Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well, soon it will be that time of year again...so I'm looking for a reputable incubator...I was wondering what type/model incubator does everyone use?? Who here has made his/her own home-made incubator, and what materials did you use?

What incubators are good and reliable for bp eggs? I have a hovabator and was wondering if this would work well?

Any and all advice, tips, information will be greatly appreciated. Thank you
-----
Michael

I'm looking for a reputable incubator.
let mom do it. Saves room. Natural!

-----
RicK Denmon

Ball Boutique,Inc.
What are we talking about?

How "natural" is it for them lay that in a cage on newspaper 3,000 miles away from Africa? Not very.
-----

Now that is a funny thing to say.
Read and think of what you just said.
Is anything in selective breeding natural?
Everything that we "breeders" do is not natural. So when you say mom in the wild 3000 miles away have folks yank the eggs from her and place them in a tub for incubation? hummmmm?
-----
RicK Denmon

Ball Boutique,Inc.
What are we talking about?

That is percisely my point man! You say let the Mom's do it because its natural. I'm saying that using the "natural" arguement/reason for maternal incubating is hooey because there's nothing natural about keep Ball Pythons in captivity. And you helped me make that point even more, so I thank you very much.
-----

So how much do those guys get for yanking eggs?

Like I say the pythons take care of their clutches in the wild - a corn or king snake drop their eggs and run. That is my point. It is my input. I let mom do it. You pull eggs and do the extra work. Does it matters if we both produce babies? I let them do it as IF THEY ARE IN THE WILD 3000 MILES AWAY!
-----
RicK Denmon

Ball Boutique,Inc.
What are we talking about?

And my point is that female's have a myriad of choices to make in the wild (where to lay, when to leave the eggs, etc ) and theydon't have that in your cage. If you're going to go natural, why not add mites and ticks and put a few birds of prey in your cage? Why only do things partially and claim you do it because its "natural"?

Nothing natural about it.
-----

The "natural" thing I do is let mom do it! Period. That is all and I think this entire forum realizes that in the wild mom incubates them period. That is all I am saying. That is natural.
No big deal. I think this is enough space dedicated to realize that the animals are not kept in their original environment. Everyone will agree to that.....even the kids! It is a pointless debate. I let mom do it you can do what you wish.....that is natural no matter how you look at it. I am out......let the folks decide. Semantics Semantics Semantics.
-----
RicK Denmon

Ball Boutique,Inc.
What are we talking about?

You guys are freakin' great!! I must say the first few times I saw where Rick used that phrase, it made me wanna question his reasoning, but I shrugged it off. Jeff...you cracked me up on this one!! I have to agree 110% w/ you. Now, on the maternal incubation concept...I prefer getting momma back on a feeding schedule as soon as possible, so I prefer taking them. It also seems to allow me more "visibilty" for better monitoring while in incubation. I think it's easier to maintain and control ideal temp/humidity as well. Just my .02 cents...if it matters. Main reason for my choice...get the female some food in her overworked little body, not so I can rush her into yet another breeding season, but to help improve her overall health/stress/weight level in a "unnatural" enviroment.
-----
Troy James Cromwell

Contact Me

0.1 Gorgeous 17 yr. old - CBB 86' - Flawless in everyway and she just made HOMECOMING COURT!!!
0.1 Just as gorgeous 13 yr. old - CBB 90' - Perfect in every single way!! Cheerleader!!
1.0 Marine (age 19)
2.0 Future hall of famers (ages 5 & 7)
0.1 Psycho Girlfriend (age 29) Beautiful...but psycho

1,000 cold blooded companions

Always taking a moment to thank God for another day with my family and friends

Troy - I am happy no matter how you incubate your eggs. I feel better for mom to let her do it. They seem to do well for me. I know 3000 miles away they do it why not in PA? Sorry it took me this long to answer this but do you know how much work it is to clean the elephants and rhinos? The lions are freaky at night.
Natural Smells like Africa.
Observation ... I was the only person to give advice for the original post.....lol happy hatching!!!!
-----
RicK Denmon

Ball Boutique,Inc.
What are we talking about?

Observation ... I was the only person to give advice for the original post.....

I looked and looked and looked and looked and I never saw any plans to build an incubator? If I asked you how to change the oil in my car, would you tell me to walk?

LOL!

GREAT advice. ..... Tongue firmly in cheek.
-----

Is mom not incubation.
-----
RicK Denmon

Ball Boutique,Inc.
What are we talking about?

the reason he lets mom do it is because he is afraid to take her off her eggs!!!!

he wears gloves just to handle them for petes-sake!!!!

I am with you Jeff all the way, not natural at all!

Well, after all that and then some...nobody seemed to answer my question at all...I understand the maternal incubation thing and that's fine...but that's not what I asked...I would like to know what brand/model/type incubator bp breeders are using or have used that have worked well!

I didn't want this to get into some freaking debate or argument...just wanted an answer I thought was fairly simple and easy...so let's everyone calm down and not jump to conclusions! Eveyone is entitled to his/her own opinion!

So, if anyone else is out there who actually feels like putting in some relative information on incubators, please let me know...I STILL looking for an answer!

Thanks
-----
Michael

.
-----
Jay A. Martin

np

1) I seal all holes in the bottom.
2) I add a square ceiling grate (1/4" tall) to the entire bottom.
3) Disconnect the fan (if Turbofan model).
4) Add water to the bottom almost up to the top of the grate.
5) Add my own calibated guage. Set for 90 degrees.
6) Add eggs.
7) About once every 10 days, I open and quickly air the eggs.

You can get about 30 eggs in each. And yes, this is the no substrate method.
-----
Jay A. Martin

Insulated box (whatever size you want), with 12-36 inches of water, with a 50-350W aquarium heater, with Rubbermaid containers suspended on bricks in the water (you don't want the Rubbermaids to touch the water). Eggs go in the Rubbermaids and you calculate/calibrate the temperature about 2 weeks before you put the eggs in. Close the lid to the box and that's it.

Now, there are MANY ways to build this box. YOU have to decide which is best for you and your setup, or lack thereof.
-----

modified from an over-sized shipping styro. Here's a list of pythons I've hatched from modified Hovas........

Macklot's (Liasis mackloti)
Savu (Liasis mackloti savuensis)
Ringed (Liasis boa)
Children's (Liasis childreni)
Red Bloods (Python curtis brongersma)
Borneo Bloods (Python curtis breitensteini)
Indian (Python molurus molurus)
Ceylon/Sri Lanka (Python molurus pimbura)
Burmese (Python molurus bivittatus)
Reticulated (Python reticulatis)
African Rock (Python sebae sebae)
BALLS (Python regius)
Jungle Carpet (Morleia spilota cheynei)
Coastal Carpet (Morleia spilota variegata)
Green Tree (Morleia viridis)

With a backup thermostat, these incubators work great. I just pour the medium in the bottom of the box, with the right mix of water, and set the temp. Beats the high priced commercial reptile incubators. I'm sure the aquarium method works well, but this only takes about 5 minutes to set up. Have fun.

BTW, I choose both methods for my chondros. Mom really knows best.

Brandon Osborne

I tried the cooler method with the aquarium heater and found it to be WAYYYYYYYYYYYY too much work just trying to get the temp set right. If you do it a month in advance, I'm sure it is OK. I have had success with hovabators and with the capacity for 30 or so eggs, it works just fine for me.
-----
Jay A. Martin

I found the exact opposite. I built my incubator (4x4x3) in about 2.5 hours for $43 (Canadian) and I set it to 89.5 and it doesn't budge. I unplugged it 2 weeks ago (no more eggs) and it didn't even go down to 85F for like 4 days, and its in a room that's 70F. I had 70 eggs in it at ONE time this season. And it was only half full. This year it will be full.
-----

The problem I found was that the aquarium heater does not have a temp gauge on it. You have to constantly tweak it to get the right temp. That means open the encloser (heat escapes) and raise or lower the temp with the dial. This was taking forever. As long as my hovabator is this easy to use - same setting from the previous year worked this year - and I don't need space for more than 60 eggs at a time, I'm going to stick with what works for me. Maybe in the next couple of years I'll try something different as I will have more than 60 eggs.
-----
Jay A. Martin

It won't fluctuate. Not at all. It took me 4 days to calibrate the temps and get the water up there, but once its done, its done. Visi-therm or Ebo-Jager heaters are ACCURATE. Damn accurate. I also spent the $100 and put a Helix on there and set it to 91F just in case. Other than a walk-in room, I would never use anything else (except for my monitor eggs).
-----

That was a lot of responses to not really answer your question wasn't it. Although I can't answer your question in full, I can tell you what using a hovabator is like. I used a modified one last year in order to incubate 8 bp eggs. It was 100% succesful and I got 8 beautiful babies in the end. To modify it I threw away the bottom of it (only 3-4" deep) and made my own out of wood with 1" styrofoam lining it that was about 14" deep (I know pic isn't the best, but it kind of shows the modified bottom I made). That gave me plenty of room. My only problem was that I live in a mobile home, and I had a hard time keeping the temp between 86 and 91F. I had to watch it like a hawk. So, in my oppinion hovabators are ok, but if you are really going to get into this and have eggs year in and year out, it would probably be worth it to either build your own, or buy something better. Those are my .02 cents. Good luck, and let me know if you have any other questions about hovabator use.

Ben

Just wanted to say thank you to those of you who actually answered the question...I appreciate your ideas and input.

Thanks again
-----
Michael

Jim Avey's custom Reptile incubators at HatchChondro.com

This is how I did it in 02 the 1st time around. It's similar to what the barkers do, on a smaller scale. A 100 watt red spot lamp was used 2' away from the enclosed 90 qt. rubbermaid. The 9 qt. bucket was covered with a glass pane. This year I'm doing it the same way sans heat lamp. I have a styrofoam box almost 3' square and over 2' high. A hole was cut in the top to accommodate a hovabator cover. Three 9 qt. buckets will fit inside, if only I had more breeding females to fill it up.

Mike NYC, NY

here's the pix!!!!!