Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all, How many of you have ever used a successful home made incubator.If yes which method did u use(how was it made?)Also if i am to buy a brand new one as im from the UK when i look on google etc i only find chicken and bird incubators.Do i need a still air or circulated air?One with a humidity gauge built in etc.What main things do i need to look for???Thx for NE replies Gilbery007

I havent made my own incubator, mainly because the first and only one I bought does me fine. I've had it for 5 years now. It's a Hovabator. Lots of herp ppls I know use em. They work well for reptile eggs and if you shop around you can get a good price.

No matter what incubator you buy, DONT get the circulated air model. (for Hovabator, that means DONT get the "Turbofan" model, DO get the "Thermal Air Flow" model).

Also with chicken and bird incubators be sure they dont automatically roll the eggs! this is important for bird eggs but deadly for reptile eggs.

Here's one site where you can buy a Hovabator but I'm not too excited about their price. I paid under $40 for mine.

Hovabators at Big Apple

Thanks for your reply it was helpfull in someway but i cannot get a hovabator over here and it will cost me a bomb to get it shipped over hereid be looking at £150 in UK currency i think.I aint got that sort of money yet!Thanks Gilbery007

Get a simple styrofoam cooler, canning jar, aquarium heater, plastic food containers and perlite.

Put the perlite in the plastic container, moisten, drain excess water. The eggs go in this container, and this container goes into the cooler. For heat just punch a hole in the lid of the jar, fill with water and insert the aquarium heater. Set this up in advance so you can stabilize the temperature before you add the eggs. Check on the eggs periodically to make sure they have fresh air, but don't let the perlite dry out.

This is what I've used, and it's worked very well. I checked on the eggs once or twice a week to make sure they had fresh air.

i use a roughly similar one in a styrofoam cooler. i use a very small hermit crab UTH on a thermostat for heat. course it hasnt been successful yet....
ive also hear of filling halfway a small (5 or 10 gal) aquarium, mounting an aquarium heater horizontally, and putting the eggs on top of a brick inside. ive heard it works.
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The aquarium/heater/brick would work too, as long as the heater can be submerged on it's side like that. Neither of the two heaters I have can be completely submerged. Just something to watch out for.