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mini fridge style incubator

HazAnga

HazAnga

Corn's + Garters
I'm wanting to make a mini fridge style incubator and was wondering if I should use one or two layers of 3/4" white Styrofoam on the inside? I'll probably be making it with mcp particle board for the outside foam inside with some sort of door. Also could I have a plexi/acrylic window in the door, or would that let warmth out? I would use aluminum tape around the window as extra precaution. Flexwatt will be used for heat and big juice jugs filled with water will be my temp holders. I might add a little computer fan to keep the temp more consistent throughout the whole thing.
 
Are you building it from scratch, or using an old fridge? If you're using an old fridge, they're already insulated, so you would only need to put in the heat & humidity sources, thermometer & eggs. (Thermostat on the outside)
 
I'll be building it from scratch. The outside or shell will be hopefully melamine whether it
s 5/8" or 3/4" thickness. And I was wondering if 3/4" of white insulation is enough or should i use a double thickness 1-1/2"? on top of the foam i'm going to be using aluminum foil tape to seal any exposed open corners or edges, therefore having a sealed box. I'm still thinking on how i'm going to seal the door... I'll figure it out eventually, and maybe with everyone's opinions.
 
I suggest buying a mini fridge, like a dorm room size one. That's what I use. I haven't made any changes to it. I use a heat pad from the Bean Farm at the bottom plugged into a temp regulator that turns it on/off to maintain the right temps. I open it every couple days to get air circulation. I've used it for three years and not had a single problem. Its cheaper and easier than just about anything else.
 
*facepalm* the whole point of making this is so i have something custom made thats big enough to hold several clutches, it would ready me for the future. I'd have a small computer fan to circulate air, and i too could open the door every few days to git some new air in. I have material, so it wouldn't really cost me anything other then my own time, and I'm handy like this so i don't mind.
 
OK I am totally new to the care of reptile eggs but I have been hatching chicken, quail, pheasant. ducks, and turkeys from eggs since I was a little boy (some 25yrs ago I started to help my grandma). I have several home made incubators and honestly I trust them more than any of the store bought bators I have ever owned and I used to have a couple of really expensive ones.

Now I could better explain all of this if I knew more about whay it is you are needing to achieve in temp and humidity from your bator, but here goes what I have done and has work in the past. Honestly I have never had to insulate any of my incubators if anything I have had too much heat and needed a way to find a way to let it out. The computer fan is an excelent choice for air circulation. I have a very large cabinet bator that I can hatch 100 chicken eggs at a time in that I have used 2 fans for and they circulate air like a dream, they will also help to keep the temp constant in the entire unit from top to bottom which is actually the purpose behind it. Now as for humidity I use a milk carton cut in half with a couple sponges laid in so they are sticking out of the top, this gives more surface area in the air surrounding to help evaporate the water and thus make it much more humid. For heating I have never needed more than a couple of light bulbs (except for my large cabinet bator..... it's really big) now for my small quail bator (I normally hatch 4 dozen at a time in here) I have 2 of the compact florescent bulbs 60 watt equivalants. This at first actually over heated my incubator a bit to much so I had to drill a few small vent holes in the back to allow some air out and thus in as well to cool it off to the propper 99.5 mark, this messed with my humidity a bit so I just added another sponge to the water jug. and I got it back to the 50%-60% that I like for the first 18 days and then the last few days I want it at 70%-80% and if I add 1 more sponge then I get normally about 75-77 and I'm golden to fiinish the hatch. When I first set this system up I had temps over 120 with 2 100 watt equivilant bulbs that is why I dropped to the 2 60 watt bulbs and I use the day light bulbs that simulate natural sun light and since they are the compact florescent bulbs they use much less electricity and I have been running the same bulbs for 3yrs now with no issues at all (hatched probably 30 or so clutches). Like I said I did not insulate this bator and made it simply out of some half inch OSB from the Menards with am acrylic door so I can see inside and then I plumbed in with some cheap PVC tubing so I can fill the water bucket for humidity and then also one so that when they start to pip I can fill the water dish so they can have a drink. I hate to open the door for anything so I can rotate the eggs with a stick stuck into a hole and then fill all the water without opening the door at all.

Now like I said I am not sure of the requirement for hatching snake eggs so I may have wasted a ton of breath here or I may have helped some I really don't know.... If I did help and you have any further questions just let me know I have built far to many incubators to not be able to figure this out with you.

Steve
 
I can keep 7-8 clutches in the mini fridge I've got.

A fan can dry eggs out, that's why anyone who's used the Hovabator says don't buy the one with the fan. Snake eggs need moisture.

Doesn't make sense to me to build something when there is something already available that works great.
 
dionythicus said:
I can keep 7-8 clutches in the mini fridge I've got.

A fan can dry eggs out, that's why anyone who's used the Hovabator says don't buy the one with the fan. Snake eggs need moisture.

Doesn't make sense to me to build something when there is something already available that works great.
Click to expand...

Saves money?! And also i think your forgetting that there's many ways to incubate eggs, I'm going to be trying it out myself this year, but the SIM or Suspended Incubation Method containers. substrate in the bottom of the container and then eggs go in the suspended section above the substrate and then the lid closes on top. so any humidity stays where the eggs are and the fan just keeps the whole incubator at the same temp. so in all reality the incubator is literally just to keep a steady temp. I would obviously open the lid every few days to let new air in but other then that. I'm willing to try it out.

But why i really started this thread was to find out if i should use one layer of 3/4" styrofoam or 2 layers.
 
dionythicus said:
So sorry I offered an opinion. Do what you want.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, I git an idea into my head and i see no problem with it, and then when someone offers an opinion i sorta git on a one track mind. I agree with the fan drying out the eggs, but if the containers are sealed then there wouldn't be any drying out. And as for getting a mini fridge i'm not able to get a used one for a good enough price. If i made one myself i could do it for probably less then $50, and it would be a custom size to the containers i would use.

Sorry again for snapping on you man.
 
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