Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a small concern in which i want to make an incubator out of a large plastic container from either sterilite or rubbermaid.My worry is if i use a heat pad or heat tape would it burn through the plastic.I am going to use a thermostat to keep the temp in 88-90.Comments are welcome.Also if anyone has pics of any homemade(no aquarium) would be great...

I think you need something like a cooler that is insulated to hold the heat in. A sterilite container will leak heat like a sieve and you wont be able to hold the temps stable and you will waste electricity because the heater will run constantly.

~Alan

I made this from a Omaha Steak container. Someone up the road from my house had it on the curbe so I garbage picked ot for free. I used the guts from a Havobator, however, Flexwatt will work just as good. The important thing is that this is insulated and holds the heat to plus / minus .3 degrees - solid.

You need something insulated, a plastic tub will not work that well. Buy an old mini-fridge or mini-freezer from someone on Craigslist or look in your newspaper, they're usually like $25-$40. I paid $30 for my one last year. Add some heat tape or heat cable, a thermostat, and voila! You have an incubator.
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~* Jen *~

Pink Lady Constrictors

The mini fridge works great!

here is one i built, the lid (not present) has a double skin of perspex to stop me keep opening for a peak but you wouldnt get any more than 2 clutches in it

It was succesful too :0)

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You all talk Balls,I talk Royals ;0)
www.alpharoyals.co.uk

What kind of thermostat is that and does it work well?
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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)

Its a "habistat" diming thermostat.
Worked a treat!
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You all talk Balls,I talk Royals ;0)
www.alpharoyals.co.uk

I just asked about those the other day because I saw a few on ebay for relatively cheap. No one could tell me if they were good or not. Haha.
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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)

Here's my setup using a large cooler.
I cut a hole slightly smaller than a herpstat in the front of the cooler, removed the back from the herpstat, and mounted the front half of the herpstat to the front of the cooler. I had to cut the wires to route them inside.

I used flexwatt on the top, bottom, and back. Fans at the top and bottom circulate air. Bottles of water are present to even out temps after opening the door.

The bottom fan is mounted on top of a tray of water to keep humidity up.

I intend to use this for the first time next spring.

I love what you did with your variation on the whole "cooler incubator" idea, but why the need for the water dish? If you're using egg boxes that are well sealed, you shouldn't have problems with moisture loss.
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www.strictlyballs.ca

Thanks for the advice.

The water tray was copied from an incubator a local breeder showed me. He puts tape on the box edges to create a gap so the eggs can get a tiny bit of air. The water increases the humidity so the hatching medium doesn't dry out. I'm not sure if this is really an issue, but I have plenty of time to experiment before laying season.

Thats relly nice, I really like the setup. You use the full water bottles to increase the mass thats holding the temperature steady. This should really cut down on fluctuations like when you open the door then shut it - no? Have you found this to be very usefull and worth the room it takes up? I have seen that done once or twice, really smart. I only have a small setup, and space is at a premium.

Good job.

~Alan

Thanks. I'm not really losing any space with the water bottles since they're above fans that would be blocked if there were shoeboxes in those slots.

I don't know that the water tray is necessary. This is my first incubator and I'm experimenting.