Opinion on incubators...

[fishyfan]

I'm thinking of upgrading my incubator and am looking for some opinions. Right now i am using a diy incubator (styro cooler with an aquarium heater) and while it does work, it's not holding my temps as stable as i would like. I've come across a few possible options and am looking for opinions. I've narrowed it down to these choices...

1. Diy styro cooler incubator using UTH and proportional thermostat. This would be the cheapest route...

2. Hovabator w/ proportional thermostat. Not sure if there is any advantage over a styro cooler w/ heating pad. I like the fact that there are viewing windows but that doesn't justify the extra cost as opposed to option number 1.

3. lllreptile MR148 incubator. I like the fact that it has got a built in thermostat but is it reliable? I haven't checked but i'd bet shipping would be fairly expensive also.

4. Zoomed Reptibator. This one comes with a proportional thermostat...

Right now i'm leaning toward either option 1 or option 4 but i'd like a few opinions before i proceed...

 

[acpart]

Given what you have, I would recommend starting with option #1 (or even adding a proportional thermostat to your current setup). I have used a proportional thermostat with the hobovator for 5 seasons and am currently using the reptipro5000. In both cases, I have found the temperature fluctuation to be about 2 degrees or sometimes more, but my eggs have hatched successfully. You can read in other posts about the idea that heating from the top (as the hobovator and reptibator) do is not optimal, though people continue to use them successfully.

There are at least 3 (not counting the thinkgeek version) mini-fridge incubators that I've seen on the market: MR148 from lllreptile, reptibator (or something like that) from Kemp and reptipro5000. All the manufacturers claim that their model is different from the others (though in my conversation with Kemp recently it seems that they are having some legal issues with reptipro but have a cordial relationship with lllreptile) but I have no idea whether or not they are that different. All I can say is that callibrating the reptipro is possible, though a bit annoying, and when the ambient temp in my house went way up, it had to be recallibrated (reptipro does not see why this is a problem, after extensive discussions with them). I can say more about that on request (and may do so in another post).

I'm sure you'll hear from many other incubator users and boosters.

Aliza

 

[Quantumhigh]

Iam using the reptipro5000, this will be my first breeding season. The incubator seem good and holds temps within 1-2 degrees. Youlll need a seprate temp readout the one on the incubator is off by a few degrees. I hold mine at 90 to get a 86 degrees on the top shelf. One thing I wasnt to happy about the light in the incubator no longer works after using it 3-4 times and being only a week or two old. Other then that the incubator itself seems great.

I also considered all the above and felt the reptipro5000 even with the light burnt out or broken its still a solid choice.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Ive always used the hovabator 1602 still air. (knockonwood) I havent had any issues.

 

[Quantumhigh]

@ Acpart: I dont have 5 posts yet to respond in PMs. So Ill reply here. I live in Las vegas, NV. I belive the reverse is true. If ambient temp in your incubation room is too high you'll have to set the incubator a few degree's lower for what your aiming for. ex. 82 may need to set it for 79ish for the cooling componet to kick in.

I personally have my AC set to 75ish in my reptile room so my incubator is set generally 2-3 degree's higher then actual chamber temps. BTW it sound like we got the same model with blue lcd ect.

I go by the digital thermometer I bought seprate to dial in the chamber temp.

Best of luck getting your temps stable.

 

[Northstar Herp]

I have a MR-148 from LLL and stopped working two months after I turned it on. Ovbiously, I would not buy it again, nor would I recommend anyone else buy it.

I'd go the homemade route as long as you're handy enough.

 

[pastelball]

So far I had 3 incubators all were home made and upgrade as I went. Find a small dorm fridge and add heat tape a small fan at the top and use a thermostat and your done. I have a wine cooler that someone didn't work so I took the shelves out keep on fan and added 2 feet of heat tape 1ft side by side and works great.

 

[Northstar Herp]

So far I had 3 incubators all were home made and upgrade as I went. Find a small dorm fridge and add heat tape a small fan at the top and use a thermostat and your done. I have a wine cooler that someone didn't work so I took the shelves out keep on fan and added 2 feet of heat tape 1ft side by side and works great.

I've been looking for a broken wine fridge for over a year now, and can't seem to find one. I guess it's a big secret where they go when they die...

 

[pastelball]

I have a guy I work with trying to get me one of the store coolers. He has a friend that works for a pop company.

 

[T-ReXx]

I have 3 varieties of incubator as well. The first is a Little Giant running on a herpstat thermo. I'm pretty happy with that setup, it maintains temps pretty stable using the combination of a ziplock of water and the thermo. Since I keep my herp room at 78-82F 24/7, cooling has never been an issue as far as leo eggs go.
The second is an hovabator. This is also on a herpstat thermo, and I find a bit more fluctuation there. I dunno if it has to do with the thickness of the styrofoam or whatever, but the hova always seems to have a 2 degree temp swing no matter what I do with it. It's currently on standby for when I run out of space in my other two.
The third is the "reptpro5000" the incubatorwarehouse.com version. I'm currently using it for crestie eggs and it's set to 74F, and I'm pretty happy with the stability. I get at most a 0.5 degree temp swing. My only real gripe with this bator is the space available, I would really prefer a bigger interior so I could fit enough delicups to incubate clutches individually, but thats' my personal gripe about space. Out of all of them, I like the reptipro the most simply because of versatility. My next bator will most likely be home made, mostly because I want a bigger one than most average cost models provide, but I do plan on purchasing additional reptipros simply because I like having cooling bators and for the money I'm pretty satisfied. Just fyi, it cost me 175 shipped(25 dollar shipping) so shipping isn't as expensive as you may think.

 

[Knobs]

I bought a full size glass door cooler off of craigslist for $50. i posted a wanted add and took a bout 2 months but i love it I have had over 600 eggs in it at one time and still had plenty of room. I have a few smaller one's that i use for diff. temps but i love glass doors.

Goodluck