We've seen clients use food/drink coolers, styrofoam boxes, insulated food shipping containers, wine coolers, and even DIY foam boxes made out of sheets of home insulation boards. We used a craigslist-sourced commercial glass-door refrigerator in this example, but nearly any well-insulated container can be modified to become an incubator. In the example shown, we're using a small commercial refrigerator as the incubation container, but any well insulated container will function equally well at a considerably lower cost. In this article, we'll describe how to build your own incubator from start to finish, and discuss the benefits & disadvantages of using certain tools, parts, and techniques. The expense of buying multiple incubators (either for more space or multiple temperatures/species) can add up quickly, and building your own can help keep overhead costs down for a hobbyist or breeder. Running short on space is another common issue, since the two most popular commercial reptile incubators aren't very large. For example, some hobbyists working with more than one species of animal may require an incubator that can maintain two different temperatures. There are a couple commercially available hobby-specific incubators available, but building your own isn't difficult, and can even offer a few benefits over the store-bought alternatives. I hope you’ve now known how to build your own homemade incubator.When it comes to breeding Reptiles & Amphibians, a good performing incubator is often one of the most important tools for the process. Consider getting a hydrometer, and if the humidity is too low adding a small cup of water which will naturally evaporate increasing the humidity. You need some way for air to enter and escape, but make sure they aren’t too big so that you maintain the hot, humid atmosphere. Make sure you have a few small openings for air to flow into and out the incubator. Clean your incubator before starting a new round of incubation. Any egg not hatched after a month should be gotten rid of. Once a chick has hatched and is peeping, place it into a brooder.Your eggs should end in the position they started in. Turn your eggs 4 times a day, 90 degrees each time.Check the temperature regularly, to make sure it’s within the 95-100 oF range.Return the top of your cooler, and turn on the electric light.Place your eggs into one of your egg cartons, with the large rounded end upright, and place them inside of your cooler.If it’s too hot use a lower wattage bulb, if it’s too cool use a higher wattage. You want the temperature of your incubator to be between 95 oF and 100 oF, if it isn’t you’ll need to change your light bulb. After an hour, check the temperature on the thermometer.
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