Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok I'm finally going to ask and look stupid but who cares, What the hell does an incubator do and how does it work???

Um.... It incubates eggs....

And it does it by keeping a steady temp and humidity for a few weeks to months pending on species.

First off, we are talking about reptile incubators. They only add heat to a certain temperature above the ambient. They do not lower the temps, or controll humidity at all.

The humidity is controlled by the keeper. They do this by putting water in the substrate or dishs of water, etc. This is not controlled in any means by the incubator.

Most reptile incubators are a box(sometimes insulated) with a heat element thats controlled by a thermostat. Thats it.

They do not lower the temps if they are too hot(my room does)

Reptile incubators need to be placed in an area where the temps will always stay below the required temps in the incubator, in order to work properly.

Well, thats about it.

There have been people who used bird incubators, which are similiar but they control humidity too. This seems to be a fad and usually passes rather quickly. Good Luck FR