More beardie eggs!

[JDouglas]

A friend's beardie laid 18 more eggs. Only one egg survived incubation with his last clutch and that was because he gave three eggs to me and one was still viable. He has given me all the eggs to incubate for him this time...

Stockwell, I also took your advice and used damp vermiculite instead of water so the hatchlings will be safe from drowning.

I am using my new incubator that I made ahwile back. Originally I was using a wafer thermostat with this unit but decided to upgrade to a Helix DBS 1000. I also added heat tape to the ceiling to stop condenstation and drips. Now it only forms condensation on the front of the tub because it is cooler near the glass but this will have no negative effects. Here is a pic...

This unit can hold three of these sterilite tubs.

[ssscales]

That's a nice incubator!
How much did it cost to set up? What are the dimensions? How well does it control temps and humidity?

[TheRedDragon]

That's a wicked looking incubator! I have the same questions ssscales does.

[JDouglas]

The internal dimensions are 10 in H, by 18 in D, by 36 in L. The egg chamber is completely sealed with a glass lid resting on a foam door seal so humidity is near 100%. It is heated by 3 feet of 11 in flexwatt on the ceiling and 3 ft more on the floor. Originally I used 3 in flexwatt but it wasn't enough. It is very accurate. The Helix display always reads the set point and the digital thermometer says it has a 0.25F swing.
I started with one fan at one end but it wasn't enough so now there are two fans inside. One mounted at each end. One blows up and one blows down to circulate the air. They are bolted to the bottom side of the egg crate shelf. Originally I covered the bottom with water bottles for a heat sink but after much testing I found it is more accurate without them. It also heats up from room temp to set point much faster. The water bottles stopped the airflow over the heat tape. Now when the tape heats up the warmth is swept up by the fans and circulated.
I have to thank Stockwell, Scales Zoo, and Mikey again for their help in the design.

In the end this was not cheap...
$32 melamine
$45 glass
$10 glass track
$2 screws
$2 caulk
$2 liquid nails
$4 power light
$10 digital thermometer
$140 Helix DBS 100
$30 6 ft of heat tape
$2 cords
$2 hole cover
$10 screw caps
$15 sterilite tubs
$5 foam door seal
$10 egg crate
$15 fans

So it was about $346 plus other small things like sotter, tape, and all the time it took to build, test, and modify. Much of the stuff I had on hand from previous projects and some things are optional like the DBS 1000. The wafer thermostat worked great too and it is only $15. You could also use the lids that came with the tubs instead of glass. Also the power light is optional and so are the screw caps and egg crate.

Take a look at this previous thread for more info...



Link To Previous Incubator Thread

[JDouglas]

Well I candled the eggs and 10 appear to be infertile. They glow yellow and are without veins. They are also much smaller than the remaining 8 that glow pink and show good veins.

[coldblooded]

Why do you have the eggs on the white grating and not directly on the vermiculite?

Just wondering...


Mike

[JDouglas]

It can be done either way. I recently hatched a Beardie egg without vermiculite using the "no substrate method". This time I am using vermiculite to ensure that none of the babies drown after hatching. I think most people cover 80% of the egg in vermiculite but it is uneccesary. If the eggs are in the vermiculite they can become either too wet or too dry based on the moisture content of the vermiculite. The container I am using is completely sealed and humidity is 100%. Often times when using a unsealed container the vermiculite will begin to dry out and water needs to be added. With this method it is impossible for the chamber to dry out and the 100% humidity can sustain the eggs without putting them in vermiculite. These guys should hatch around New Year's day.