# Home made incubator



## Sarah-Jayne (Jul 4, 2007)

I built an incubator this year using a polystyrene box, heat mat, mat stat and some bamboo canes for the rack to put the egg boxes on. I think I must have built it wrong or something because my baby leos all died in the egg just before they were due to hatch  

I think the problem is the temps, it fluctuated alot, and I had the stat set just above the temp I wanted and it still went right down to 79F or something.

Anyways....does anyone know how I can improve it for next season?

It has been suggested that I swap the heat mat for heat cable and use a pulse stat instead of a mat stat?


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## Scaley (Sep 25, 2007)

im intrested in this aswell, as this is how i was gona make my incubator 4 royal eggs. :2thumb:


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## Herp_boi (May 12, 2008)

get an old fridge and convert it! : victory:


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## Sarah-Jayne (Jul 4, 2007)

I dont have the money to convert an old fridge lol nor the space in my house for one


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## kelly (Mar 3, 2006)

i used a mat stat on one of my incubators and just before th corns were due they died in the egg 3 out of 21 hatched. in the other incubator i used a pulse stat and only lost 2 eggs out of 14. my incubtor was made same as yours.


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## Sarah-Jayne (Jul 4, 2007)

Okie dokie! It definately sounds like mat-stats are a no-go for incubators...I wish I had known that before!


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## kelly (Mar 3, 2006)

yeah i found i was constantly having to change the temp on the mat stat, the temps fluctuated loads where with the pulse stat i hardly had to bother with it. kept temps constant the whole time. wish id of realised too, loosing 18 eggs was gutting and to open them to find babies inside was heart breaking.


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## Sarah-Jayne (Jul 4, 2007)

I know what you mean, I lost all 8 of my baby leos, and they were definately there cos I opened the eggs  what makes it worse was the female that laid them was gravid when I got her (although I didnt know) and she is far too young for breeding...so she has gone through being so skinny and on the brink of illness for nothing


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## kelly (Mar 3, 2006)

awww bless her, but its not your fault chick.


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## shrek090 (Jun 24, 2008)

its best to use a pulse stat as this maintains the temp, mat stats turn the heating on/off meaning the temps will fluctuate to much.


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## Sarah-Jayne (Jul 4, 2007)

Pulse stat it is then...just gotta wait and see if any of my other eggs hatch before I rip the incubator apart!

Is the heat mat ok then or should I use heat cable?


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## jennibob (Jan 5, 2008)

Hi there,

I use a mat stat, but it is attached to the heat mat, which reduces the fluctuation in the incubator, I also have a Digital Thermometer in the egg box which is reading 84d, with a minor variant of possiby .5 - 1 degree

Hope this helps, as I got this advice from an extremley helpfull person on here also.

mine are BD eggs btw not Leo's

Hope this helps

Jen


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## Sarah-Jayne (Jul 4, 2007)

I am confused lol 

the stat wouldnt work if it wasnt connected to the mat anyway?

I also have a digital thermomter in the egg box and the temperature fluctates alot...between 79F and 86F


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## kelly (Mar 3, 2006)

yeah the mat stat didnt work for me. will be using pulse stats on all incubators from now on.


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## jennibob (Jan 5, 2008)

Sarah-Jayne said:


> I am confused lol
> 
> the stat wouldnt work if it wasnt connected to the mat anyway?
> 
> I also have a digital thermomter in the egg box and the temperature fluctates alot...between 79F and 86F


LOL, silly me, (friday afternoon) :lol2:

I meant that the temp probe from the stat is sellotaped to the mat, so as soon as it starts to cool from the mat, the probe kicks the mat back on so there is less temp fluctuation in the incubator (it gives more of a constant heat) 

sorry for the confusion


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## Sarah-Jayne (Jul 4, 2007)

Ahhhh right lol

I have the probe in the egg box


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## jennibob (Jan 5, 2008)

Sarah-Jayne said:


> Ahhhh right lol
> 
> I have the probe in the egg box


right, that may be your problem, try running it for a couple of days with the probe directly under the mat and the digital thermometer inside the egg tub and try to get it set to the right temp via the thermometer instead of the probe.

Don't get me wrong a pulse stat probably would be better but I have found this way good for the time being 

:2thumb:


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## pmamhayes (Jun 13, 2007)

SJ you need a pulse stat. put the probe on the same level as the egg boxs but outside of them...


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## don't rush me (Apr 19, 2008)

Sarah-Jayne said:


> I built an incubator this year using a polystyrene box, heat mat, mat stat and some bamboo canes for the rack to put the egg boxes on. I think I must have built it wrong or something because my baby leos all died in the egg just before they were due to hatch
> 
> I think the problem is the temps, it fluctuated alot, and I had the stat set just above the temp I wanted and it still went right down to 79F or something.
> 
> ...


What is the size of your poly box and what size is the heat mat?
where did you fix the heat mat and how 

I use a poly box and hatched all my beardie eggs and all my corn eggs no problem it must be something else that's a miss.....

Here mine









heat mat wants to be as big as back wall stat 30 digi best small air whole at top size of pencil only put water on floor about 5mm deep use the plastic tubs with holes in fill with vermiculite and spray every over day with warm mist water thats it. must be damp in there I think thats most peoples problems thats why I have 5mm of water on floor and stand the tubs in it it keep the vermiculite damp as the tubs have small slits in them the heat mat is fastened on the back wall using drawing pins ......

hope this helped


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## don't rush me (Apr 19, 2008)

don't rush me said:


> What is the size of your poly box and what size is the heat mat?
> where did you fix the heat mat and how
> 
> I use a poly box and hatched all my beardie eggs and all my corn eggs no problem it must be something else that's a miss.....
> ...


 stat probe on floor in between the tubs at time the eggs get damp so un cover or cover as needed.....:2thumb:

























some that hatched I have 18 out of 20 beardie eggs and snakes just starting hope this helps p.m. if you need anything else:no1:


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## Sarah-Jayne (Jul 4, 2007)

Absolutely no idea how big it is lol heres a pic...










I built it how I was told to by a few people...but I can modify it!!

By the way...I am not using the big tub anymore it was a pain in the bum lol

And theres a container of water under the tub you just cant see it


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