Home made incubator

[Sofoula88]

Hey all,so I will hopefully be breeding my pygmy beardies and was wondering what is the best home made incubator method to use(and cheapest) I was thinking of doing the poly box with heat matts at the bottom idea,seemed easiest..if any1has done this please give me info on how to and what's best to use...I've also heard of the fridge and esky idea..this will be my first time doing it so I don't know how many clutches I should expect,temps to keep it at,etc..so any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated..
Thanks

 

[GeckoJosh]

Use a heat cord so that way you can tape it evenly around the sides, you will also need a pulse proportional thermostat to get decent accuracy, a computer fan will also help with reducing hot spots.
You can get fridge thermometers from places like Jaycar for around $25 which are perfect for monitoring temps inside and outside the incubator and they can also tell you minimum and maximum temps so you have an idea of temperature changes inside the incubator, they also have a high temperature alarm.
I am not 100% on what temps are correct for Pygmy Beardies as i have never bred them before I am pretty sure its about 30 Degrees C

The only major difference between using poly boxes, fridges and Eskies is the size difference and the look of the finished product (a fridge with a glass door looks alot cooler than a poly box).

Cheers Gex

Ps, Where the hell have you been?

 

[Sofoula88]

Lol...I was wondering whether u were still alive also..hmm a heat cord huh...I mr think I need a fan the box won't be that big,I'm considering using the water cooler method that way humidity from water at the bottom will rise upwards n distribute heat better..not sure yet

 

[Sofoula88]

I've heard about heat tape,maybe I should use that for the sides?

 

[Sarah]

for my first season last year i used the largest aquarium styrofoam box i could find , and used metal eyelet hooks and pushed them into the inside of styrofoam box spacing them out evenly and then threaded the heat cord through, added a habistat pulse proportional thermostat and hatched all my gecko eggs successfully because it was only a sytrofoam box i didnt use a fan but if you go with a fridge option then offcourse it would be necessary .

 

[Sofoula88]

Yerp,no wanna go with the styro,was that box big enough Sarah and how big was it..coz I kn ow they can have alot of clutches,so I'm wondering if one set up will be enough

 

[Sarah]

it was for me the box was massive , best to go to a aquarium store that also has quarantine facilities they tend to get the biggest boxes.

 

[Sofoula88]

Kool...thank you!

 

[Miffy]

Attached are some pictures of the incubator I have made. It is a brand new bar fridge from ebay $50, heat cord and a good Habistat thermostat with probe (I think it was about $130 or so) so all up around $200 and you have a great little incubator.

 

[Sofoula88]

Very nice miffy..but don't have that kind if cash for an Inc..doing the cheap alternative..

 

[Ramsayi]

Since you don't have the cash how are you going to afford the extra cost in housing and feeding any babies that may be produced?

 

[Kenshin]

Attached are some pictures of the incubator I have made. It is a brand new bar fridge from ebay $50, heat cord and a good Habistat thermostat with probe (I think it was about $130 or so) so all up around $200 and you have a great little incubator.

very tidy little incubator the glass door and fan are a bonus aswell, however how many clutches (morelia) would you fit in that incubator?

 

[Miffy]

i am hoping it will fit 24 eggs or so, I am only breeding 1 pair of snakes

 

[JAS101]

Since you don't have the cash how are you going to afford the extra cost in housing and feeding any babies that may be produced?

good question , im eager to hear the answer.

 

[Sofoula88]

I have money to buy housing/food..I'm jst saying I'd prefer not to spend tht muh for a homemade incubator

 

[Miffy]

At least make sure you buy a quality thermostat like a habitat one and a decent thermometer

 

[MDSTIM]

Hi, did you check out Brian Barnett's Paper on Snake Egg Incubation....a lot of handy info, (although on snakes and you are hatching pygmy beardies)....can't remember offhand where I found it, (on one of the common sites), but you can download the pdf file.

 

[Sofoula88]

Will check it up