Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey, I need a new incubator and was wondering what type everyone else uses and what the pros and cons are of different types.

We have used one we made out of a cooler. It was heated with flex watt and the egg chamber (plastic tub) was placed inside. We used the no substrate method. The extra room was filled with 20 oz. pop bottles to help retain heat when it was opened. It ran on a helix but any qulity thermostat would work.

We have used one made out of MDF and it too used flex watt and the no substrate method. This year we are going to turn a closet into an incubator.

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Jared Douglas

cooler too small but held heat very well

mdf does not hold heat as well and is very heavy so again too small

some people use hovabators but I have no experience with these
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Jared Douglas

That way you can design it for how ever many clutches you want. You can also pay closer attention to details and efficiency. Here are the basic plans from one that I built last year, it was designed to hold 24 shoe boxes or 12 sweater boxes.

George

WOW, nice plans, thanks !!

I was going to make one out of an old frige, but that looks at nicer.

If you said I missed it, but what was the cost to build that?

Thanks...

The total cost was around $450, one hundred of which was the thermostat.

George

I'm also in the market for an incubator and was drawn to habitat systems. Anyone have experience with them? They seems to be on the expensive side but wondering if the extra $$$ is worth it to help ensure a secure enviro for my eggs. Any ideas???

I have two of their incubators now for hatching chondros and am completely pleased. Stable temperatures, excellent air circulation, easy to clean and totally impervious to water and humidity. These things are well built and will last a life time. In my opinion they are WELL WORTH THE MONEY! If your investing in and planning on breeding valuable animals it makes sense to have a good quality reliable incubator.

Rico Walder
Signal Herpetoculture
Signal Herpetoculture

Thanks everyone.