Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Now I'm not done with it yet. I still need to seal up the plexiglass and put the finishing touches on it. I had two feet of heat tape left from my rack so I figured I would see if it heated it well. I can get it up to a steady 90 inside, but the heat tape gets damn hot. My question is: should I buy another foot or two to put inside so it doesn't get so hot. Or: I have every kind of heat bulb laying around. Should I put a bulb in there for steady heat and the tape can take care of the rest? This would be nice because I could see in at night too. Does light affect the eggs? Any help is appreciated. Thanks BrianD

I use a cheap 3 light track light kit I bought for $20 at K-mart for our heat lol. I have it hooked into a Helix dialed into 83.1 degrees and leave it be. I use low wattage bulbs because I found by using the higher wattage bulbs, when the door to the incbuator was opened, the helix would kick in telling the lights to heat up, so when i closed the door the heat lights would be on full blast and when the door was closed it would get way to hot and since it was so insulated, the heat didn't leave fast enough.. so i changed to lower wattage regular house bulbs and it works great. the light won't bug the eggs.

brandon
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Dragons by Nature

Thats pretty cool looking... I still use two hovabator incubators hahaha haven't gotten the courage up to make my own yet!

Brian or anyone for that matter, what kind of thermostat are you using? And if you don't mind about how much did it run you? That incubater looks really nice. I started to build one last week. The only thing I need to do still is purchase a thermostat. I have one buddy saying to just get a regular cheap thermostat for 30 bucks from reptile direct, and one suggesting the helix. I know the helix is a much better unit, but for one light bulb in a dorm fridge it's kinda expensive. Any buddy have any luck with the cheaper zoo med thermostats? or is that a no no?
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Mystical Dragons

Use light bulbs to heat it. in the larger incubators like that light bulbs seem to work the best. You can hook both the heat tape and light bulb to a helix. hope this helps.

peace,
nathan

I don't need to keep a light cycle in an incubator. It's ok to have a light on 24/7?? Or would I be beter off using a night heat light? Thanks BrianD

The lights are used for heat only. Eggs are naturally buried so they wouldn't be exposed to any light in the wild. The light does not hurt them though. Just go with normal household bulbs. They are much cheaper and it's just the heat you are looking for.

Joel R