Incubator Tips/Advice...

[DavidBeard]

If everything goes well, I should hopefully be producing some Leos in the near future, and I want to be planned for when I have eggs.

I know that there are a ton of ways to incubate eggs and everyone has their own preference. Basically I'm just looking for something is effective and cost efficient. I'd rather not spend a boatload of money on a fancy incubator if I can have the same results with something for a fraction of the cost, you know?

Any tips/advice/information on how to go about making/putting together an effective, cost efficient egg incubator would be greatly appreciated!

 

[ReptileMan27]

Get a Hovabator, I got mine from LLL Reptiles for $40. Lots of people use and reccomend them.

 

[trizzypballr]

Cost usually means temperature accuracy with incubators, ive heard alot of complaints about hovabators being hard to keep temperatures controled, keep in mind temperature spikes can cause deformalities

 

[ReptileMan27]

Cost usually means temperature accuracy with incubators, ive heard alot of complaints about hovabators being hard to keep temperatures controled, keep in mind temperature spikes can cause deformalities

I had problems getting them temps right at first but now it works great. You need to make sure to get the temps set up first before you get eggs. I never heard any problems with them, of course you could go out and spend hundreds of $$ on one and im sure its better but aslong as it does what its suppost to, thats fine for me

 

[DavidBeard]

Just about every single person I've talked to highly recommends against Hovabators....there just seems to be too many negatives to them.

 

[ReptileMan27]

Just about every single person I've talked to highly recommends against Hovabators....there just seems to be too many negatives to them.

Intresting, when I bought mine, I looked and asked around and everyone kept telling me to get a hovabator, so I did and love it. Like I said, the only problem I had was getting them temps were I wanted them but I didnt really have a clue what I was doing lol. Anyways figured it out and it works great. Its best to use a rheostat or other thermostat to control the temps, without one I couldnt control the temps.

 

[trizzypballr]

Well, i guess it depends on what your goals are, if you only have 2 or 3 females, i guess you could get away with a hovabator, but if you are looking at being serious about your breeding, maybe you have 10 females or so, or you are working with uper end morphs, I would definitely recommend getting something better than a hovabator. Almost everyone I know that has a nature spirit incubator recommends it, it runs $340, heres the link to it http://www.nsreptiles.com/incubator.html

There is also an incubator made by JungleHabitatsPlastics that I am looking into getting, he can pretty much custom make any size incubator you are looking for, but he has his base model listed on his site, priced at $300. Approx same size as the nature spirit incubator.
http://junglehabitatsplastics.com/webstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=43&products_id=105

With either one of these dont forget it is recommended to also get a proportional thermostat, I personally recommend a helix, they sell for $120. Going with a nice incubator can run close to $500, but if your dealing with things like mack snow crosses, RAPTORS, high end Tangs or sunglows, just 1 extra hatchling hatching will pay your incubator off in full for you, consider it

 

[DavidBeard]

As of now I only have a 1.1 pair of SHTCTB and I have no plans of adding any more Leos to my collection right now....so I'll only have one female producing.

 

[PaulSage]

I know some people use hovabators and are happy with them, but I wouldn't use one. That's just my opinion. Hovabators were originally designed for poultry eggs, which incubate around 100*F and are not as sensitive to temperature fluctuations.

I think a proportional thermostat is the key regardless of what type of incubator it's used on. Adding some heat tape to a mini-fridge or a styrofoam cooler and connecting it to a proportional thermostat (like a Herpstat ND) shouldn't be too much more than $200 including the thermostat.

 

[BalloonzForU]

I lost over 20 eggs/hatchlings last season due to my hova. The cause was the stupid thermostat it comes with sucks and went bad. I suggest anyone wanting to use a hova to get a proportional thermostat like a helix or herpstat to use instead of that piece of crap that comes in it. It's well worth the extra money. This will also help if your house temps flux a lot.

I don't use the hova anymore, after the hova was going from 85 to 93 to 70 within a few hours I purchased a Nature Spirit incubator w/Helix. Since I've gotten the NS I've had no issues with temp flux. It also only takes about 5-10 min to get stable temps. Well worth the money!!!

 

[ReptileMan27]

Like I said, you will defently need a thermostat, I found that out quick lol. I wouldnt use on without it, works great and stays right were I want it.

 

[eyelids]

I actually recommend a Hovabator as long as you get a proportional thermostat. I run two Hovabators which are each on Helix DBS-1000 proportional thermostats. This is my second season using them and I haven't lost a single egg due to the incubator nor have I had temperature fluctuations greater than +(-) 2 degrees.

 

[DavidBeard]

Do you guys alter your Hovabators at all? The people that I know of who have used them always replaced the styrofoam base with something larger because the heat source was too close to the eggs with the base it comes with....this is just what I've been told by many sources.

 

[eyelids]

I don't alter mine...

 

[PaulSage]

Do you guys alter your Hovabators at all? The people that I know of who have used them always replaced the styrofoam base with something larger because the heat source was too close to the eggs with the base it comes with....this is just what I've been told by many sources.

I know some people replace the base with one of the square styrofoam fish boxes (I think they're 1 - 1 1/2" thick) to add some space to the incubator.

 

[ReptileMan27]

I havent done anything special to mine, just use the rheostat to control the temps ..

 

[DavidBeard]

Do you think something like a Johnson's or Ranco thermostat would suffice?

 

[trizzypballr]

they arnt proportional are they? thats the big thing, a proportional thermostat is importaint because it controls heat much better than a normal thermostat. I dont know how johnsons or rancho work, but helix and herpstat are both proportional, i own a helix and can tell you it cant get much simplier to use

 

[Mack Leo Boy]

For my eggs this season I will be using a plastic cooler. It has a pickle jar filled with water inside. Placed inside the pickle jar with water is a fish tank heater. In a tubberware container next to the jar are my eggs. Is this a good enough incubator for my first season?

 

[GeckoAZ]

I have to say that I didn't buy a hovabator...I got a reptile incubator from Lyons. For the money I spent I should have purchased the nature spirit incubator. It costs the same and has a LOT more room for egg incubtion containers. Don't get me wrong, I like my Lyons Reptile Incubator and I have had great success...but the NS seems to be the best all round.