a incubator, I steered away from it. I would like to hear feedback from others who have one.

I say stick to the hovabator! Its well proven!

 

[Yvonne G]

Its always a good idea to have a savings account labeled "tortoise vet." Sometimes a necessary trip to the tortoise vet comes at the most inopportune time.

 

[GBtortoises]

I was wondering if anyone had some of these incubators in place and working for awhile to know just how accurate and reliable they are?
I've always used hovabators and a few homemade incubators. They are not always 100% accurate, but reliable and functional. One thing I do with Hovabators is throw away the bottom half and replace it with a tropical fish shipping container. They're deeper and you can put layers of of containers in them because of it. I fit about double the number of eggs in one because of it. Because they are so lightweight and easily knocked around (and I'm clumsy), I also screw each base to a piece of plywood and clamp it to a table so that I don't accidently knock it sideways.
For homemade incubators I use a plastic insulated cooler with aquarium heater in a container in the bottom full of water with the lid on the container and a few holes cut in the top of the lid to allow some humidity out. I control the humidity level by covering or uncovering the holes in the lid.
Kind of basic but they've worked pretty well all these years.