best incubator for eggs that is not extremely costly?

[kristy55303]

need advice on best incubator 100.00 or less? will "hatchrite" work to incubate eggs? how much water to hatchrite? thanks all,
kristy

 

[chrisallen]

Cheap and effective.....find a suitable stand up container(old standup freezer, mini fridge, beverage cooler...like the coca cola type you find at the front of a store by the register or in a convenient store). Gut what you can, safely, just to make it lighter. Install a metal electrical box, ceramic fixture and cord(maybe $5 total), run this to your thermostat(most expensive part of this), and wire her up. I drilled a few holes through the side of mine(stand up 3/4 size freezer I got for about $20), and thats it. I use a large wattage(think 150 watt or so) red bulb that warms up pretty good. I imagine you could do the same thing with any type of heat source, ceramic heat emitter, heat panel, flexwatt, etc).

 

[Kagome100]

need advice on best incubator 100.00 or less? will "hatchrite" work to incubate eggs? how much water to hatchrite? thanks all,
kristy

Hovabator is like 50 bucks or less. And works very good. Hatchrite works, its all ready moist for you well should be unless you got a old old bag. I use vermaculite to incubate my eggs in.

Oh also i made a home made incubator out of a fridge i found. It works so good. Only thing that cost was the thermostat I had to buy.

 

[kristy55303]

http://www.reptilebasics.com/Johnson-Controls-Thermostat-Pre-Wired-p-16178.html
i got this thermostat. chris i'm blonde and that went straight over the hair and head. I'm lucky if i can figure out how to screw a lightbulb in.

feel free to send some dragons along with a box of Loreal brand brown haircolor :laughhard: <-----even the smiley has the right hair color for this! LOL
i also have a hovabator...and my bag of hatchrite feels dry to the touch. this is what a breeder advised. with my gram scale...measure out 1 parts same amount of hatchrite then add same weight of water to it. then put the mixture into some glad containers. indent mixture for eggs(somehwhat half buried in it a bit) and put the glad container top back on it and punch like 6 pin holes on each side of the container. then place the containers into the hovabator with the thermostat i bought. keep at 84-85 degrees. She said this way also since i have two females breeding and another pair on the way of breeding age that i can make sure that no babies are mixed up when i do sell them. mark containers from what parents in other words. makes sense. does this all sound right? I may need an extra hovabator but is the cheapest one ok to use? i can get the 100.00 one that has some type of big window and airflow feautures. thoughts?
kristy

 

[Kagome100]

OOO i like the looks of that thermostat i have one that cost me $130 so ya that one is alot cheeper. I might get that one some time for another incubator. Does it work good?

 

[kristy55303]

my friend who breeds many diffferent species of reptiles from snakes to lizards of all sorts says she loves it the best.
how does everything else sound for my incubator. keeping lids on conatiners inside and such. will they egt enough airflow etc. just want to be prepared before they lay.

 

[Kagome100]

my friend who breeds many diffferent species of reptiles from snakes to lizards of all sorts says she loves it the best.
how does everything else sound for my incubator. keeping lids on conatiners inside and such. will they egt enough airflow etc. just want to be prepared before they lay.

I keep lids just laying on top i do not clamp them down till hatching time. Also I once a week check the eggs to make sure its still moist and no one is molded. When your checking that gives a airflow over them cause you take the lid off.

 

[kristy55303]

my friend who breeds many diffferent species of reptiles from snakes to lizards of all sorts says she loves it the best.
how does everything else sound for my incubator. keeping lids on conatiners inside and such. will they egt enough airflow etc. just want to be prepared before they lay.

I keep lids just laying on top i do not clamp them down till hatching time. Also I once a week check the eggs to make sure its still moist and no one is molded. When your checking that gives a airflow over them cause you take the lid off.

yeah forgot about that part, she said to check for airflow etc. I will just keep lids vented like stated then keep humidity in and airflow too. i'll remove any molded eggs as well. i will clamp them down around hatching time. cool beans.
kristy

 

[Kagome100]

my friend who breeds many diffferent species of reptiles from snakes to lizards of all sorts says she loves it the best.
how does everything else sound for my incubator. keeping lids on conatiners inside and such. will they egt enough airflow etc. just want to be prepared before they lay.

I keep lids just laying on top i do not clamp them down till hatching time. Also I once a week check the eggs to make sure its still moist and no one is molded. When your checking that gives a airflow over them cause you take the lid off.

yeah forgot about that part, she said to check for airflow etc. I will just keep lids vented like stated then keep humidity in and airflow too. i'll remove any molded eggs as well. i will clamp them down around hatching time. cool beans.
kristy

K have fun and good luck. If you do not clamp them down around hatch time you might end up with babies all over the place lol.

 

[kristy55303]

LOL oh i'll make sure I clamp them down, no worries. Kristy

 

[chrisallen]

The havobators do work good for what they are....just consider something bigger if you will possibly have 3 females breeding. You could possibly have a couple hundred eggs at the same time if they were to breed around the same time. Just a thought. I use glitter grade vermiculite and like it alot......its a coarse grade vermiculite I think I got it from big apple herp. Either way best of luck with them dragons!

 

[kristy55303]

The havobators do work good for what they are....just consider something bigger if you will possibly have 3 females breeding. You could possibly have a couple hundred eggs at the same time if they were to breed around the same time. Just a thought. I use glitter grade vermiculite and like it alot......its a coarse grade vermiculite I think I got it from big apple herp. Either way best of luck with them dragons!

say i am able to get the vermiculite in before they lay, how do i mix it up with water? i think you are right chris, i have two females that are going to start laying season now and another pair or trio on the way. I will grab an extra incubator. 200 eggs! i'm gonna go nuts on feeding lol.
Kristy

 

[lacy_black]

Nuts or broke, good luck :lol:

 

[kristy55303]

Nuts or broke, good luck :lol:

yep you got that right :lol:
i couldnt for the life of me find any vermiculite...so i have hatchrite but just ordered the kind through bigappleherp and an extra incubator and thermostat. I saw mino scratching today so i put a 15 quart lay box in today with damp sand....if anything i have the hatchtrite....but would prefer the vermiculite my friend and others seem to use. The girls are fattening up. hoping they hold it in till the vermiculite gets here.
kristy

 

[chrisallen]

Are the females with males? Or, when could they have first done the nasty? Can you feel eggs yet? I don't weigh the water or vermiculite, I just add water till I think it looks/feels right. It should be moist/clumpy. Im not sure about the hatchrite as I have never used it.