Incubators...

[Motley Fool]

What are some good low priced incubators?
I have been looking at some like the
Hovabator Incubator
http://www.eherp.com/incubate.html
Hova-Bator Still Air Incubator
http://www.dblrsupply.com/store/gqf/2362n.html

Tell me if you have some experience with these and/or you suggest some other one (preferably less than $75 US).

I also thought about building one. Do you have any designs?

 

[CornsnakeKeeper]

Here you go...
Never tried either of them.

http://www.kingsnake.com/obsoleta/incub1.htm
^Aquarium style- small number of eggs

http://www.kingsnake.com/obsoleta/incub2.htm
^For larger amounts of eggs

Courtesy of Dwight Good's website

Someone else can do the honor of filling you in on the good and bad of both.

One guy always tells people to just put the thing of eggs in a warmer part of the house... he suggests above the fridge. He says that hes had success like this.

Someone else will probably tell you of their experiences.

Good luck!

 

[Serpwidgets]

Several people have had great success with sitting them on the fridge or a shelf where the temps are right. If you have such a place in your house, it's the cheapest solution.

Hovabator is decent, but I had a really hard time trying to keep the eggs from drying out. Also, if you use one, make sure your eggs are in escape-proof containers, since the hatchlings can hurt/kill themselves after hatching by crawling onto the heating element.

I've also built my own... basically the same style as the one linked above. It NEVER has humidity problems, keeps a pretty good stable temp, and cost me about $20 to build, almost all of which was the submersible heater and the little cheap submersible pump. The only drawback is that you have to be sure to occasionally add enough water in the bottom to keep the heater submerged.

Whatever you go with, use a thermometer to ensure you're getting the right temps in the place where the eggs will be sitting. That means if you're going to have them in moist vermiculite covered by moss, it would be wise to put the thermometer or probe in that same spot, in the same container you'll be keeping the eggs in.

Be sure to set it up at least a week before you have any eggs. You'll need plenty of time to ensure you get it stabilized at the proper temperature.

 

[Rich Z]

Beware!

You would be amazed at the number of horror stories I have heard over the years about incubators having the thermostats fail and the eggs getting cooked.

My own personal experience was when someone loaned me a homemade incubator to use with the leopard gecko eggs. He was buying a bunch from me and wanted us to produce a bunch of males. Being the cautious type, I set up the incubator and set the thermostat at 90 degrees. I then set a minimum/maximum thermometer inside and just left it set for a week.

When I went back to check on it, the temp at the moment showed 90 degrees, but the minimum/maximum thermometer registered a high of 120 degrees F.!! So at some point, the thermostat had failed, causing the temps to shoot up out of control. If I had been keeping the eggs in there, they all would have died, and with a monitoring device, I wouldn't have had any idea about what went wrong.

Obviously, I gave the guy his incubator back!

 

[Simon]

No~~~~
I just got a new incubator......all these horrible stories are making me worry about the new incubator. I guess I'll have to keep a close eye at the incubator before I put the eggs (if I do end up having eggs this year.....) in the incubator......

Wish me luck.....
hahah

 

[Peter]

So far I can't say that the hovabator was two bad. Last year I hatched 3 clutches (7, 7 & 3- total 17) 100% hatch rate. I monitored the temps with the included thermometer. As for the drying out, I didn't put any holes in the plastic box they were in. I just burped it for exchange of air every now and then.

 

[brokenchinadoll]

Chicken Incubator?

Hello everyone, I'm new to breeding so forgive me if I sound stupid, i was wondering if I could use a small hen egg incubator, for the eggs if my corn breeds?

Thanks!

 

[WLReptile]

Incubating the eggs so much work I have heard it almost all but I'm planing of incubating mines in a mini fridge wich I have in my room I bought a lamp wich I broke the glass and keept the cord put a blue bolb with very little watts so it does not get too hot bought a digital termometer wich has a long cord and a temperature probe at the end I been testing it and wat I do is I turn the light on for like a minute and turn it off the temperature shows of to be 81°-86° I think it would work can I get someones opinion.