making my own incubator

Hi all,
I know this may be off topic for this forum, but it is related to leopard gekos so here goes.

I have read old posts and looked around online for how to construct my own incubator.(My hovabator has stopped working)
I like the idea of using a cooler to start out with, and have read that one can use a submersible heater in about 3 inches of water. My question is since I like Albey's method of incubation (ie. air tight container with pre-moistened substrate) can I use another method such as heat tape to warm up the cooler as opposed to water since humidity will not be necessary. Has anyone experimented with such an idea? I know I shouldn't deviate from the plan that supposedly works, but I am concerend about the stagnation of the water and the possible mold/fungus/bacteria that might thrive in 85 degree water.
If anyone has tried this please let me know.

Also my hovabator 's light will not come on, and it will not warm up. Does this sound like something the Wafer thermostat can be responsible for, will replacing it be worth the effort for only 5 bucks?

Thanks
Tony

Oh sure you can use heat tape as your heat source for your incubator. As a matter of fact I have seen a few that used it and they worked excellent! Make sure you of course have a Thermostat. Many choices available out there. I use some that cost less than 20 dollars and are very reliable when using under 500watts. Which with heat tape unless your running tons of the stuff should not be a problem. You choosing to use heat tape is actually a better choice than a submersible aquarium heater. Keep us posted on your progress. I would love to see the end results! I have made a few incubators and am going to work on a large refrigerator sized one in the near future. Like I said keep us posted on what you build!!!

P.S. John Hollisters site I think has many do it yourself ideas. At least it did the last time I checked.

Do you have a link to John's site?

Here’s the link to John Hollister.
www.herpo.com

Here’s another link to more homemade incubators. It has like 3 or 4 different ways.
More homemade incubators

Clay Davenport has some awsome information about things like that on his site.....www.arbreptiles.com