Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What do you guys use as far as incubators? I have never done this before and want to make sure everything is successful yet I dont really have hundreds and hundreds of dollars to spend on a incubator. What do you guys use or better yet.. what did you guys use as like a "first time" setup until I get the hang of this and can throw down some money on a better setup. I came across this and was wondering everyones opinions on it..

http://www.bigappleherp.com/Reptile_Supplies/Product/Hovabator_Incubator_THERMAL_AIR_Flow_Model_752106P.html

please if you know of something else that isnt going to break the bank for a first timer PLEASE give me a link or something. Thank you!

if you're worried about breaking the bank you shouldn't worry about incubating eggs! keeping babies are going to be 10X the cost of a decent incubator! But what do i know! lol
Make your own: http://www.people.ku.edu/~peace03/reptiles_incubator.htm
Buy: http://www.bigappleherp.com/Reptile_Supplies/Catalog/Incubators_33.html

have fun!
-Sara

I'm not talking about breaking the bank as far as raising babies, I'm talking about spending $500 on a incubator when like I said this is my first time doing this and I'm not even sure if they are going to hatch.. know what I mean? Thank you for your reply though.

i understand, no need for a 500 incubator for 1 clutch, you can easiliy make your own or buy a small one for under 100.

I was looking at the "make your own" link that you posted and I have every piece of equip needed to set it up already from one of my previous freshwater fish setups.. is this a reliable incu or do you know of anybody with past experience on it? If this has been prooven to work, I would love to play with it beings its my first time and I guess its not going to be a "guranteed to hatch" situation anyway. Only thing I didnt see on that "how-to" is what exactly the humidity is supposed to be set at? Tips on this?

I'm not exactly sure of the humidity for beardie eggs, I haven't incubated bd eggs as of yet, so this is second hand from reading and talking with ppl. Basically, keep the vermiculite moist, but not soggy. You want it wet enough to be able to squeeze a drop or so of water if you pinch it. If the eggs dent, they're too dry and you need to moisten the incubation medium and can lightly mist the eggs. The eggs will sweat if it's too humid. Sorry I couldn't help ya more!
-Nicky
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What does friend mean to you?
A word so wrongfully abused
Are you like me, confused
All included but you
Alone...
The sounds of silence often soothe
Shapes and colors shift with mood
Pupils widen and change their hue
Rapid brown avoid clear blue
Why’s it have to be this way?
Be this way
Flowers watched through wide brown eyes
A child sings an unclaimed tune
Innocence spins cold cocoon
Grow to see the pain too soon
-Alice In Chains
2.1 Bearded Dragons: Gordo, Layne, & Chiquita
2.2 Cats: Zeus, Remi, Kiki & Delilah
1.0 Betta

I just had my first clutch hatch almost a month ago now. I used a reptile hovabator to incubate my eggs. I set the hovabator at about 84 degrees and seeing as I'm over protective I watched the temp and the eggs very closely. DON'T GO OVER 85 DEGREES OR UNDER 82 DEGREES because you'll kill the eggs. Since I didn't know exactly how much water to add I just added about a cup or two of water to make sure that the eggs had enough humidity. I put my eggs on perlite in those deli containers with the red tops that you get when you buy lunch meat at the grocery store and I can never remember the name of the brand. It took my eggs about 2 months to the day to start hatching and it took all of my eggs about a week to hatch. I didn't trust making my own incubator so when I got some extra cash I bought a hovabator right away even without knowing if I would have eggs or not but I prefer to be safe than sorry in most cases. Now I have 10 beautiful little beardie babies that are eating me out of house and home litterally. I'll tell you that you'll be lucky if a box of a thousand two week old crickets lasts you a week. I'm not trying to scare you or anything but I never knew keeping babies until they're ready to go was so expensive.

I used a home-made icubator and had 100% hatch rate the first clutch. I used the glade sandwich containers filled with vermiculite (mixed 1 1/2 cups water to 4 cups vermiculite). To make sure your humidity is correct: water droplets should form on the lid and sides of the container, but not enough to drip on the eggs. I also keep a small cup of warm water inside the incubator. If any of my containers looked dry I added water to the vermiculite around the eggs (not on them).
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1.3 Louie,Sunny,Red,Lilly and babies!