Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[Cleef]

I'm going to be building a small incubator, small enough to move into a different room easily if needed. In my old house I used to use my airing cupboard to put my incubation tubs, but since moving, the airing cupboard here is too warm.

I looked into hovabators, but they're well overpriced in my opinion, then I looked into making my own poly box incubator, and decided that they're too ugly and I could just as easily make one out of conti

Basically it's just going to be a cupboard made out of contiboard, with one or two inner shelves. It will be heated by a heat mat (I think one should be enough), controlled by a pulse stat. Clear sliding perspex doors at the front.

Just a few things I'm unsure about;

Good ventilation isn't needed is it?

Where should I mount the heat mat? I was thinking INSIDE on the base of the cupboard. The hot air will rise, and by-pass the shelves on the way up. (no tubs will be in direct contact with the mat.)

Where can I get perforated/fridge like shelves so the air can circulate properly?

This year it will just be used to incubate my leopard geckos eggs, it will be big enough for the future though if I'm ever lucky enough to get more space for herps
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Steve P

[serpent]

I've lined mine with 1in poly from Wickes, shelves are made from 1/2 x 1 battoning. There is only one shelf in the pic but i've added 2 more since this photo was taken and the battoning is covered with mesh so that the egg containers are more stable. I'm in the process of designing another shelf sysyem so that the shelves can be removed or added as needed.


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[Cleef]

Thanks for the pic I was thinking about poly, but is needed? Chipboard is a pretty good insulator I would have thought. I like the wooden slats, probably cheaper and easier to get hold of than what I mentioned too, thanks again
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Steve P

[serpent]

Is the poly needed ?
No idea but considering on how cheap it is and how easy it is to cut to size why take the chance ?
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People laugh at me because I am different
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[Cleef]

For the time being I changed my mind, and went with a poly box design incubator - like the hovabtor.

Hopefully it should be ok, just need to fiddle with the mat temp to get the air/substrate temps correct.









I used to egg crate to elevate the tubs so they are not in direct contact with the heat mat, for better air flow and a bit more control over the substrate temps. Used a normal habistat heatmat for the heat which is controlled by a pulse stat which I can still use when/if I make a bigger incubator should the need arise. Came to just under £50 all in all, and hopefully should be more accurate than a hovabator, plus the mat and stat can be used again if i ever need to make a bigger incubator so I'm fairly pleased. Any comments/suggestions are welcome
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Steve P

[Scott W]

Looks good Steve, nice job & good luck with the eggs.
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Please DO NOT pm orders for reptiles, send email instead scott@captivebred.co.uk

[mark]

that is excellent so easy to make aswell i will go the same route as that i reckon
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boas and burms

[serpent]

Looks like a good neat job on the polybox
I only changed to a contiboard incubator box because I made another rack and had no more room and that was the only space I had left in the shed.
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People laugh at me because I am different
I laugh at them because they are all the same.

[Cleef]

Thanks for the comments, still fiddling to try and get the air/substrate temps perfect it's trickier than I thought it would be. I dunno if it's too much ventilation or what (only 4 holes in the lid, 6 around the side of the box that were already there)
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Steve P

[SteveL]

tape the holes up, just make sure you open the tubs up now and then to let air in when theres eggs in them
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