would this work for leo eggs?

[little98dime]

I have been looking around for incubators and researching making my own. would this work? I tossed up the idea of making my own, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to re-use my thermostat from my male's old enclosure. its a zoo-med 500r thermostat (not rheostat). My main concern is temp stability. would I be better off to buy the incubator or is there a way I can keep the temps stable to within +/- 1 or 2 degrees using the old thermostat?

 

[acpart]

No matter what you use, you're probably best off with a proportional thermostat rather than an on/off thermostat. Personally I feel the incubators are cheap enough that it's not worth my time and effort to make my ownh, though I'm not a big do-it-yourselfer these days.

Aliza

 

[GeckoGal]

that would work if you got a nice thermostat, like the helix. you would still have to put the eggs in a container with vermiculite to keep in miosture.

 

[little98dime]

Yeah I figured that was the case. I went ahead and made the incubator with my zoo-med, and I think it has WAY too much temp fluctuation. Any suggestions for a relatively inexpensive thermostat? Keep in mind, I only have one female and wont be incubating many eggs per year. I checked out the helix and for what I need it for,... its just way too much.

 

[acpart]

I got the proportional thermostat from Big Apple Herp about 4 years ago. It was about $100, but better than the others. ALso you can put bags of water in the very bottom of the incubator and it will serve as a heat sink and help stabalize the temperatures.

Aliza

 

[little98dime]

I got it figured out i think. I put the tub with the coco-fiber up on some dowels above a bowl of water. the water is sitting on the heat mat which is running all the time. I have a digital thermometer and humidty gauge. Humidity is at 86% and the temp is staying right at around 84-84.5 degrees. All I need to do is find a way to get the temp to raise another 3 or 4 degrees and I'll be ok to incubate for any sex. would I be better off to put another small (5-10 gallon size) heat mat in there? maybe attach it to the lid?

 

[CSMGecko]

The incubator you are showing is the Hovabator. I use this incubator but had a lot of problems with the built in thermostat. It will not hold temp steadily no matter how many mats you use or anything without a proportional thermostat. Check out herpstat from spyder robotics. I got one and haven't had any problems with hatching out after. I paid about $100 for it. It was definitely worth the money.
Side note: I wouldn't recommend trying to hatch in a non-steady temp environment due to eggs dying or worse, birth defects.

 

[little98dime]

I've been keeping track of the temps and humidity. I check it in the morning before work, at lunch, and several times through the evening. so far the temps are staying within a degree ranging from 85.5 to 86.5 degrees in the egg tub on the substrate. The temp/humidiy gauge I got is saying 84 in the incubator. Humidity is rock steady at 91%. I'm still watching everything, and wil be for a week or two, but so far does it sound like I have it pretty well sorted out?

 

[little98dime]

is 1 degree too much? what is considered safe for temp variance? I know ideal is zero,... but yeah... i've read that 1 is ok... is this true?

 

[Zynx_Keekeio]

i used that with no thermostat, it just takes a while to to get the temp set right but it does flux one or two degrees up and down but for the most part its good