[Rich]

Thinking about building a DIY incubator for beardie eggs, don't need it ATM but in about 4-6 months when I have more eggs going at once I will need it. I am thinking about making some sort of large insulated box with a door. Heating will be regulated with one of these. Since I need high humidity I was thinking about throwing a 10 gallon tank in the bottom full of water and putting a fish tank heater or 2 into the 10 gallon to provide heat (regulated by the device in the above link). The other option is maybe some sort of other heating device regulated by that device and a pan of water to provide extra humidity. There are plenty of options, not sure which would be best. Keep in mind the size of this unit when making suggestions.....it will be about 4'hx2'dx2'w with about a dozen shelves (shelves will likely be wire or plexi with air holes to allow good heat/air circulation). Last but not least is budget, looking to spend no more than $300 on this, if I was going to spend more I'd just buy one.

[SupernatePiranha]

if you do heated water, the plexi wont hold up well it will bow if its long

I dont know how small your eggs are but use some type of chromed or stainless grill the sell all sorts of types at lowes and stuff

I would just add a wet sponge or two in there personally near the heat source

[Rich]

I might do moist peat moss as well. The eggs will be inside individual tupperware containers, the shelves will be just shelves and will not need to be anything special to hold eggs. The only requirement with this thing is that it has to hold heat and humidity. Temp will need to stay around 85 with humidity high.

[rmm]

i take it this will be the inside dementions (4'hx2'dx2'w)

[Rich]

i take it this will be the inside dementions (4'hx2'dx2'w)

Yeah, somewhere around there.

[MWehr76364]

I made one out of a fridge once and a cheap diy reostat and had excellent success w/ it. Very easy to do if you know basic wiring. I just hooked 2 fans one at the top and one at the bottom that would switch on when the heat came on and cut off when the heat was off. I heated the unit w/ 2 ceramic bulbs and 2 large incadesents. Took a little tweaking to get the temp right but once the temp was set didn't have any problems at all out of it.

[Rich]

The fridge is an option for later down the road but I was thinking of something smaller for now. Something I could put in the same footprint of my Hovabator. Don't want to put a old fridge in my house and don't want the incubator in the basement, at least not at this time. Later on when I have more animals I will be setting up cages downstairs but for now I'd like to keep everything upstairs.

[Chris@TSE]

you're heading in the wrong direction. standing water and misting will not do. humidity must be obtined from the vermiculite substrate medium you use to incubate. keep it simple rich, or youll kick yourself later.

Old freezers and fridges work well if cleaned out properly and seals are still in good shape. A computer fan to circulate air as well. I'll post some more specifics later when i got some free time.

This post has been edited by Chris@TSE: 19 October 2004 - 11:41 AM

[Rich]

Figured I would need some sort of water on top of the already moist substrate since the hovabator has a water chamber in the bottom for adding humidity.