Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am expecting some Uroplatus eggs soon, I was wondering if anyone could give me some ideas on how to throw together an incubator that will maintain a 72 deg. temp?... I realize this is nearly room temperature, however I live in an old house and this presents some problems... I dont even have a small enclosed closet that I can put a thermostat controlled small heater in... Please shoot me your ideas! Thanks everyone!
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Ben

I would look into making an incubator with a cooler. You can use many types of heating elements. But the best idea I had heard of for this route was to fill the bottom with water and get a submergable(sp?) aquarium heater. You can adjust the heat to meet your needs with this, and the cooler is insulated enough to hold the temps where you want them to be..

Good luck
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Randall L Turner Jr.
www.aircapitalconstrictors.com

You never experience life until you have kids..then you realize what you should have done rather then what you did do

Here's a link to a great idea for an incubator made from a cooler. I plan to build one like this within the next couple of weeks.

Hope this helps!

www.moreliapythons.com/forum/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1410

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Michael

Thank you Randy and Michael for the ideas... I will more than likely get something like this going in the near future... certainly before my next clutches of expected eggs...
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Ben

I would NOT use the thermostat shown in the picture. I used the same one 2 years ago and lost two VERY special clutches of Ball python eggs. I still shudder to remember seeing the thermometer at 115 when the thermostat was set at 89.

Sigh...

Ben

A box, a heat source, a thermostat, a thermometer to double-check the temps – and you’re in business.

You didn’t mention if low cost was a big consideration, so I’ll assume it is not. The box can be anything from a Styrofoam one like for shipping fish or a plastic, insulated cooler. Lay a small piece of Flexwatt or similar type of heater like Ultratherm on the bottom inside and run the electrical wire out. Connect it to a quality proportional thermostat like Big Apple or Helix. Run the temperature sensing probe from the thermostat into the box. You could probably have your secondary closed container holding the substrate and eggs sitting directly on the heater, but it would be safer to have it raised a little above it – as simple as sitting across a couple of bricks or a piece of plastic egg crate or whatever. Put both the temperature probe and the probe from a digital thermometer in the interior box which will contain the eggs. Test for a week before needed.

You could save some money by substituting a wafer-style thermostat and snap switch for the proportional thermostat.

In my snake rooms, I’d need a refrigerated unit to maintain a constant 72 degrees!

-Joan

I actually have a styrofoam fish box from the pet store I had laying around for a while which I had planed to use for a incubator. You said to put the heat source inside but dont you have to put water inside? Also my heat source would be a human heat pad. I thought you put water inside, some bricks and heat source underneath outside.

“You said to put the heat source inside but dont you have to put water inside?”

No. You regulate any moisture requirements in the secondary containers – the boxes or deli cups with the eggs and moistened substrate – which are placed inside the incubator.

“Also my heat source would be a human heat pad. I thought you put water inside, some bricks and heat source underneath outside.”

Again, you’re thinking of a different design. But regardless, the function of the insulated box is to keep the heat INSIDE. Applying the heat outside would be counterproductive.

Taking everything into account, if I wanted to incubated small numbers of gecko eggs needing low 70’s temperatures, I’d buy a Hovabator or something similar. Far more cost effective – cheaper than one good proportional thermostat. The nice thing about building your own is that you can design something to do double or triple duty over the course of a year. Make it big enough to serve as a nursery or quarantine facility as well as an egg hatcher. Obviously, I’m talking about something bigger than a styro box here, however.

-Joan

hmmmm thats sounds good I mean thats what im doing anyway, my leo is housed in a shoebox with lid on and sits on a heatpad and the egg container sits inside on warm side. I think I will try this being that the strofoam will be much easier to get the temps right.

Thank you everyone for all yoru ideas... I have most of the supplies to go in pretty much either direction...
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Ben