Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had several people ask me weather to get a incubator with a fan or without , So I thought I would ask the masses what they use . Thanks David of DS Retile Rescue PS. I think most of them were referring to the Haveabaters with the turbo fan or not ,they are high school kid that have a reptile club .

Hovabator = no, go fanless - more margin for error.

Larger incubator, better understanding of incubation, then go for the fan.....A fan is critical in equalizing temps throughout the incubator.....

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First off well said Evan heres a pic of my newest incubator. I had to go bigger from last year, the old one holds about 5 clutches and still has a fan and this one will hold about 18-20 and by no means is this a big one. I have some some monster incubators.

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Damian Macioce
www.strongholdreptiles.com

Nice. Did that used to be a refrigerated case for a restaurant or store?

Yes it was outside a carry-out, I`m a beer delivery driver and find these all the time. The owners are always throwing them out because of burnt out compressors and what-not so I bought this one for $50 bucks. I pulled the compressor, fan, and the rest of the guts out and installed 2 75 watt heat bulbs a herpstat t-stat and use the old fan from the unit and bang a sweet new incubator. so I guess I've got about $150 total in this one. I have 2 smaller ones that hold 3 clutches in one (it was my first) and the other holds 5 clutches. Hopefully by next year I will need all 3 or possibly a double sided refer unit. Thabks for looking
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Damian Macioce
www.strongholdreptiles.com

What I meant to say was I have seen some monster incubators not that I have some the one in the picture is the biggest that I own. Thabks
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Damian Macioce
www.strongholdreptiles.com

Why would real incubators have fans?
I find it's just the opposite.
I use laboratory grade convection incubators...
None of the ones I have seen have fans.
They retail well over $3k
So far so good.
I find all fans are good for is blowing around hot air which dries out the eggs quicker....
I had one with two big fans, and was NOT happy with it.
Great for quail eggs I guess...
But I don't think ball python eggs get a lot of wind in Africa!

(no fans here...)

In Africa the eggs are outside. The air outside is cycled by nature. In a closed system with no air circulation the air gets stagnant. It is easier for bacteria to culture (which is what lab incubators are used for by the way), for fungus to grow and develope as well spread spores and for units that use supplemental water to become stagnant and a breeding ground for those entities mentioned above. That is also why labs that use those incubators have enormous fan driven ventilation units to get the stagnant and contaminated air out of the room. I have used incubators with fans to hatch reptiles eggs for 20 years. My eggs don't dry out, grow fungus or rot from too much moisture.

Well Its like I figured it all comes down to personal preference , I have two incubators , one that will hold up to 50 Emmaus or 45 Astringe eggs and one that holds up to 4 , 6 egg clutches of Ball eggs and both have fans and have fan controls so you can turn them off and or up and down. But thanks for the input any way , I should have said how has the Haveabaters with or without fans . Thanks David of DS Reptile Rescue

We have small computer fans in all of our incubators, we have never once had a problem with any of them. This coming season we are building a walk in incubator. The incubators we have now hold about 25-30 clutches each, we are trying to make it so the walk in can hold close to 250 ... Ill take pics once we start and finish it, but back to the subject ...it will have fans too. Fans help circulate the heat properly for even distribution. We hatch all of our Balls in sterilte bins with no holes and a lid, so drying out has never been an issue, Fungus has also never been an issue. Have you ever seen the Sutherlands incubator ???? I think they show some pics of it on their DVD set.... Amazing .... It send pages to your phone if the temp isnt right... Thats what i want to try for this coming season...lol....
Kim
N.A.R.C

A walk-in incubator? Like a commercial chicken hatching style?
Business must be booming.
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"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)

Lol... I never said i was selling 250 clutches, but next year we should be producing that many. Walk in makes things easy you dont loose heat when the door is open b.c you can close it behind you I think it will just cut down on the line up of freezers in the room now. Im just really jealous of the Sutherlands... lol ...
Kim
N.A.R.C

The main reason for the fan is to ensure the temps throughout the incubator are consistant, and therefore limiting condensation. The eggs won't dry out if they are in nice egg boxes with snug lids. Without a fan, most incuabtors will set up a heat gradient. Depending on where the heat source is, one side, or either the top or bottom, could have a slightly different temperature. While we love gradients in our enclosures, they are a no-no in an incuabtor.

That's my feeling, too. My incubator is only big enough for a couple of sweater boxes so does not need a fan.

Paul Hollander