Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all. The impending ice storm here in my part of Virginia has refocused my thoughts on a problem I have thought about in the past. What in the world can I do about my incubator in the event of a power failure? I have a home-made cooler type incubator that works wonderfully for me. Of course the incubator runs on regular household current. Now here's the kicker. My facility is currently arranged in a way that makes a traditional gas powered generator not feasable. So, how can I provide a constant temp in my incubator during a power outage? I've got Irian Jaya Carpet eggs cooking right now, and my first ball clutch is due to be laid in about 6 weeks or so. So far, I've been lucky and not had a power outage during incubation seasons of the past, but I know I'm due. The only possible option that is see is to use the chemical hot packs, but they are inconsistent, consume oxygen, and would require constant monitoring. The oxygen thing scares me though, so I don't even like this as a last resort. Any ideas or suggestions?
Joe Pociask Pythons

thats a very valid point. i'm curently building an incubator, and although i don't live in an area where i face too many blizzads (sacramento) we do get vicous winds and power outages are common. i've also put some thought into this and if you have gas in your house they make packs that don't run on chemicals but you heat them up on a gas range in water they're pretty effective at maintaining heat for several hours and can be maintained by a simple thermometer. it may be a little labor intensive but it's better than hatching out a clutch full of slugs. place your smaller incubator inside a larger incubator with the lid open, place the packs around the smaller incubator and keep the lid closed. rotate the packs as they cool, this should hold you for a few days until the power comes back on or you go insane. if anyone has any other sugestions i'd love to hear them. cheers. schell

it offers alot of good information.
Link

I picked up a regular old UPS (uninteruptable power supply) on Ebay for less then $150. Check this link. http://www.apc.com/products/category.cfm?id=13. It will run my incubator for 2 days easily in case of a power outage. Don't buy new...they are way expensive, grab a used one from ebay...also, they are heavy, so try to find one locally as well.

Shawn

Here's what you do. You make a custom UPS (uninteruptible power supply) You need to purchase a Transformer/Inverter (30-150$ depending on wattage capacity), a car or boat battery (50-100$ depending on amp hours), and a battery charger (20-80$ depending on amps). The transfomer/inverter is intended for people who want to watch a regular TV or run a small refrigerator in a camper or van. It changes the 12 volts found in car systems to 120 volts required for household items. The battery will run it. I would recomend the kind for boat trolling motors. The battery charger continuously charges the battery. So what ever heater you are running off the UPS is always being run through the batteries.
The advantage to this system is it is completely automatic, meaning, it does not depend on someone to turn it on. It will work in the event of a power failure even if you are at work, sleeping, or on vacation. It is also completely quiet and clean.
The disadvantage is it is complex and expensive once you get into higher power requirements, and is not for the average homeowner to attempt.
The critical information to make the calculations above is the wattage required to run your incubator. Are we talking about a 100 watt light bulb or something a lot more? Let me know if this is something you want to pursue and I can assist you with the details.
Good luck!
Malone.

1. A freind of mine who has a couple tanks of pirahna asked me about this and got me thinking about the feasability. His tank is really big, however, and everything needs to be doubled when talking about motors and pumps.
2. I am a licensed electrician, and have done electrical work at hospitals, auto factories, schools, a nuclear power plant, etc...
3. I have 3 Tegus, which I love, but I am thinking about adding an arboreal snake to my collection. This is the reason I came to this forum, and have been "lurking" for a month now, reading up on Rainbow Boas, Carpet Pythons, and Red Tail Boas. Of these species (and I know you are biased ) which do you think is the most rewarding pet?
Thank you, and any advice/questions are welcome.

PS, my buddy with the pirahna decided against this because the cost for a large fish tank with all the pumps, heaters, lights would have been close to 1,000$. A simple 100 watt incubator might only run a couple hundred dollars, and if your looking at it as business insurance, if you have 20 babies worth about 100$ each, well, you might think the peace of mind is worth it.
Malone out.