Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey i have a little hoverbator but soon enough that will not be big enough for all my eggs. Anyone have a homemade incubator that they have pictures of and/or directions to make it? Am i better off spending money on a big and good incubator or tryin to build it myself?

it depends. how good are you building things and are you 100% confident on your ability to wire things safely. I use a home-made incubator that can hold 12 clutches of eggs at a time and after this year that won't be enough (might not be this year). It works great and has a temp fluctuation of only - 1 degree. this is as good as most commercial incubators but when I need another I will buy just because it will save me time.

now if you want to build one, this is how I made this one. Get a fridge, size depends on you (this one is a med sized fridge but i wish it was a large one as I could fit 6 more clutches of eggs at least in it). Remove all the "guts" from the back of the fridge. remove the partition between the freezer and fridge sections. make a false bottom that contains a space for light fixtures that will be wired to a thermostat. In the false bottom, wire 2 or 3 light fixtures. Drill a 4" hole in the false bottom and attach a computer fan so that it pulls air from the light chamber and blows into the egg chamber. on the opposite corner of the false bottom drill another 4" hole so that air is pulled out of the egg chamber and into the light chamber. Wire the fan and pass the wires from the lights and the fan out of a small hole in the back of the fridge that you drill or if there is one there. After that fill the hole with spray expanding foam to seal and prevent heat loss. next.Construct 2 doors out of 2 sheets of 3/4" plywood sandwiched together, one door for the egg chamber and one for the light chamber. Cut hole in door of the egg chamber for 1/2" plexi window (size is up to you). Decide what size egg boxes you are going to use (normally 6 or 12 qt tubs here) and set your shelves in the egg chamber). In the top left corner install another computer fan blowing air down (keeps air moving and prevents hot spots). Drill a hole and pass the wire from the fan out of it. In that same hole, run a few thermometers and the thermostat probe into the egg chamber and then use the foam to close that hole. Use weather stripping on all edges where the doors meet the now incubator to prevent heat loss. screw in some 60w light bulbs, plug your lights into your thermostat,set thermostat to 89-90 (your choice but I use 89), fans get plugged into the wall and you are done.

-----
Josh & Krysty Hutto
J&K Reptiles

Various Ball Pythons:::

1.0 striped vanilla
1.0 spider
1.2 Citrus Ghost and hets
1.2 Albino and hets
2.3 het Pied
0.6 50% poss het pied
1.1 Pastel (male has additional gene going on with him)
a bunch of normal female breeders
a bunch of normal female holdbacks and several rescued normal males

0.1 columbian boa, she's a feeding monster, controls my
over production of rats, lol
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa, another rat eating monster
1.1 corns

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrier as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

http://www.familyzoo.us/how_to_build_an_incubator.htm

Roughly $250 to build.
$700 if you buy from a website.

I think build is my plan. haha.
-----
"What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone,
men would die from great loneliness of spirit.
For what happens to the beasts,
soon happens to men.
All things are connected."

-Chief Seattle (Duwamish Tribe)

I have Built these from Upright Freezers. The hardest part is the see through window, The Incubator doesn't need the window but I like the looks of the incubator and the fact that I can see my eggs without opening the door so much. Hope this helps.

-----
www.Snakebstr.com -- Remember the Name it's in the Game!!! the Ball game that is

www.Snakebstr.com

WRONG !!!
WRONG... The only time I was WRONG is when I thought I was WRONG but I was really RIGHT.....LOL...LOL...LOL

We use 3 up right freezers also, they run off a thermostat and have heat cord running through them, we have been using this method for years and never once had less then 100% hatch rate for whole clutches.They only house about 30 clutches ea though, last year i was letting one clutch hatch and replacing it with another, so this year we just got another freezer. Next year after we move we will be keeping the 3 up rights at our old facility and building a walk in at the new house. The sutherlands have some great ideas on their website about their walk in, i will be building something very similar to theirs next year
Good luck with yours.

I just puchased an incubator from Natures Spirt Reptiles and am very happy with it. For the price I don't think you can beat it. I could have built one myself for a little cheaper but it probably wouldn't look as nice as this one. It will hold 12 shoeboxes. I have it set at 88 at it has never moved even one degree. http://www.nsreptiles.com/
-----
John Vandegrift