Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is my new incubator. I gutted out an old mini fridge.
When I was almost done, I thought about,,, well my wife thought about taking pics as I did it.. Too late.

Here is the finished incubator.

I removed the plastic lining from the inside of the door. I shaved the insulating foam flat, cut a square hole & used black ducktape to trim it off. The door frame just happen to have a grove on the inside & out for plexi glass. (great insulator, with an air barrier in-between) The inside grove fit a thin piece & the outside grove fit a 1/4" piece. Couldn't have been any luckier.

On the inside I removed the little freezer portion, and added shelf supports on that side. I also removed the cooling fan from the underside of the fridge. It was used to cool the compressor. The transformer is right on the fan, another luck out. At first I had this on all the time, to circulate the air. Unfortunately, the motor created enough heat to keep it too warm. Probably because it's so well insulated. So, now it's wired to the thermostat & only comes on when the heat comes on. I used a small batteries operated fan (from an airfreshener housing) This is what I used in my old incubator. This is enough to just keep the air slightly moving so all the heat doesn't go straight to the top.
I still have to add a shelf. Well, soon. I have a couple snakes who are going to lay soon.

An incubator this size would have cost me between $400 to over $1000. Granted, they would be more accurate but this will suffice for aprox $100. for everything. The plexi. is what cost the most.

-----
Joel R

Coming Soon!
www.SpikesAndScales.com

Good work Joel it looks great. I really like the window you installed. My incubator is a dorm fridge too, but a little smaller I think. I was very happy with how little money it cost too make, and how well it held the temps this season. I used a cheap Zoomed 500R thermostat too, and it kept the temps around 83-83.7. I hooked it up to a light though which would go off and on as needed, and did not use a fan. I tried the heating pad, but for some reason it made the temps fluctuate too much. I love the window though, good job.
-----

Webshots photos
www.Mystical-Dragons.com

Thanks...

I have two heat pads in there. There is one on the bottom with a Tupperware type thing with water in it, sitting on the pad. This helps hold heat & helps maintain a more constant temp. The container actually has a lid so it doesn't rain inside the incubator. lol

I love the window too. I actually had put windows in the Styrofoam incubators I was using. It saves you from having to open it so often. You can just peak in. I think I'm going to go get some of the nicer clear food containers they are selling now, for the eggs. That will even help more.

Later.
-----
Joel R

Coming Soon!
www.SpikesAndScales.com

Cool setup joel. One thing I would say is I think it is worth the $100 for a real reliable thermostat. Those cheap ones have always made me nervous (I used them for my snakes) but if it malfunctioned the snakes could get away. Your eggs can not get away, and mid summer malfunction would be very hurtful. If you are handy (seems as if you are) you can get a ranco thermostat from grainger I believe for about $40.
-----
Peace
Derek

n/p
-----
Joel R

Coming Soon!
www.SpikesAndScales.com

Well the final products can be seen on boaphile website

www.boaphileplastics.com/thermostat.html

The individual thermostat can be purchased on grainger

www.grainger.com/

in the keyword search type Ranco ETC and it will pop up the results. They go for $60, you add the plugs to it, should be easy as connecting 6 wires. Can just use and extension cord cut up to finish the construction.
-----
Peace
Derek

It's as good as done! What a find. I see the charge for them wiring them is quite hefty. I guess if you didn't know anything about that stuff, it would be worth the $$$.

Thanks a million.
-----
Joel R

Coming Soon!
www.SpikesAndScales.com

Your welcome man, yeah it has caused a heated debate on i believe the boa forum. Because there are guys that undersell Jeff, he originally marketed them. And they were all crying about how it is wrong to steal someone's idea. That is what most big snake breeders use. I say $40 (if he pays full retail for the units) is ridiculous for 15 minutes of work tops. Oh and nice looking babies. I miss them. Maybe in september will get one. Have my one boa still, she tagged me good last night on a finger, guess they think they are free when you bring them out.
-----
Peace
Derek

Are the Ranco temp controls the same or better than the helix control?
-----
2.1.1 Bearded Dragon (Ember,Sunshine,Misspiggy,Spyro)
2.2 Leopard Geckos
(Patternless,Blizzard,TremplerAlbino,Hypo Tangerine)
0.1 Bibron Gecko
2 Green Tree Frogs
0.1 Brown Anole
1 Austrailian Shepard (Griz)
3 Cats (Twilight,Hadies,Pietree)
2 Ferrets (Nibbles,Red)

...
-----

Beautiful Dragons