Incubator Build

[varanus1]

i got bored and starting on a new incubator which was needed and bigger room for more eggs and larger boxs.Im planning on having sliding glass doors so their is a air pass gap between the bypass doors to equal pressure outside it with inside.Bottom as you can see is a hidden space where the heating rope will be wrapped around several 1" PVC pipe.Inside this will be a fan and all the way at top to move air around and keep it constant inside all around. It will have open grating shelves also.I will post more pic when each step is done. The next is its being painted to seal it all up.

Any thoughts or ideas ?

[i1070.photobucket.com (http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u492/varanus1/IMG_20130209_171907_zps23874d9e.jpg?t=1360451979)]

[i1070.photobucket.com (http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u492/varanus1/IMG_20130209_171540_zps7750be6a.jpg?t=1360451812)]

[varanus1]

decided to use my extra radiant heat panel for it instead.It has a light so ill always visual see its working.

[crocdoc]

Will the incubator be in a warm room? If not, I'd be hesitant to have the gap between the sliding glass. The wiring necessary to add heating elements to an incubator usually produces enough gaps for the pressure in and out of the incubator to equalise. On the downside, having a gap between the glass will allow enough air exchange that maintaining a stable temperature will be difficult.

Will you be using an on/off or dimming thermostat? If you're using an on/off thermostat, I'd advise you to put the fan on the same circuit, so that it turns on only when the heating elements have been switched on by the thermostat. Fans, even small computer fans, produce a surprising amount of heat. It may not be much, especially if the fan is of low wattage, but in some incubators it may push the temperature in the incubator up a few degrees and put the eggs in danger, particularly on warm days.

[shaunyboy]

Will the incubator be in a warm room? If not, I'd be hesitant to have the gap between the sliding glass. The wiring necessary to add heating elements to an incubator usually produces enough gaps for the pressure in and out of the incubator to equalise. On the downside, having a gap between the glass will allow enough air exchange that maintaining a stable temperature will be difficult.

Will you be using an on/off or dimming thermostat? If you're using an on/off thermostat, I'd advise you to put the fan on the same circuit, so that it turns on only when the heating elements have been switched on by the thermostat. Fans, even small computer fans, produce a surprising amount of heat. It may not be much, especially if the fan is of low wattage, but in some incubators it may push the temperature in the incubator up a few degrees and put the eggs in danger, particularly on warm days.


i would have thought that using an on off stat,would have had too much of a temperature fluctuation...

on off stats over here,have around a 3 degree C discrepency in temps..

if you set the stat at 30C,the stat kicks on at 29C,but does not kick back off until 31C,giving said 3 degree discrepency

would that size of temperature fluctuation,still be within safe parameters to hatch,a healthy snake with no incubation deformities ?

i only ask because i thought the temperature discrepency

re Carpets
ive researched and read that Carpets Incubation temps,are 29.5C to 31.5C,leaving 2 degree C of room,for acceptable temp fluctuation

i suppose it would depend on,the type/species of reptile egg we were talking about,but...

would an extra degree temp fluctuation in the incubation period,make a lot of difference mate ?

thanks in advance for the info

cheers shaun

[crocdoc]

i would have thought that using an on off stat,would have had too much of a temperature fluctuation...
on off stats over here,have around a 3 degree C discrepency in temps..
Not all on/off stats are the same. I've got a digital one that can be adjusted to fractions of a degree, if need be, but that's overkill and the constant on/off would soon kill your heat source. Consequently, I usually have it set for around a 1 degree variation (it kicks in when the temp drops by 1C). Because the thermostat probe is in the incubator and not in one of the egg boxes (which have a bit of thermal lag, because they are sealed), the eggs in the egg boxes experience virtually no temperature fluctuations at all.

I have a second incubator (my first, chronologically) which is on a dimming thermostat and set up a bit differently, but there's not much difference between the two incubators in how they maintain temperature. Part of the reason I went for an on/off thermostat with the second incubator is that it is larger (taller, specifically) and there would be a big vertical temperature differential without fans, but the fans I had available would not work on a dimming thermostat.

Having said all of this, I think we all tend to overemphasise the importance of absolutely no temperature fluctuations when it comes to monitor eggs. Most of the work involved in incubating monitor eggs successfully happens before the female lays the eggs. If she's got good nesting options and finds the right spot quickly, then lays without issue, it's hard to ruin good, healthy eggs from that sort of nesting. You could practically incubate them on your lap (I exaggerate, of course).

Over the years I've been incubating eggs I've had a few accidents occur which have indicated just how tough the eggs are. Aside from dropping egg boxes onto cement (and, a couple of years ago, having a lone egg drop out of my hand, bounce on a ceramic tile floor twice before being caught in the air like someone playing jacks), I've had a neighbour 'borrow' the fuse for my mains power while I was away on holidays in winter, so that the incubator dropped from 30C to 15C for a while. There were 30 eggs in the incubator at the time, comprising four clutches (two each of perenties and lace monitors), yet all but one egg hatched and I don't think that was due to the temperature drop. On another occasion we had a heat wave here and the room in which the incubator sits hit ridiculous temperatures for a week, such that the temperature inside the incubator didn't drop below 34C for several days and hit a high of 39C by the end of the week. All of the eggs hatched and all of the babies were perfect.