reptile incubator questions

[TURTLEMORPHS]

does anyone know if there is a tough built incubator which can withstand room temp fluctuations? i incubate eggs in my rooms downstairs, but sometimes it gets colder, which causes my incubator to turn on the "heat"..or once its hotter the incubator will turn on its cooling fan.....and i feel that the temperature never is accurate... i have the exo terra incubator by the ways.... im looking for something that can withstand a little temperature fluctuation without putting together my own...so perhaps anyone that has the same situation as me with constant room temperature changes.... i wanted to try the zoomed reptibator and was wondering if that keeps the humidity..because the exo terra always seems to dry my eggs out regardless of what i do...thanks in advanced

 

[bsharrah]

If you want something where the temps are accurate and temp fluctuations are kept to a minimum, I would avoid the Exo Terra and Zoo Med. I know you want to avoid building your own but that is probably the only way to go unless you are willing to spent several hundred dollars.

Of course this depends on what tolerances you are willing to work with. Some like the Exo and Zoo Med and I think it depends on what you are incubating. I prefer to build my own because I want temps accurate within .1 degree with fluctuations no greater than .1 degree. You will not get that in the price range of those units, IMO.

 

[TURTLEMORPHS]

thanks for the answer.. yea i prefer not to trust myself with building my own incubator.... i dont want anything to go wrong down the road because i messed up on building it lol... but yea. the exo terra is REALLY BAD...the fan is almost constantly on!!! dries the hell out of all my eggs. i have to keep the lid tightly closed on the egg containers so the humidity stays inside constantly.. im incubating turtle eggs by the way..im thinking of getting a more professional one that can withstand temp fluctuations in my room, but not sure what to get

 

[bsharrah]

For what it is worth, all you need is a quality tstat (I would suggest a basic Herpstat), a cooler, and some flexwatt. That is basically all that is needed for a good incubator. The most difficult part will be wiring the flexwatt. Get yourself a cooler with a drain plug and run all the wires out of it. You will see some people will use fans but I never saw the need unless you are building something with multiple shelves at different heights.

 

[dustinNMpythons]

Put several gallon jugs of water in the incubator too so it keeps temps more consant and yes I agree building one is the best way to go. Otherwise look into the animal plastics incubator that thing is nice if you need one that size.