Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[Dracowoman2]

Hi Everyone

Just wanted to see if anyone is or has used Brinsea Hatmaker R or Hovabator incubators? I could build one myself, but at the moment I am find time constraints a problem, and I would rather give my time to my animals/work/kids than be stressing over building a bator and getting the calibration right. I like the look of the brinsea and the hova as they have a window, and the brinsea allows for air exchange without removing the lid.

I've just got my first clutch of Fat Tail eggs, and they are temporarily in an empty viv that I have managed to rigg up, but the temps aren't staying very precise, and I would like to be able to incubate for sex female/male. We will also be having leopard gecko eggs this season, and next year cresties hopefully. The royal python eggs I will be building an incubator for due to the size I will require
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www.draco2.co.uk

"Life without animals isn't life, they give much and take little"

Claire

[JohnC]

I have used a Hovabator for several years and have successfully hatched all fertile egs. No problems experienced.
Species hatched include corns, milks, leos, beardies, ackies.
It isn't very big but will hold about 100 smallish eggs in egg boxes.
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John
Oldest member, been keeping reptiles for 36 years.
Carpets, royals, rainbow boas, corns, milks, ackies and leos.

[Dracowoman2]

Thanks JohnC, I've heard conflicting reports about the Hovabators, but I've just ordered 2 of the turbo fan versions, as I know most people use these for gecko eggs, and they were a decent price as well at £85 each inc vat, and it was only £8.99 delivery for both of them with a courier, so I'm happy. I was going to get the standard versions at £65 each, but thought the fan circulating the air seemed like a good idea And I can always disconnect the fans in necessary.

I just have to hope all the eggs are ok and fertile now I'm about to start introducing my leopard geckos to each other for the first time.

I've got a stack of the little round microwave tubs to put the eggs in and vermiculite etc. Do you put holes in your tubs before you incubate them or not? And do you put a small dish of water in the bottom of the hovabator or is the humidity build up in the tubs enough. I also need to check about opening the tubs to exchange air and check the vermiculite is still damp. It's like being expectant all over again
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www.draco2.co.uk

"Life without animals isn't life, they give much and take little"

Claire

[JohnC]

I used to put water in the bottom tray but the last 2 years I managed without.
My method is to put only two small ventilation holes in each egg box.
I never added and water during incubation and did not even take off the egg box lids. The most I did was to lift each egg box and judge that virtually no weight had been lost. This could be improved on by weighing the egg box.
You do need a good depth of vermiculite to give a good reservoir of water, over one and a half inches.
I don't know how much help you will get from the fan but I cannot see it doing any harm so worth trying. I think it is more usefull when hatching hens eggs which are not put in egg boxes.
If you put water in the base then you could add more ventilation holes but if you move the Hovabator water will slop out of the tray and spill out of holes in the Hovabator floor which caught me out once.
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John
Oldest member, been keeping reptiles for 36 years.
Carpets, royals, rainbow boas, corns, milks, ackies and leos.

[Dracowoman2]

Thanks JohnC, I've got about 3" of vermiculite/perlite mix in my tubs, and I weighted the dry mix and then weighed the water so I have a 50/50 ratio by weight. I've got my first 2 eggs in a temporary incubator at the moment in a pot with no air holes in as I was worried about it loosing humidity.

I went with the fan version as in theory the air temp in there should be consistent through the whole chamber, rather than hotter in the top than the bottom. Do I need to calibrate the temp inside the actual egg tub, on in the hovabator chamber? I'm assuming there won't be much of a variation between the 2, so in theory in the bator is would be for instance 85f and n the tub 84/83f.

Thanks for all your help by the way, I really appreciate it
_________________
www.draco2.co.uk

"Life without animals isn't life, they give much and take little"

Claire

[JohnC]

You can have the thermometer in the Hovabator under a window if you wish. The egg boxes can only lose or gain heat from the surrounding air in the incubator chamber. With the rather crude thermostat of the Hovabator the air temperature will fluctuate a degree or two but as any change will only pass slowly into the egg box, the egg box temperature will stay virtually constant.
Some breeders use no ventilation of the egg box and find it OK, my idea was to allow just a tiny amount with a couple of 2mm diameter holes.
A lot of people use a lot of ventilation and they have to be continually mess about adding make-up water, seems un-necessary to me.
Happy to help.
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John
Oldest member, been keeping reptiles for 36 years.
Carpets, royals, rainbow boas, corns, milks, ackies and leos.

[Dracowoman2]

I think the tiny air holes would be a benefit, that way you don't have to mess about with the tubs letting fresh air in and stale air out all the time, so even a tiny amount of air flow would have a benefit I think. Obviously the less you have to open the bator, the less the temp is going to fluctuate, which can only be a good thing. I think I'll give the 2 tiny holes a try and see how it goes, they can always be taped up again at a later date if necessary, and if I find they are loosing too much humidity I can always put a tiny lid of water in the bottom to compensate.

Again, thanks, there are some things the books just don't tell you.

Claire
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www.draco2.co.uk

"Life without animals isn't life, they give much and take little"

Claire

[JohnC]

I think people often over-estimate how much oxygen the eggs need.
In the wild most lizards bury their eggs, sometimes quite deep in the earth, where does the egg get it's oxygen from then. It will have access to very little.
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John
Oldest member, been keeping reptiles for 36 years.
Carpets, royals, rainbow boas, corns, milks, ackies and leos.

[Dracowoman2]

It's a very true statement that John, I know I bury my Beardie eggs in the vermiculite, not to the same depth as the female does, but it helps keep the humidity up and keeps them cozy. They probably need a lot less of everything in the wild, and they manage to survive very well even against some pretty nasty odds.
_________________
www.draco2.co.uk

"Life without animals isn't life, they give much and take little"

Claire

[JohnC]

Very true, reptile eggs are much tougher than people give them credit for.
They need humidity and warmth but they can usually accept quite a lot of variation from the ideal.
_________________
John
Oldest member, been keeping reptiles for 36 years.
Carpets, royals, rainbow boas, corns, milks, ackies and leos.