Looking for a larger incubator

Hey all...

I'm anticipating more eggs this year than my one hovabator can hold, and I was wondering if anyone had any opinions on what sort I should move up to, or any particular experiences with the incubators that are out there.

The three options I'm looking at are:

1. Buying a Big Apple Herp's Safty Hatch incubator (full digital thermometer control) ~$500

2. Buying a Sportsman Hatch incubator (wafer control) ~$350

3. Buying a bunch of Hovabators ~$50 each + racksystem/shelving to hold them

I'm guessing I'm going to have around 90 eggs this year, but the number could vary wildly, so I'd like to get something where I had room for error in its capacity, but I'd also like something that's reliable and doesn't take up too much space.

I -don't- want to build my own. I'm not mechanically inclined, plus I tend towards the lazy side of things where do-it-yourself projects are concerned. (And I have seen too many cases where DIY incubators have overheated and caused development problems in hatchings.)

Any opinions you can offer on this whole deal would be appreciated. Thanks.

-Kat Hall

My incubator of choice is a converted upright freezer. I have never used any commercial incuator other than a hovabator which I dislike terribly. My freezers exhibit no temperature control problems, but the hovabator swings considerably.
I have a page detailing how to convert a freezer here http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/incubator.html

There's little effort in it really, but if you would prefer to shell out $500 for a smaller commercial incubator instead of $50 or so (an extra $80 for a proportional thermostat) to do it yourself, then that's up to you.
I just can't justify 10 times the cost for less space and no additional features.

I haven't seen one of the Big Apple models first hand, but judging by the wall thickness in the picture, I can't see how the insultaion of the cabinet could begin to compare to that of a freezer, and this is directly related to temperature stability.

I agree with what Clay states about the variability of the hovabators. Truth is I use them myself, but I place the eggs in closed translucid, plastic doughnut containers that you can get from any deli or supermarket (the bonus is that you get to eat the doghnuts first!). I have 90% plus incubating success by using moist perlite lined with 4 layers of that synthetic mesh used under the rugs. The eggs are thus completely separated from the damp perlite, but the moisture and air go right through the mesh. Closing the plastic containers (with a temperature probe inside) takes care of any temperature fluctuations even if you have to open the hovabator.

Best regards.

I have used Hovabators for years and am about fed up with them. They work great if you keep them in a room maintaining the temperature you want inside the incubator, though But if your room temperature changes even slightly, the incubator temperatures will do the same.

I am actually in the process of converting a refridgerator/freezer combo into an incubator myself and I am a pretty lazy guy. But for the cost and relatively low amount of work put into it, there is no way I could NOT do it. I'm not about to spend $500 on an incubator(that you have to spend extra to get a DOOR with) that is half the size of my fridge/freezer that I am fully converting for a cost of about $150 bucks(heat tape and proportional thermostat are my only real costs, the fridge was free). Hovabators will run about $30-$50/ea, and honestly, I'm sick of spending money on incubators that can't hold temperatures all that well. And also, for the cost of ONE Hovabator you can convert a fridge/freezer into an incubator(assuming you don't use a proportional thermostat, in which case it would be more) and be guaranteed good stability as well as a ton of space for your eggs.

Well, whatever you do, best of luck!

But if your room temperature changes even slightly, the incubator temperatures will do the same.

That's the reason I quit using hovabators entirely. They are far too dependant on external temperatures. I don't trust the wafer thermostats either.

As for the refridgerators, proportional thermostats are great, but with the insulation properties of a fridge, they are really an unnecessary expense.
I've been using the ZooMed Repti-Temp 500R thermostats on my incubators for 4-5 years, and they maintain a solid temperature. I get these for $22.50 from Reptile Direct. They are an on/off type, but heat is retained so well they do not cycle alot.
The room housing my incubators is also my cool room for winter brumation. The temp in the room ranges from 75° in the summer to 55° in the winter. I incubate eggs year round and never have to adjust the thermostat with the seasons.

The only way to get a better incubator than a fridge is to fork out 3 grand for one of the high tech jobs that regulate everything precisely including humidity.

I suppose I ought to mention that the majority of my efforts is in cornsnakes, and quite obviously a range that fluctuates a bit isn't going to harm them at all. I've had a 100% hatch rate from my hovabator (with cornsnake eggs), and some of my friends who also breed their corns have had the same success using hovabators.

I'm unsure whether they're adequate for crested gecko eggs or bearded dragon eggs, but I don't expect to be producing any large number of those (as I only have one pair of dragons and one possible pair of geckoes).

I'm not working with any of the ubersensitive species at all (and don't intend to), plus due to the layout of my house I couldn't possibly get a fullsize freezer (or even a refridgerator) down into my basement snakeroom. I had enough trouble getting my washer and dryer into the laundry room in the basement. So converted fridges/freezers are out. (And I am not impressed at all with minifridges...)

And I believe both the safety hatch and sportsman hatcher come with doors... transparent ones are what cost extra. Though since no one seems to have info on them either way, I can't justify spending that much on something just to try it out.

At this point I'm heavily leaning towards just getting 2-3 more hovabators due to my own good experience with them. It's not like I'm working with any difficult species, and for what I'm doing they seem to work just fine.

-Kat Hall

Kat,

Hovabator makes an extension ring that fits in between the top and bottom shells of the hovabator. I used one for may eggs this past year and it did fine. It allows you to have a larger amount of eggs inside the incubator, by giving you more "head room" with which to work. I have not done so, but I cannot see why two or more of these rings could not be used in tandem, giving you even more stackability.

Just a thought, if you're staying with the hovabators.

One thing I forgot to mention is that the temperature in the basement at home is almost constant at 70 degrees. That's probably why I never had problems with hovabators. The other advantage of having multiple incubators rather than a single larger one, is that if something happens with this last one you may loose several clutches. With more than one incubator the risk is less.

Best regards.

Here is a link making an incubator out of a rubbermaid container:

http://www.herptrader.com/classified...ad.php?tid=126

Vicki Monserrate