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Best Incubator?

J

JoeyBaggs

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I've researched incubators on this, and other sites. I've yet to see a clear cut "best" incubator. I've used Hovabators with good success, but the animals I am working with now cause me much more concern than Leopard Geckos and Bearded Dragons (now working with Aussie Pythons). The last time I used a Hovabator my dwarf monitor eggs all failed to hatch (although the embryos were complete).

Let me know your thoughts.

Joe Baginski
Tacoma, WA
0.1 Homo sapien sapien
1.1 Blackheads
1.1 Childrens
1.1 Columbian Redtails
1.1 Rubber Boas
1.1 Blue Heeler/Aussie Cattle Dogs
 
I don't think you will find a clear cut "best". There are a variety of commercially available incubators, as well as many do-it-yourself versions. I, personally, still use one that I threw together one afternoon a few years back - it was cheap, holds temps very well, and I have had great success with it.
 
Thanks, but...

I contacted Casey Hulse at Natures Spirit Reptiles today and haven't heard back yet. I love what I saw, but they state on their website that this (Jan - April) is their busiest time of the year so I'm doubting they can help me out as I need this incubator ASAP (by next week).

Any other options?

I've used Hovabators, but for some reason I don't trust them (only had one batch of eggs not hatch).

Thanks in advance.

Joe
 
junglehabitatsplastics.com was offering a comparably sized incubator (I don't know if they still are, or if they would have them ready to ship). There have been a few used incubators (not Hovabators, which IMO are only good for shelf storage). Other options will depend on what materials you have onhand, or can get quickly (Rich, at reptilebasics.com has just about everything you will need & offers great customer service...WalMart has the rest).
 
oops - wasn't supposed to submit that yet.
there are a number of DIY incubators described on Fauna.
Mine is a 120qt Igloo cooler. I pulled the drain plug, ran heat tape (cords through drain hole), added water bottles (add thermal mass for more consistent temps), hooked up Tstat, and had eggs in it an hour after I started.
 
hhmoore said:
oops - wasn't supposed to submit that yet.
there are a number of DIY incubators described on Fauna.
Mine is a 120qt Igloo cooler. I pulled the drain plug, ran heat tape (cords through drain hole), added water bottles (add thermal mass for more consistent temps), hooked up Tstat, and had eggs in it an hour after I started.
Click to expand...

How much heat tape and what size did you use.
 
I used 3 - 3ft sections of 3" heat tape. Yes, 90 watts is more than needed for the internal dimensions of the cooler. Yes, I could easily have done it with a 3ft section of 11" tape, or even 2 sections of the 3" tape...60 watts would have been plenty. (I did in fact try that one year - only running 2 sections - I changed it back). It just happened to be that I had 3" tape on hand. I liked the faster response & better temp control achieved with the extra wattage (My incubator is in a fairly cool room, and seemed to struggle more to maintain temps during the lower wattage trial. I'm sure it would have worked out okay, the temps were never out of range).
 
Nature's Spirits Incubator...

Got here last week (although I didn't end up needing it just yet...long story...eggs are being incubated by a collegue). Looks great and am really glad I bought it!!!

Thanks Casey.

Joe
 
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