# Incubator advice, brinsea octogan incubator



## astunner69 (Feb 27, 2010)

Hi guys looking to see if anyone has advice on incubators, I used a home made incubator last year and had a great hatchrate with beardies and cresties but I think it was less than half with my leos so was curious about using this brinsea incubator that I've used for incubating birds with a brilliant hatch rate



















Unsure about the humidity, it contains two water areas that you fill up but would I need to line the bottom with moist vermin aswell.

Any thoughts and advice would be great

Cheers in advance

Craig


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

i`ve used the octagon 20 for birds, not used the 10 though.

has it got a fan like in the 20?
if it has maybe you`d be better putting the eggs inside tubs, or the fan would dry the verm out extreemly fast.....


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## paulh (Sep 19, 2007)

A tub holds the humidity, moderates temperature swings, and keeps the hatchlings from getting into things they should not, like the incubator's heating element. An incubator is just a warm box to hold the tubs.

IMO, pilot error is more likely than equipment failure.


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## astunner69 (Feb 27, 2010)

Hi, no no fan just static, but built in thermostat. So do you think if I just basically use it like a tub I.e line the bottom with moist vermic.


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## astunner69 (Feb 27, 2010)

No doubt at all that it's my fault hence I'm seeking advice and trying to clarify my techniques in order to improve hatchrates


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

no i would usedtakeaway tubs or similar inside the incy with the vermiculite in to hold the eggs.
you`ll have more control of the humidity then and they`re less likely to run off when you open it once they`ve hatched


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## astunner69 (Feb 27, 2010)

bump up, any one else got any thoughts


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## paulh (Sep 19, 2007)

The original post just states that hatch rate was under 50%. There is too little information to identify a specific cause. So the rest of this is just general thoughts.

Reproduction problems divide into parental issues and actual incubation issues.

Parental issues include but are not limited to nutrition and heat sterility of the males. Parental issues are likely to produce large numbers of infertile eggs. Were the eggs candled or look abnormal when laid?

Incubation issues mostly mean that the eggs were too hot, too cold, too wet, or too dry. A thermometer would tell if the eggs were too hot or too cold. Mold often grows if the eggs are too wet, and the eggs shrivel if too dry.

All my experience has been with incubating snake eggs. I'd find at least three files on the web about incubating leopard gecko eggs. When you compare what you did against those files, you may get some ideas.

Good luck.


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