incubators:home made vs store bought

ok so incubators. for me its either make one or by a hovabator from the local reptile store. pros, cons, and personal opinions are all welcome. right now im leaning to hovabator but i like to ask q's.

I have 4 hovabators. They've always been right by me. Although I am planning on making one of the homemade "refridgertor" incubators before next season.

Here is a discussion on the Hovabator.

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...ad.php?t=70127

Here is a link to a home made incubator.

http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/incubator.shtml

Or you could go this route.

http://www.nsreptiles.com/incubator.html
http://www.aveyinc.com/reptile_pages.htm

If you're handy and have the time, build your own for not much money. You also need to take into consideration how many eggs and what kind of eggs you will be hatching. The Hovabator is not that big and is a just ok type incubator, not the greatest. How upset would you be if the wafer failed and you lost your eggs.

If I did use a Hovabator I would get a thermostat to plug it into and not use the wafer but this will add $40 to $120 to the cost. Well worth it in my book when you consider the alternative of waiting another season to hatch eggs because of a failed incubator.

If you do a search for 'build incubator hovabator' in whatever combination you like and you will find other discussions on your topic.

Hope this helps a little.

I have always made my own. Here are the two incubators I'm using this season. The big one is for females. It's made out of an evian water cooler (like you would see in a gas station or grocery store.

The smaller one is made from a mini fridge. I will be using it for males.

For a first time breeder or someone who is not very handy, I would recommend a comercially bought incubator. They are fairly predictable and reliable. Hook them up to a thermostat and away you go. I just can't ever seem to do things the easy way.

thanks guys. any specific thermostats to reccomend?

Personally I'd go with the Helix DBS1000, I use one for my incubator. I don't think you can go wrong with a Helix. But to muddy the water I'll continue.

I currently use a Ranco, a few Helix DBS 1000's, a Big Apple Herp proportional, a Habitat Control Systems four zone and I control my snake room with a Johnson control. This morning I ordered a Herpstat II. They all do a fine job, some do it better, some do it different. For an incubator I would only use a proportional control which rules out the Ranco and Johnson.

Here are a couple links to some discussions about thermostats. Enjoy.

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...ad.php?t=70755

Discussion Herpstat vs. Helix DBS1000

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...ad.php?t=60117

I agree Hova's are fine with a thermostat but your space is limite, I had to modify my hovabator quic with even a few breeders.

I did get a mini frigde that will be made into an incubator for next season (thanks for the instructions Jeremy!)