Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Has anyone had any experience with HovaBator Incubators?
I am thinking of puchasing one, and want to know if anyone has used them...if they are worth it...or if there are better ideas out there. I am a small breeder.
Thanks.
Nancy
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All creatures great and small we are to care for them all.
5 Corns,7 Kings,4 Milks, 1 Everglade rat,1 German Shephard,1 Cairn & 1 Giant Schnauzer

I've used Hovabators before. They work well. I would not recommend the "Turbo" models (the ones with the fans) because they will have a tendency to dry out reptle eggs.

For Colubrids, I don't use an incubator at all. I have a very good success rate just using Sterilite shoe boxes with a vermiculite/water medium, placed on an elevated shelf in my snake room that stays somewhere between 75 degrees F. (nights) and 85 degree F. (days).

I purchased a snake that was gravid and I did not know it until later.My first attempt at incubating did not turn out well.
I placed the eggs in a vermiculite medium and set a thermometor on top of the container which I monitored everyday as it was setting in my livingroom. I maintained it at 80 with a slight variation of3-4 degrees up or down. They were in there 80 days and all six babies never evolved from their sacs. I opened the eggs and all were dead...developed but still in a very dense casing. I thought my temps were bad. And maybe an incubator would prevent this from happening to my Black Mexicans which are brumating now.
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All creatures great and small we are to care for them all.
5 Corns,7 Kings,4 Milks, 1 Everglade rat,1 German Shephard,1 Cairn & 1 Giant Schnauzer

Those temps should have been fine for about any Colubrid. The most common mistake people make is in keeping the vermiculite too damp. If the eggs are wet or if there is constantly condensation on the sides and top of the container, it is too damp. The eggs have to be able to exchange gasses through the upper part of the shell, and they exchange fluids through the part that is in contact with the damp medium. If there is constantly water on the upper part of the shell (the part not contacting the medium), then gas exchange can't take place because the pores will be blocked with water.

That's what happened to my egg last year... poor Sheldon. I drowned him. I think now I'm just going to concentrate on species whose eggs hatch in 2 weeks or less.
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"The serpent crams itself with animal life that is often warm and vibrant, to prolong an existence in which we detect no joy and no emotion. It reveals the depth to which evolution can sink when it takes the downward path and strips animals to the irreducible minimum able to perpetuate a predatory life in its naked horror."
Alexander Skutch

I know you're joking, but I talked to guy last year that actually tried to accellerate hatch times with California Kingsnakes to 30 days. He cranked the temperature up to over 90 degrees and SOAKED the eggs and vermiculite. He started out with 12 good, fertile eggs and ended up with 2 live babies.

Two words- Eryx muelleri... The eggs hatch so fast I couldn't possibly have time to scew them up!
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"The serpent crams itself with animal life that is often warm and vibrant, to prolong an existence in which we detect no joy and no emotion. It reveals the depth to which evolution can sink when it takes the downward path and strips animals to the irreducible minimum able to perpetuate a predatory life in its naked horror."
Alexander Skutch

That's cheating!

Crap... my only other egg laying adult pair right now is crocodile skinks, and I think that's cheating too because they incubate at room temperature (so I hear). I should breed some pythons or something. Eh... sounds like work.
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"The serpent crams itself with animal life that is often warm and vibrant, to prolong an existence in which we detect no joy and no emotion. It reveals the depth to which evolution can sink when it takes the downward path and strips animals to the irreducible minimum able to perpetuate a predatory life in its naked horror."
Alexander Skutch