Everything from incubators to ratios

[mikeyweir]

I'm soon going to be incubating eggs, lets start big thred about the topic, so everyone can come here to get the info.
starting questions,
1) What makes a good incubator?
2) What makes a good incubation medium?
3) What are good ratios for water to desired mediums?

~ that should get the threds commin!
mikeyweir

[CCGeckos]

Hey Mikey,
The incubators that use are the Hovabator model #1602N. This is the model without the fan. I prefer without the fan, some people have told me that the fan can sometimes dry out the eggs. The fan motor also heats up sometimes and creates an inconsistent temp. inside the incubator. As for a medium, I like to use perlite. I've used it for 4 years now and never had a problem. Everything you need to know on incubating your eggs can be found on this site. This is where I got the information when I first started. Here's the site http://www.albeysreptiles.com/incubate-eggs.htm
Hope this answers alot of your questions. Best of luck with your eggs!
Take care,

[Ixidor]

Perlite works, sometimes I find it gets too wet or dry, I personally use vermiculite, hovabators work well, just mist the vermiculite 5 times, and then put it in the hovabator and it works find.

[TLH_Wär§cöötmän]

I use hovabator model #1583 and it has a fan. I use vermiculite in containers, but the fan does dry out eggs. Simple solution, cover egg containers with saran wrap and poke some holes with toothpick. I've never really had problems with fan motor heating up. The fan kicks in for less than 30 seconds most times, so I guess it depends on how cold the room is the incubator is in..

As for water to vermiculite ratio I've heard 1:1 always. I just mist mine till nice and moist and then let sit for 10 minutes to finish absorption of excess water. I also use my finger to make indent in vermiculite so the eggs are 1/2 above vermiculite, 1/2 under vermiculite. has worked good for me so far :)