# Incubators - which?



## gizmogecko

I have been looking at incubators for gecko eggs, there are quite a few on the market. Apparently some have bulbs in instead of a heat mat/heat wires whatever it is they use, then there are loads of diy methods advertised and equipment for diy incubators. 

Are there any recommended ones, or ones that should be avoided, its a bit of a minefield. I have read somewhere that you halve your chances of success with a diy one, but then I have also read so many people making their own. Conflicting information is a problem with everything unfortunatly.

Any help in choosing/deciding appreciated. (although I don't really understand the plans I have seen for the diy methods). I know dissappoinments are inevitable with eggs/nature etc, but I would like to give myself the best chance to start off with.

Thanks folks.


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## Athravan

I think most people make their own, more reliable and a fraction of the price! You can use anything from a viv, to a poly box, to a fish tank with an aquatic heater... use a thermostat of some kind and keep the humidity high and that's all you need.


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## Guest

Heres the link to the tread that i posted my polybox in.I have hatched out 9 clutches of corn snake eggs only ever losing 4 eggs and have also hatched out 5 lutches of beardie eggs losing 2 eggs during the incubation period.

Hope this helps you a little
http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/snakes/18578-diy-incubator.html


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## Graham

I just made my own this afternoon...










Poly box free from Sainsbury's fish counter, insulation (15mm thick, equivalent to 210mm fibreglass wool!) free from a friend who's just done a loft conversion, MDF box from scrap timber at work, 50W water heater donated by another turt enthusiast.

Inner lid in place with viewing windows...










There's a wire rack for the egg boxes to sit on, and the boxes are plastic Chinese takeaway containers.

I already have a digi thermometer to monitor the temp, that would cost an additional £7 or so otherwise.

Build time 1 hour, total cost £0.00!


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## gizmogecko

*Smashing - thanks*

Thanks all for your help! 

Graham - looks and sounds fantastic!! A little over my head in the manufacture department I am afraid, but cool!

Greenphase - thank you for that link, I think I could actually manage to make one of those. 

The size of the heat mat - would that depend on the size of fish box or polysyrene box? (hope thats not a stupid question) 

*goes red in advance!*

I have a small heat mat spare about 6 x 12, should I be thinking bigger??

Also - the instructions for airing the eggs - is it the same for reptile eggs do you know? I hadn't come accross that anywhere before reading that incubator plan.


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## Graham

> A little over my head in the manufacture department I am afraid


Really? A wooden box too hard?

OK so use a cardboard box instead, or a plastic box, the box is the only part that I made so with a ready made one it's just a case of assembling the bits. It'll work just as well whatever the box is made from.
One advantage of using the aquarium heater instead of a mat is that it has it's own built-in stat, so you don't need the Habistat, just check the actual temp with a thermometer and set the heater stat accordingly.


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## gizmogecko

*Ha!!*

No, wooden box not to hard.

Its the water heater aspect. Lost me on that. 

The simplified version is about my limit technically I'm afraid.


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## It's corny but..

gizmogecko said:


> Thanks all for your help!
> 
> Graham - looks and sounds fantastic!! A little over my head in the manufacture department I am afraid, but cool!
> 
> Greenphase - thank you for that link, I think I could actually manage to make one of those.
> 
> The size of the heat mat - would that depend on the size of fish box or polysyrene box? (hope thats not a stupid question)
> 
> *goes red in advance!*
> 
> I have a small heat mat spare about 6 x 12, should I be thinking bigger??
> 
> Also - the instructions for airing the eggs - is it the same for reptile eggs do you know? I hadn't come accross that anywhere before reading that incubator plan.


I have a bator with poly box, a small heat mat like you have taped to lid, poly box is appro 48cm width, 37cm height and 37cm depth, two boxes to raise floor, vermiculite on floor, take away tub on boxes, filled with vermiculite, eggs in verm.

the heat and humidity is perfect constant 28degrees with these sizes. Oh, I have day gecko eggs.


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## BELIAL

I use brinseas..pricey but the dogs nuts!


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## Graham

> No, wooden box not to hard.
> 
> Its the water heater aspect. Lost me on that.


The water heater is even simpler than the box, plug it in, set the temperature dial, switch on...

I experimented with heat mats but after trying three different sizes I couldn't find one that gave the correct temp without needing a stat, if one had worked I'd have used it.

I left the incubator running all last night with a max/min thermometer in there, it varied by just 1°C either side of the temp I set which should be good enough I hope.


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## gizmogecko

*oh I see.*

oh right, I was having a fluffy moment there, I thought you meant there had to be water in there, heated by the water heater - thats where I thought it was getting technical! Sorry.

Right, I shall have a go at that then.

Thanks folks.

(I looked at the brinsea too, looks good, would like to have a go at diy method).

Thanks again.


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## Guest

Yes the heatmat size would depend on the size of the box.You want to be able to cover the base or the top od the box depending on which method you use.If filling the box with substrate then you need the heat on the top id you are putting in hatching boxes then the heat needs to be on the bottom as heat rises.You may want to put in some veiwing windows on the box and for that i just used the clear part of a cd box and cut a hole in the poly box then silicone sealed the case to the hole.


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## Graham

> I thought you meant there had to be water in there, heated by the water heater


You were right! You use it to heat the water (a couple of inches) in the bottom of the box, this does two things, the warm water heats the air that keeps the eggs warm, and it also creates high humidity to stop them drying out.

If you use a heat mat you still need to add water trays to create humidity, and unless you're lucky enough to have a mat which is perfectly matched to the box size then you need a mat stat too, insulation will be very important to prevent temperature fluctuations inside the box.

To me it seemed simpler and cheaper to just use a water heater which has its own built-in stat, it solves several problems in one go.

My incubator seems to be settling down nicely now, after being on all day the temperature varied, according to the max/min thermometer, by less than 0.5°C
It's at 29.5°C (85°F) now and in the last 8 hours it's dropped to 29.3°C and risen to 29.7°C


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## bribrian

Graham said:


> and it also creates high humidity to stop them drying out.
> 
> If you use a heat mat you still need to add water trays to create humidity


Not if you put the eggs in a sealed container with the right mix of vermiculite/perlite & water & then place this in the incubator. This also helps to stop temp fluctuations.....: victory:


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## Graham

True, the point I was trying to make though is that whatever type of heater you use you still need water in there somewhere.


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## gizmogecko

bribrian said:


> Not if you put the eggs in a sealed container with the right mix of vermiculite/perlite & water & then place this in the incubator. This also helps to stop temp fluctuations.....: victory:


 
Aaah, right, now this sounds more manageable. If you use this method, do you need to air the eggs?


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## bribrian

gizmogecko said:


> Aaah, right, now this sounds more manageable. If you use this method, do you need to air the eggs?


I use a sealed container with no holes & only open it once a week to let fresh air in, works for me ok..... I know some put holes in the container but then you have to worry about losing humidity...
Mine is a poly box with a double glazed window in the lid, a heat mat on the bottom & sealed water bottles on top of the heat mat. The bottles are there only so as when i open the incubator to inspect the eggs that a good amount of heat is retained by the warm water & the heat mat doesn't have to heat the incubator up again from scratch...
Hope this helps....


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## gizmogecko

*okay*

Thanks, thats easy enough too, oh, apart from the double glazed window of course, may have to substitute that one, don't think the land lady would be too happy if I removed one.:smile:


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## UKbob

home built incubators work well and are fun to use if you like "tinkering" and incorporating ideas that others use or recommend... :lol2::lol2:

also i think its quite satisfying to hatch eggs in something you built :no1:











this is one of my OTT incubators that i built this year and ran using microclimate's ADCS thermostat, not shown is a 3rd temp sensor which goes in the egg chamber. the ADSC thermostat can be set to control temps based on the inputs from all three sensors something that i found quite useful as i noticed i was getting a temp spike when opening the egg box up for short periods during my intial trials prior to using it. 

the water bottles certainly work well as a heat sink and brought the temp in the poly-box back up quickly, but due to the set-up it was taking longer for the temps in the egg chamber to return to were they needed to be. initially i was setting the incubator temp by place a single sensor were the eggs would be, but with the temp spikes i was able to solve this problem with the use of the other two sensors which helped to stop the incubator going over its maximum set temp.

regards
bob


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## gizmogecko

*Great!*

Its good if you are clever, but scary if you are a technophobe. (A broke technophobe!).

Its good to see folk inventions though, I am worried about getting everything right, but its good to see people more confident of their own ability trying their hand at it.


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## Emz118

We built our own and use a polybox with a heatmat and a pulse stat, because they are most accurate. Ours cost about £40 to make, we have had 5 eggs hatch and have 10 in there healthy and growing!

We haven't lost any because of the incubator... the only one (I think) we have lost was due to it rolling when we lifted the hide out that she had chosen to lay in.

It really is easy to do, took 10 mins max. Our heatmat is on the lid and the egg tub sits on the bottom. The stat probe and digi thermometer probe are on the vermiculite inside the egg tub. 

A thermometer that tells you min/max is always a good idea, so you can easily see any fluctuations.


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## gizmogecko

*Smashing!*

Is that all, just a polystyrene box with a heat mat in??? No water bottles, water containers etc - just those things you said?? (*breathes sigh of relief!*), really.

What size is your box and what size mat if you don't mind me asking? Is it a fish box?

What temperature do you have it at?

Sorry for all the questions.


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## Graham

To help minimise temp fluctuations you need some mass in there, hence the water bottles or water in the bottom, some people use bricks, anything that will hold the heat.
If there's only air inside, and if the box isn't really well insulated, then the temp is likely to fluctuate unless the box itself is in a room where the temp is absolutely stable.
You'll need a max/min thermometer to check for temp fluctuations and average temp anyway, so before putting any eggs in there just leave it running for a few days and check it regularly. If the temp does fluctuate then put some mass in there and you should see it stabilise.


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## spinnerpete

Athravan said:


> I think most people make their own, more reliable and a fraction of the price! You can use anything from a viv, to a poly box, to a fish tank with an aquatic heater... use a thermostat of some kind and keep the humidity high and that's all you need.


when using fish tanks u just float the boxes in the water dont you ?


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