Incubators

[P. Novak]

What would you guys recommend as a good incubator? I've been shopping around and found quite a few that I'm interested in.

Just like to hear some expereinces.

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Paul,

I have had good luck constructing my own incubators.
I use styrofoam coolers small (for a 5 gallon) aquarium heaters and sterlite containers.
In the bottom of the cooler is a container with water and the heater (lid on) The container with vermiculite and eggs rests on this and the cooler is taped shut.
I use a digital thermometer to insure the temps are good and voila!
Total cost: around $20

-Brad

 

[halfwaynowhere]

my BIL uses a hovabator still-air model, and has had pretty good results with that.

 

[Brian]

I've only used hovabators, and they work great! I never had one overheat or anything. There pretty cheap and effective. I have one that I had for 4 years and its still kickin'! I use the still air model as well, not the one with the fan. I think that ones best for reptile incubation.

 

[DrJ]

Making your own can be a scary prospect. I've had friends lose over $2k in snakes due to a malfunction in their homemade incubator. I would suggest that you don't do this. Yes, there has been success, but it is always a risky situation.

Hovabators are the best incubators you can get for the money. Otherwise, if your budget is unlimited, I might suggest another option: HERE.

And, if there is an incubator that I will plead with you to stay far away from, it is this one: RUN4URLIFE!
I've never seen a succesful hatching out of one of these. It is far overrated, small, and is practically useless. I actually hope somebody out there has had success with it, but as far as I'm concerned, it's just one big scam.

Now, the first two I mentioned (Hovabator and the Big Apple Safety Hatch Incubator) are great incubators that are well worth their costs.

 

[Jmugleston]

What are you trying to incubate? If they are gecko eggs, then you might get away with the hovabators. If you have more then just a few eggs then you'll need to get something larger. A quick search online should allow you to find a number of sites that have instructions for home made incubators.

 

[gecko_keeper/KBfauna]

I've used Hovabators for about 10 yrs, for gecko eggs. They work great in our setup. Last year we had 100% hatch on our Fat Tail geckos and about 95% on Leos.

 

[Boanerges]

IMO Paul I would build your own unless you have a ton of money to spend on a nice big one. If you have retics and such you are going to need a bunch of hovabators (not sure how many retic eggs you can get in one but I would imagine not many). I just started building mine out of an old mini fridge. Mine can hold 8 6 qt. steralite tubs at a time in it and has a fan. If you build your own with a regular size fridge you can get around like 29 tubs in it. this is a thread of a friends home made regular and mini fridge incu's:
http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/showthread.php?t=86646
Just buy a good thermostat and the fan is used to circulate air in the incubator to help with hot spots.

 

[P. Novak]

Thanks a ton guys. I may go with both options(building my own, and buying a hovabator) because I will be breeding snakes of various sizes. The largest being a reticulated pyhon, and the smallest being balls and milks. With other various species and sizes in between.

 

[maxxx]

Thanks a ton guys. I may go with both options(building my own, and buying a hovabator) because I will be breeding snakes of various sizes. The largest being a reticulated pyhon, and the smallest being balls and milks. With other various species and sizes in between.

hovabator maybe to small for such snakes(only holding one or two ball python clutches at a time), I would build my own just make should you calibrate it well before adding eggs . Hovabatorare known to overheat and they are simple contructed bator no different from building your own.(just cheaply made) If you are good with your hands build one if not buy one!

 

[Brian]

This is another good option: http://www.cnet.com/8301-13553_1-10012446-32.html I heard of some people that are using it for cham eggs, and I know somebody local that bought one, and he said so far its working great! I guess its pretty good if you need to raise the temps to break dispause. Im going to give it a try. Is not that big though.

 

[DrJ]

Do you know how much that fancy gadget costs? I didn't see it on the site...

 

[Red Eyes]

Do you know how much that fancy gadget costs? I didn't see it on the site...

Here you go ... http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/gear/6ad2/

 

[DrJ]

About $100...not too bad. And, if it works, that would be a good deal! I'd still be a little concerned using it as an incubator...think I'd wait untill more people actually try it to see if it truly does work.

Looks like it would do great...for the price, it may be worth it. I just don't want to risk my eggs for the reviewing.

 

[Brian]

Do you know how much that fancy gadget costs? I didn't see it on the site...

The price was on the link I sold somebody 2 adult female ambilobes he later bred them and started calling me when he had questions on gravid female care, egg care etc. I told him he may incubate the eggs at room temp, but said If you want a incubator try the hovabator, or the mini fridge. I told him I have only used the hovabator but he went ahead and bought the mini fridge and has been giving me updates on how it works for a couple months. It seems like a good incubator, so far its been 4 months in the incubation and he slowly increasing the temps and everything. As of now there has been no problems. Keep in mind though that hes only been working this thing for 4 months, not sure how it would work later.

 

[UrbanJungles]

I'd really love to hear about someone else's experience with these because in theory it looks like it could work nicely...

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Several people on the chameleon forums use the exact model with great success.
Especially nice for montanes and other species whose eggs need to be kept cooler.


-Brad