Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am making an incubator out of an old upright freezer. All the articles that i can find don't seem to cover ventilation. Do I need to put a few holes at the top and bottom for some air movement? If i hook up a 3 inch computer fan to move some air will this harm the eggs? Most reptile incubation tables state use a still air incubator but with using a freezer i am afraid that it will be so airtight that it will kill off the eggs. Any help greatly appreciated.

Sorry to hijack your post here, but I just got a small dorm sized fridge (actually out of a pop-up trailer) and had a couple questions concerning turning it into an incubator.

First, what kind of thermostat do you all recomend?

Second, what kind of heating elements do you use? I was planning on just using flexwat heat tape, but was curious how much I should order (I don't want to order too much and just waste it).

I made 2 incubators out of dorm sized fridges. This year will be my first using it, but I'm sure it will work cause the plan I followed is what other breeders used, and hatched many eggs with it. I never used heat tape before so I really can't help with that. I talked to quite a few people who used cheaper style thermostats without trouble like the ones made by zoomed, or the cheaper one that big apple sells www.bigappleherp.com. The funny thing is these people always suggested for me to buy a more expensive one HHmm. I personally paid the extra money and invested in the thermostat that the boaphile sells. This is a pretty expensive one, but I bought it used from a buddy for the same price I would have bought the single Ranco thermostat for, or the more expensive one that big apple sells. It has a few safety features like a second thermostat so if something goes wrong with the first thermostat the second one dialed in at 2 degrees higher then the first will catch any spike of temps and take over. Plus it keeps the temps inside the incubator dead on. I've heard the cheaper ones having a bit of variance in keeping temps like 2-4 degrees /-, but I'm sure they would get the job done. There have been people who hatched beardie eggs at room temps, but it just takes a long time, and the more time before they hatch the more chances for problems. Just with any thermostat you buy test it for about a week or longer to make sure it is not spiking, and to calibrate it with a digital thermometer. Test it with a few different thermometers. I bought one of those digital ones that record the highest and lowest temps of the day to get an idea of the variance throughout the day.
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So what did you end up using for heating? The only reason I was thinking heat tape or flexwatt is that it takes up less space in the incubator then a light fixture...

I made one out of a smaller dorm sized fridge. I did drill holes so I could run the wires through, and did put a hole on top for the wire from the thermometer to go through. I'm sure if you put a few holes on the bottom, and put a few up high the hot air rising will draw in fresh air through the bottom holes, and out the top holes. I have a few friends that use large freezers, and they don't use a fan at all. They just put the heating element on the bottom and let the air rising pull in fresh air, just like a smaller still air hovabotor would work.
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