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Hovabators? Trash or Treasure?

Heart and Soul Reptiles

Heart and Soul Reptiles

Heart and Soul RR&R
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So I've heard about even for both sides of the story.
I've heard people say they are a waste of money and unreliable and you will regret having one.
I've also heard people say with slight tweaking they are worth it and work just fine.
So lets really get down to it... Did I waste my money or what?
Should I forget the thing and go spend some $100's on a new one? Or should I just invest in a new thermostat to back it up? Or should I risk possible life and limb attempting to build one out of the many free fridges that have popped up in the area?
I'm looking for personal experience stories and advice on this one guys :thumbsup: As far as cost effect, short term and long term, reliability, success rate and ease of use and maintenance.
Thanks in advance for your inputs!
 
Hatched out 250 leos last yr, other than having to play with the control a few times when first pluged in I had no trouble at all . For 40.00 bucks , if your not doing alot of bigger eggs it's a good little unit.
 
Depends on what you are doing with it. LOTS of gecko keepers use them & like them.
I breed snakes, and while I'll acknowledge that some people use them for snake eggs, I think they are crap.
 
I would think that as long as you plug the Hovabator into a high quality thermostat, it should be ok. I probably would not use one for a very valuable clutch of snake eggs though.
 
I've used one for years and then needed more room. I then made a 4' x 2' x 2' box made out of 2" foam and traced the hovabator top and cut down about an inch and over an inch to then make an "L" all the way around for the hovabator top to fit in perfectly. Believe it or not it still works and maintains the temps.
 
This is what I recommend. I've lost clutches in Hovabators, but none in this......

http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/gear/6ad2/



My room in subject to drastic temp. changes, so the Hovabator isnt able to cool down, which is what I need for Chameleons. It works ok for Monitors that need high temps, but I've still lost 2 clutches of Ackie eggs this season using it.
Alot of Chameleon breeders use the mini fridge since it cools.......
 
well, it seemed to do it's job for this year. But I still say I will need a larger unit for next year.
I had more trouble with my hatch medium than I did with the hovabator once I figured out when you back it up with another thermostat you need to take the circle one out :rolleyes:
My Hatchrite bag had a hole in it, which was unknown to me, so I almost lost the clutch because it ws too dry.
Mixed it with some vermiculite in the last 3 days and well.. you be the judge from the pictures :D
So I think I've come to the conclusion, with the right back up thermostat, and the correct hatch medium that isn't too dry, if you're only hatching one or 2 clutches of ball python eggs, it should do the job!
 
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I have to say, it's well-insulated, and the heat element works very well to maintain stable temperatures. The wafer thermostat isn't something anyone recommends using, and of course, it would be easy to lose clutches if you rely on a simple wafer thermostat--but with a good proportional thermostat hooked up to it, it's quite a good incubator for the price. It will hold 2 clutches of ball pythons, provided you don't put them in seperate containers (fill the base with hatching medium). You may need to add water once or twice.
I actually use this tabletop model with the viewing window FOR my most valuable clutches, because it maintains the temperatures so exactly with a Herpstat hooked up to it.
 
Hmm. I was going to get one or two of these as temporary incubators until I need more room. How does one modify the Hovabator to use a proportional thermostat instead of the built-in one?
 
Wow, just ran across an ad on the banner to the side of the forum page after I saw this thread and thought it was interesting.

See any similarities between these two items?
http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/gear/6ad2/
http://www.reptipro.com/supplies/incubators/reptipro-5000-reptile-incubator.html

There is only a slight increase in the interior volume of the ReptiPro incubator if I'm reading it correctly, but the price is phenomenally different.... $99 for the Mini Fridge/Warmer and $249.97 for the ReptiPro Incubator. I have nothing against ReptiPro but as a consumer advocate I can't help but mention what appears to me to be a kinda glaring ripoff based on a supposed "reptile specific" product. This of course isn't the only example of a company really sticking it to the public because they think they're offering a niche product to a nice market. It's just disgustingly humorous to see such an example laid bare here on Fauna.
 
R. Eventide said:
How does one modify the Hovabator to use a proportional thermostat instead of the built-in one?
Click to expand...


I noticed the same thing with the mini fridge... huge price difference. I just purchased my hovabator. I can get a zilla thermostat dirt cheap but would have no idea on how to hook it up.
 
All you do is remove the wafer thermostat, put the probe for the other one on the inside of the incubator, and plug the incubator into the thermostat. Set the temperature and plug the thermostat into the wall.
 
I used hovabators too but had a problem with them. Soon i realized that my hovabator was not up to the mark as it should be. I asked a few friends and then bought a new hovabator for my farm. As i have diversified from this all, i do not know which ones are better and whether to use them now or not. You can visit agriculturedir.com and thepetsdir.com if you want to. Hope this provides you the information which you are looking for.
 
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