MKeim1989
04-01-14, 08:09 PM
Hello all.
For those who don't know, I just made a move back to my parents place and during that move, all three of my leopard geckos decided it was time to lay eggs and I lost all six. Words cannot adequately describe how upset I was. Anyway, I got to thinking after that and I really need to put together a new incubator because they're eventually going to lay again and I'd really rather not lose six more eggs.
I have in my possession a large sterilite tub and enough polystyrene insulation left over from another project to line the inside and still have a two inch gap at the bottom. Basically, the idea is that there will be a sealed polystyrene box inside of the sterilite tub. I thought that (for humidity's sake) I could drill holes in the bottom piece of polystyrene and fill the sterilite tub with an inch of water. Then I would heat the unit from the bottom with flexwatt tape on the outside of the tub.
I'm curious to see what you all think of this idea. Has anyone ever done anything like this before? Can anyone think of any problems I might run into? Would it be better to place the probe inside the polystyrene box or on the heat tape and monitor the temps separately? I shouldn't have a problem getting the inside of the incubator hot enough, especially not once the water heats up - that should keep the temps pretty constant as well. One thing I did think of is that my humidity levels might skyrocket too far.
This is just something I was lying in bed thinking about a little bit ago. I made the thing up in my head and decided I'd see what you all had to say before I went out to the shed and started working on it later this week.
For those who don't know, I just made a move back to my parents place and during that move, all three of my leopard geckos decided it was time to lay eggs and I lost all six. Words cannot adequately describe how upset I was. Anyway, I got to thinking after that and I really need to put together a new incubator because they're eventually going to lay again and I'd really rather not lose six more eggs.
I have in my possession a large sterilite tub and enough polystyrene insulation left over from another project to line the inside and still have a two inch gap at the bottom. Basically, the idea is that there will be a sealed polystyrene box inside of the sterilite tub. I thought that (for humidity's sake) I could drill holes in the bottom piece of polystyrene and fill the sterilite tub with an inch of water. Then I would heat the unit from the bottom with flexwatt tape on the outside of the tub.
I'm curious to see what you all think of this idea. Has anyone ever done anything like this before? Can anyone think of any problems I might run into? Would it be better to place the probe inside the polystyrene box or on the heat tape and monitor the temps separately? I shouldn't have a problem getting the inside of the incubator hot enough, especially not once the water heats up - that should keep the temps pretty constant as well. One thing I did think of is that my humidity levels might skyrocket too far.
This is just something I was lying in bed thinking about a little bit ago. I made the thing up in my head and decided I'd see what you all had to say before I went out to the shed and started working on it later this week.