Reptile & Amphibian Forums

what type of incubator do you guys have the most success with. Is it store bought or home made,

thanks
tony butler

I tried some store boughts and had to mess with them too much so i made me one and it works perfect! I took a 120q cooler and put 2 aquarium heaters in it at the bottom and a small air pump to move the water around. I had a little plastic shelf that fit in the bottom of it perfectly and filled the cooler with about 4in of water. I hve the aquarium heaters hooked up to a thermostat that I attatched to the top and set the temp. I use rubbermaid shoe boxes to put the eggs in. I set the shoe boxes onthe shelf and stack as I need to. Since switching to this method I have had a great hatch % and dont have to mess with temp or humidity at all.

How many clutches/shoe boxes can you fit at one time?

I only had 10 clutches this year and they all fit with room for others. This year i am not giving any females the year off so I will have several more. I will be checking to see exactly how many I can fit in there hopefully tomorrow and I will let you know ASAP.

and the small air pump?---you use a turlte filter or something more basic?

sorry it took me so long to get back. I set the temp to 89. The aair pump is just a small air pump with nothing onthe end so that it circulates the water and keeps it from being stagnent. Mine will hold 18 clutches stacked. My cooler is an old igloo that is perfectly square. I put the ones that are going to hatch first on top so that I monitor them. Let me know if you have any other questions and I will see if I get a digital camera so that I can post some pics.