Incubator question

[SerpentSteve]

Ok so my wife wants to get me an incubator for Christmas (I know, she's awesome). So I've started looking around and I like the exo terra and reptipro 6000. I like the refrigerator style of them but have seen mixed reviews online, so I want to hear from y'all what you think of them if you've ever used them and on their reliability. Right now I only have leopard geckos laying but I'll have hognoses and house snakes breeding later on.

[reptiledude987]

I've also been looking at the same unit for a clutch from my jcp in the spring and was wondering the same. A couple people have recommended the zoo med (cooler style) incubator. Any chance anyone has had both and might know which is the better way to go?

[pet_snake_78]

I've been looking around also and decided it's better just to build one. I would just get her a list of supplies you need.

[Primal Rage]

The exo terra and zoomed incubators are POS's. Stay away. You can literally read hundreds of horror stories about those things on Amazon and Google reviews. I got a Hotbox incubator that kicks butt! Check them out. Hot box incubators (http://www.cserpents.com/C_Serpents_Hot_Box/INCUBATORS.html)

If price is an issue, you can always try building one or checking CL.

[Jim Smith]

I ended up purchasing a used Lyons incubator from ebay. It's in good shape and so far it has tested out to work perfectly. I wanted a "desk top" incubator for space reasons and I figured with as much time and effort I've got into my snakes, I didn't want to go cheap on the incubator and take a chance of killing all the eggs. This is not my photo, but the machine I got is exactly like this.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i164/Jimws100/LyonsIncubator_zps712c46b9.jpg (http://s72.photobucket.com/user/Jimws100/media/LyonsIncubator_zps712c46b9.jpg.html)

[Sublimeballs]

Just make an incubator.

Get and broken fridge, freezer, mini fridge, glass front display cooler, etc; from craigslist for free to $50. Run 11" heat tape down the length of the back, drill a hole for a thermostat probe( I recommend a herpstat)and thermometer probes(a few for the shelving height differences), and a couple computer fans or reptile basics incubator fans. Buy a couple things of bottled water and fill the bottom of the fridge and shelve on the door with the bottled water(don't open the bottle) to retain heat incase of power outage.

[SerpentSteve]

Yeah I've been considerin DIY. It seems like the most reliable choice for what im looking for. Thanks yall!

[wwflguy]

Its very easy to build an incubator, and safes a lot of money compared to the cheaply built commercial jobs that are tiny and don't hold up well but cost a fortune. If you or a friend can do some basic electrical wiring you can build one in a day to rough it in more time if you want to get extra fancy. I'm currently retroing an old SS commercial glass front double door fridge into a nice massive incubator. It should hold an easy 300+ bearded dragon eggs or other small eggs.