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#207150
7Brett7
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Incubator Help 
I am currently using a hovabator incubator for my dragons eggs, and want to make a big one, rather than using the small hovabator. My lizard is producing more and more eggs, so I am running out of space. Anyways, I read Bayou Beasts instructions on how to make one, but I can’t find a fridge to make one. I went out and got the hole thermostat with the two red party bulbs, and they are good. Does anyone here have any idea or measurements on how to make pretty good sized incubator, besides with the fridge idea, and fish tank heater setup? I want to keep using the thermostat with the lights, so does anyone have any instructions with measurements? 
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12/28/04 11:59am
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#207211
Heartmountain
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Message To: 7Brett7 In reference to Message Id: 207150
Incubator Help
Man, old fridges are easy to get ahold of. Call around to repair shops in your area, colleges with dorms sometimes rent them out to students also and have broken ones laying around. Any way you go, basically what you need is an insulated box, build it if you have to. Very important thing here, what kind of thermostat did you get? If you got one of the good pulse proportional kind you can’t use lightbulbs with it (not a bad thing as flexwatt is better anyway). Check out this link http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/incubator.shtml it gives the very basic design. It’s also important on the larger ones to have some sort of air circulation to stabalize the temp throughout. There are also some modifications that I’ve done over the years to make it work better. I’ve never seen Bayou Beasts instructions, maybe I should email him for them so I can see what you all are looking at. Sean
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12/28/04 12:43pm
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#207252
Heartmountain
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Message To: Heartmountain In reference to Message Id: 207211
Incubator Help
Ok, just saw BB’s plans and pics, not bad for a first attempt. Please no one take offence to this but I’m gonna critique it here real quick based on what I’ve learned over the years. I actually used that same type of fridge for one of my first large incubators, with a very similar setup also. The biggest thing to remember is that by the time you are looking at doing this you are going to have thousands of dollars inside this thing, it’s an investment to protect those eggs, not a time to be cutting corners to save some money. Light bulbs work ok for beardies (some other reps the light itself will kill) but have their problems, they burn out, and with only 2 what would happen if they burned out at the same time (you put them in at the same time and they’ve had the same amount of stress put on them). The placement of them bothers me more than the actual lightbulbs themselves. By having them in the door you’re producing dry heat, also heat rises and I don’t see any air circulation (fans) to keep temp constant throughout. I would move the lights to the bottom and use 4 of them in an X formation and then put pans of water where that glass peice is (moist heat). I would also install a couple of small computer fans (they’ll need their own power source) and I like to wire them parallel to the thermostat so that they only come on when it’s on. You don’t want hurricane force wind here just enough to move the air a little (circular motion) with no dead spots. The ESU thermostat being used is one of the cheapest made. It is a simple wafer thermostat, it’s either on or off, no in between (which is good if you’re running lights). I’m not so sure that I would trust it with thousands of dollars in the incubator though. My alltime favorite thermostat has got to be the GCS pulse proportional. You have to hook it to flexwatt, or something like that, it will not work with light bulbs (helix also makes a very nice one). The reason I like the GCS is because it has the ability to do multizone within 1/10 of a degree, a computer interface for tracking and programming it, built in alarms and the ability to call my cell if something screws up. If you use flexwatt run it across the bottom and a bit up the back if it’s still not getting warm enough. Fans for circulation and the water pans would still be needed. I also always wanted to rip the door off and replace it with 1/2-1" plex so that I could see into the thing without having to open it (of course you’d need a new sealent strip if you did that). Sean
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12/28/04 1:34pm
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#207321
7Brett7
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Message To: Heartmountain In reference to Message Id: 207252
Incubator Help
So far I have gotten a zoo med thermostat, two light fixtures to hook up to the thermostat, and also two red party bulbs. While I was typing my first question, the thought of calling the city dump came to mind. Im sure I can get a small fridge from there very easily. If indeed I do use these plans, I am def. gonna have the lights on the bottom, with a large pan with water. I will rig up some sort of fan to move the air around too. Thanks for your help.
~Brett
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12/28/04 2:25pm
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#207860
Bearded Dragons
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Message To: 7Brett7 In reference to Message Id: 207321
Incubator Help
If she keep making eggs are you sure that they’re even fertilized?
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12/28/04 11:02pm
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