# Home-made Incubator advice



## Nigel_wales (Mar 24, 2009)

Hey,

Just wondering how you all made your home made incubators?

Including what equipment you used and if possible a link to a thread on here (if one exists) where someone has documentated what they've done. 

Any help would be awesome!


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## Morwin Nerdbane (Apr 24, 2011)

My herp pet shop guy suggests using a large-ish polly box. Stick a heat mat to the lid (the bottom will make too much condensation) attatch it to a thermostat. Stick some bamboo stick through (the kind that you can get at garden centres for growing beans) to make a shelf and put your box with damp substrate and eggs on there. Cost would be £50-£100 depending on the type of thermostat.

That's for leos though not sure how it'd work for other lizards.

Also you can do it just so you put your box with the eggs in on top of your existing heat mat and just move it around daily to keep a consistent temp.

Easy as pie :2thumb:


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## Nigel_wales (Mar 24, 2009)

Morwin Nerdbane said:


> My herp pet shop guy suggests using a large-ish polly box. Stick a heat mat to the lid (the bottom will make too much condensation) attatch it to a thermostat. Stick some bamboo stick through (the kind that you can get at garden centres for growing beans) to make a shelf and put your box with damp substrate and eggs on there. Cost would be £50-£100 depending on the type of thermostat.
> 
> That's for leos though not sure how it'd work for other lizards.
> 
> ...


Where is a good place to get polly box's from and what thermostat would you recommend mate? Want to get a custom one made nw so I have plenty of time to test it etc... Cheers for your reply mate!


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## Morwin Nerdbane (Apr 24, 2011)

When herp shops get their bug deliveries they usually come in one. Just ask if you could pinch one or offer them a couple of quid. 

I don't have a thermostat yet but from what I've been told there's three different types; in my local shop they are £55, £65 and £75.(I forget their technical terms) It depends on what kind of scale breeding project you are planning for as to which you go for. If it's just a small one then the cheaper ones should be fine.

They work by flicking your heat mat on and off to control temp drops, the more expensive ones flick on and off constantly to maintain a more accurate temp. The cheaper turn your heat mat on to get it up to temp then turn it off and when the temp drops a few degrees it turns back on to bring the temp back up. They work totally fine but may fluctuate a few degrees.

I am aware that that info is pretty useless without the names of the thermostats but it's the best I can offer I'm affraid. Sorry lol x


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## Nigel_wales (Mar 24, 2009)

Morwin Nerdbane said:


> When herp shops get their bug deliveries they usually come in one. Just ask if you could pinch one or offer them a couple of quid.
> 
> I don't have a thermostat yet but from what I've been told there's three different types; in my local shop they are £55, £65 and £75.(I forget their technical terms) It depends on what kind of scale breeding project you are planning for as to which you go for. If it's just a small one then the cheaper ones should be fine.
> 
> ...


No worries pal its all useful stuff that I can take into consideration when buying all the bits and pieces.


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## Nigel_wales (Mar 24, 2009)

Just found a good sticky! 

http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/breeding/132157-home-made-incubators.html


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

I just got a poly box from the aquatics shop, free of charge, all I am doing is to create a shelf, heatmat in bottom of box, attatch the mat to a pulse stat so the temp is a nice steady constant temp, cut a hole in roof and put a large perspex sheet over the hole attatching with aquarium sealent to creat a viewing window, and job done. Then its just a case of doing a trial run to get the reight temp and humidity  done


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## Barlow (Sep 23, 2010)

Hi Nigel. I'm going to assume that you want to build an incubator for monitor eggs. If not then please forgive me and ignore this reply. 

Here is my monitor egg incubator.










This is made from Plywood and is 4 feet high, 3 feet wide and 2 feet deep. 

The size is important because with monitor eggs, especially odiatra, you want to hatch the eggs in as large an egg box as possible. Mine are 10 litres. This large amount of mass means more stable temps and humidity and less need to check/ mess with the eggs. The more you mess the less likely to hatch. 

This incubator is heated by 2 x 50W heat cables that run down all 4 corners and also zig zag the top and bottom. There are also 2 x 4" fans which circulate the air. The heat cables are run through a pulse thermostat set to 30C.

Polyboxes are a poor method at hatching monitor eggs due to the small masses and inebvitable fluctuations that occur within them. I'm sure some people have had success with them but, assuming you're talking about cooking a glauerti clutch that could be worth up to £4000 then spending £250 quid to build a decent incubator will be well worth it. 

Hope this helps.


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## bignick (Mar 24, 2007)

this is how i do mine 













































but i now have a luck rep stat which is better i think


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## markn (Jul 29, 2010)

I am making my incubator now but can't decide whether to put the heatmat in the base or the lid and how high off the perlite to place the stat and thermometer Probes.


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## bignick (Mar 24, 2007)

place the stat and thermometer Probes next to your eggs and i always put on the lid and it work really well but really it don't matter cos it the heat fills the hole polly box anyway.


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

so for people who create a shelf, and place eggs in plastic containers with lids on, do you place the thermometer/hygrometer/and stat prob INSIDE the box with the eggs then tape it shut to seal it?

Also, do the egg boxes need any vent holes in at all?

Also if there are multiple boxes i take it you only need to place probes in just the 1 box?

cheers


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## Dean Cheetham (Jun 1, 2009)

Nigel you should have said you needed a poly box when you was down i have loads! if you cant get one, let me know and i will send one up to you in the post :2thumb:

Here's mine:


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## Nigel_wales (Mar 24, 2009)

Dean Cheetham said:


> Nigel you should have said you needed a poly box when you was down i have loads! if you cant get one, let me know and i will send one up to you in the post :2thumb:
> 
> Here's mine:
> 
> ...


 
I'll try and get one tomorrow, What did you use to sit the nest boxes on?


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## labmad (Sep 23, 2007)

Just to clarify the probes for everything go INSIDE the box holding the eggs with the ld on??

Also, are you supposed to put a few vent holes on the boxes holding the eggs??

cheers


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## lusisticlee (Apr 4, 2011)

i got my pulse stat from here:
Scales and Tails Leicester, Reptiles, Fish, Birds & Mammals

cost me £34 and a few pennies cheapest ive come across anywhere , mine is the microclimate 600watt stat and can cost upto £55 on ebay


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## x Sarah x (Nov 16, 2007)

I used a plant propagator with a dimmer stat on, worked a treat.


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## rep-it (Aug 26, 2007)

i have a problem. i'm using a polybox with a heat mat on the bottom and a sims container with vermiculite in it on dowls above the heatmat, but i'm getting bad condensation on the inside of my lids, i'm wiping it off everyday. i have put two small holes in the lid but this had made no difference. should i of put the heatmat on the lid of the incubator?

but with the sims container they said they work beter if the heat isnt coming from above

little confused, any help appreciated.

please pm


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## Nigel_wales (Mar 24, 2009)

coults said:


> i have a problem. i'm using a polybox with a heat mat on the bottom and a sims container with vermiculite in it on dowls above the heatmat, but i'm getting bad condensation on the inside of my lids, i'm wiping it off everyday. i have put two small holes in the lid but this had made no difference. should i of put the heatmat on the lid of the incubator?
> 
> but with the sims container they said they work beter if the heat isnt coming from above
> 
> ...


You need some form of heat coming from above I reckon.


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## markn (Jul 29, 2010)

Your substrate might be too wet. Check your poly box for holes. If cold air is getting in then the cold air hitting the warm air will cause extra condensation.


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## rep-it (Aug 26, 2007)

iv used a vermiculite mix of 1.1 weight ratio as was recomended to me and tried the incubator with holes and holes blocked, didnt make any difference.

iv now moved the eggs to a polybox with a heat mat on the lid, no condensation so far. previously i was getting condensation after just a few hours.

just wondering now though if the eggs are going to be ok in the sims container as they say if you heat from above to make modificactions to the sim lid with a sponge. thinking about putting the eggs in another tub in perlite, dont want to disturb the eggs now though.


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## patterkillar (Sep 16, 2010)

hatch my eggs by floating them in plastic boxes
in a cooler box filed with water 
heated with a fish tank heater,

find it keeps a very even temperature

but you need to double cheeck with thermometer when first setting up to find how acurate temp on thermostat is


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