Nest vs incubator

[DavethePython]

I have a friend who is breeding his snake for the first time . He is wondering the differences over nesting and incubator and what the advantages or disadvantages are. I have not bred before so I can't give a reasonable answer so I told him I would ask . In my searching I have found many reliable and affordable home built incubators that are temp and humidity controlled so using one is not an issue . Just looking for experienced and intelligent points of view .

[DavethePython]

He is breeding his ball python just to clarify .

[red ink]

Arteficial Incubaton = higher clutch rate

Maternal Incubation = Variable results but generally lower harch rate as you loose a few eggs

Species of snake won't matter it's about providing a stable incubation period for the eggs. Maternal or nesting may result in more drastic temperature fluctuations not to mention mold could take hold from the environment vs a sterile (meant to be) artificial incubation medium in an incubator with stable hemps and humidity.

You can make pretty stable homemade incubators out of an old bar fridge or wine fridge and a heatcord controlled by a pulse thermostat... I've even seen people just do it out of styrofoam boxes and get pretty stable temps out of them.

Here's a home made one I use.... the temps varry only 0.5 degrees no matter what the external ambient temps are (even in a heatwave or a cold snap)

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn214/Red-Ink-Buldogs/52b0511b.jpg

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn214/Red-Ink-Buldogs/c9f81e3b.jpg

Cheers

[stephanbakir]

Everything redink said is true, a few additions though.
Ball pythons are one of the few species of pythons/colubrids who will actively leave their nest to heat up then come back so their eggs are much hardier when it comes to temperature variances. An incubator is still best though.
Also, if you are going with RedInk's design and all your tubs have the same dimensions I would highly advise putting the probe inside the tub, since thats the location where temperature matters most.

[shaunyboy]

Redink has pretty much covered things mate

incubation tends to give you a better success rate re eggs hatching

cheers shaun

[DavethePython]

Incubator sounds like the way to go for sure then . Found a couple u am going to look at and see if they will work . Have lots of time to be sure he has the right one for the job . Thanks for the input.