Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I want to eventually breed my ball pythons and im wondering if the Thermal Hova Bator Incubator is a good choice. Or does anyone have any other suggestions that have worked for them?

No, they are junk. More eggs have died in them than survived.

Find a local place that sells or rents out glass-front coolers(Pepsi, Coke, etc), and buy one that is broken. I bought one that is about as big as a normal fridge and it didn't cost me any more than $25 and the gas to go get it. A dorm fridge works well too.

Just put flexwatt in it, a computer fan(3-4", and a digital thermostat and you're good.
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-Becky Brown, RVT-
1.0 Lemon Pastel Classic Jungle,1.0 Black Pastel,1.0 Enchi,1.0 Yellow Hypo,0.1 100% het Butterscotch Hypo,0.1 66% Poss Het VPI Hypo,3.24 Normals,1.1 Spider,1.1 Yellowbellies(BHB),1.0 100% Het Pied Classic Jungle,1.3 66% Poss Het VPI Axanthic, 1.1 Poss Het VPI Snow,1.1 100% het Genetic Stripe

>>No, they are junk. More eggs have died in them than survived.
>>

I have literally hatched 1000's of burm, ball, blood, and chondro eggs in Hovabators. What are you doing wrong to kill them? They work great.
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www.brandonosbornereptiles.com

If you are only doing one or two clutches the Hovabator works just fine - don't get the one with the fan - and make sure you buy a good thermostat to run it. If you are doing more clutches then you'll need a bigger incubator - Natures Spirit makes a good one.
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Tosha
JET Pythons

I just didn't see the reason to even waste the money since you can just go to WalMart or Target and buy a chest cooler for $15-$20 and have a much safer, air tight container that is less likely to fail. The use of either requires you to buy a good thermostat, so why not go with something that will last than something that is more likely to kill your eggs?

Cooler might be $20, flexwatt is $5-$6, thermostat is $75-100
Hovabator is $60, and thermostat is $75-100.

Plus the digital thermometers/hygrometers, egg boxes, vermiculite/perlite, fluorescent light diffuser grating(if you do no-sub), and either plastic wrap or Press N Seal if the container you're using isn't air tight.

Just comes out more economical when you don't buy the Hovabator.
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-Becky Brown, RVT-
1.0 Lemon Pastel Classic Jungle,1.0 Black Pastel,1.0 Enchi,1.0 Yellow Hypo,0.1 100% het Butterscotch Hypo,0.1 66% Poss Het VPI Hypo,3.24 Normals,1.1 Spider,1.1 Yellowbellies(BHB),1.0 100% Het Pied Classic Jungle,1.3 66% Poss Het VPI Axanthic, 1.1 Poss Het VPI Snow,1.1 100% het Genetic Stripe

Not trying to argue but the Hova Bator comes with a thermostat already and a thermometer for about 53 dollars,,, are you still against this or do you think it will work

Hova-Bator,,,like $55?......that's it.buy it set it fill it......I been using the same ones for yearssss.....($45.,and 2 @ $15 each used from a friend who sold 1 then need one and got another then said he didn't need this one so I got it for 15 then figured he needed it again.I told him to save them all......

he now has one home made......2 inch styrofoam sheets , metal shelving (non solid like a fridge shelf type ),,,Flex watt tape,,,,thermostat and a computer fan......it's like 5 feet tall and 3 foot across..? cost a couple hundred bucks and someone else made it for him ,he added electric stuff......

.......cooler.....huge styofoam boxxx..............

......if you need big build it......if you need 4 clutches,,,Hova-bator.....

I just stick 3 inches or so of vermiculite in it and stick eggs right in it.......no inner boxes.......(you have to use a shipping bx bottom NOT the Hova bottom......!

......do as you wish // need..........
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>>Hova-Bator,,,like $55?......that's it.buy it set it fill it......I been using the same ones for yearssss.....($45.,and 2 @ $15 each used from a friend who sold 1 then need one and got another then said he didn't need this one so I got it for 15 then figured he needed it again.I told him to save them all......
>>
>>he now has one home made......2 inch styrofoam sheets , metal shelving (non solid like a fridge shelf type ),,,Flex watt tape,,,,thermostat and a computer fan......it's like 5 feet tall and 3 foot across..? cost a couple hundred bucks and someone else made it for him ,he added electric stuff......
>>
>>.......cooler.....huge styofoam boxxx..............
>>
>>......if you need big build it......if you need 4 clutches,,,Hova-bator.....
>>
>>I just stick 3 inches or so of vermiculite in it and stick eggs right in it.......no inner boxes.......(you have to use a shipping bx bottom NOT the Hova bottom......!
>>
>>......do as you wish // need..........
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www.brandonosbornereptiles.com

>>Cooler might be $20, flexwatt is $5-$6, thermostat is $75-100
>>Hovabator is $60, and thermostat is $75-100.
>>
>>Just comes out more economical when you don't buy the Hovabator.
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Grainger Supply has Penn thermostats for about $30. I've been using the same one for 12 years. Don't worry about containers with Hovabators. Just expand the bottom, dump your substrate in, add the appropriate amount of water, and add eggs. I'm not kidding when I say 1000's. They work fantastic.
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www.brandonosbornereptiles.com

You can go to any farm supply store and get a Hovabator for $30-35. Reptile people just like to rip you off. They don't cost $60.
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www.brandonosbornereptiles.com

Agway here they were 45 looong ago and then went up...some stores do rip us off......they are like at least 55 here now.

NO egg turner kind and NO fan.....

......

......and watch yard sales and friends that sell them ....

......yea...I been using these for 15 years at least..

.oh and long ago in around 92.....a big boy had a room made into an incubator ......2x4's and plastic covering it.small room in the middle of his barn.....and for thermostats he had like 3 wafers from Hova-bators hanging from the cieling all hooked in a row to check each other......and he trusted the whole room to them......hundreds of burm eggs back in them days.....
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>>I want to eventually breed my ball pythons and im wondering if the Thermal Hova Bator Incubator is a good choice. Or does anyone have any other suggestions that have worked for them?

Skip it...build one..go find a mini-fridge/etc that doesnt work anymore(Which would be free.)..Add some heat pads or tape and a good proportional thermostat...Fans are a good idea too,but you can get by without them if you only have one or two egg boxes in there for now.
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Charles Glaspie

This is looking into a hovabator right now.

>>This is looking into a hovabator right now.
>>

Congrats!

...are you using the 'wafer" t-stat?
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Charles Glaspie

very cool, since you use them yourself can you give me as much advice as you can, other then the vermiculite what else did you had to buy to hatch the eggs, also what kind of box do you use to hold the eggs

Check your local feed store - they sell the Hovs for about $35 - get either the basic unit or the picture window one if you like to watch - but NOT the one with the fan. I would suggest however that you do invest in a good thermostat - I use a Helix ($135). Remove the wafer from the Hov and allow your thermostat to run the heat. I would also recommend setting it up before the eggs are laid so you can tweak it if necessary. Put some water bottles on the sides of the egg tub to help stabilize temperatures through incubation. And put it in a room that has fairly stable temps as well.

For more info - check out this link:

www.jaymartinreptiles.com/articles/starter-incubator.pdf
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Tosha
JET Pythons

I have the picture window one with no fan and have it connected to a herpstat thermostat.
For the egg container, I used a simple small rubbermaid tub with a snap on lid.
I have a humidity probe that I use to monitor the humidity.
For about $75 you can get the hovabator, the digital humidity probe, the egg chambers, the candling light, and the medium. The most expensive part is the thermostat ($100 for the herpstat) and IMO the most important part as well.
Next season though I am upgrading to a natures spirit incubator.
You can't fit many eggs in the hovabator. I am lucky this year in that once these guys are moved out into the hatchling rack, it will be about the same time the next clutch will be layed and ready to go in so I was able to spread it out a bit.
More than 2 clutches in at once would be pushing the limit of a hovabator.

Alright thank you all very much for the help, i can't wait to finally start breeding, all this info is going to be very help full, Thanks again

also one more question,, once the eggs start hatching do you keep them in the hova or move them to another area??

They stay in the container in the hovabator until they completely emerge from the egg. Once they are completely out, I wash them off and put them in a hatchling rack with paper towels for substrate and a small water bowl.