Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I need advide on purchasing an incubator. Right now it will be used for gecko eggs only, but hopefully for python eggs in the future. Detailed help would be appreciated.

thanks,
chris

You can make a very reliable one for alot less than what you can buy one for. If you want to go the cheap route hovabators work for a couple years, but they're not the safest thing for your eggs. I bought a helix dbs-1000 thermostat, 10 feet of 4 inch flex watt and a melamine cabinet from home depot. A big ice chest will also work. I stapeled the flex watt to the bottom of the cabinet in an up and down looping pattern and connected it to the helix. I drilled a large hole in the back corner of the shelf and placed it a couple inches over the flex watt. Then I glued a 2 inch wide piece of pvc pipe over the hole so the warm air could rise through it and settle over the eggs. The pipe is about a foot tall. I've used this for 5 years now with no problems. Its hatched thousands of bearded dragons, and a bunch of colubrids and pythons and it keeps a perfect temperature for whatever I'm hatching.

What is the probelem with Hovabators? I have seen them before, but know nothing about them.

chris

Hovabators are very unpredicatable. They may work great for a little while and then back fire. The heat is way too close to the eggs, in my opinion and the wafer thermostat can get out of whack with fluctuations in humidity and outside temperature. The adjustment is a screw you turn to adujst the gap in the contacts of the wafer. It might cost you 3-4 times the price of a hovabator to build a good digital incubator, but it will last for decades. You will have much better success too.

Hey, I like the idea of the hole and PVC pipe if you're using solid shelves.