Incubator opinions!

[bldurbin]

My panther chameleon Iris has mated for the first time and we are going to need an incubator soon!I know a lot of people do not even use incubators and store the eggs in a dark place, but we feel more comfortable having the eggs in an incubator. I know there is always troubles with incubators, but anyone know of a decent incubator that is not going to do something extreme and possibly kill the eggs.
Thank you!

 

[Mike Fisher]

The only kind I've ever trusted were homebuilt. Basically just an insulated box (read refrigerator) with a good digitally proportional thermostat. Expect to spend about $200 on a thermostat. Do not rely on cheap incubators with mechanical thermostats. They eventually stick closed and will cook eggs.

 

[bldurbin]

That and closet incubation seem to be the best options from the research I am gathering on store incubators. The only problem I would have with closet incubation is the room temp being to cold.

 

[Vmag86]

Im using the reptibator with the digi humidity and temp gauge and has been working great. It doesn't have the ability to cool down, only heat up. So if you live somewhere really warm it may not be the best bet for you....

 

[Mike Fisher]

That and closet incubation seem to be the best options from the research I am gathering on store incubators. The only problem I would have with closet incubation is the room temp being to cold.

That's good because it is easier to heat than cool. If it was just a bit too cool you could always hook the thermostat to the closet light bulb. As long as your egg boxes are not exposed to the light it might work pretty well. As long as the light coming out from under the door at night doesn't freak you out.

Personally I'd just find a small fridge carcass and convert it. I came up with plans for the Refrig-u-bator back in the 90's and published them to the web. My original plans are long gone now but there might be a few DIY people out there who have posted how to do it.

Good luck.

 

[fluxlizard]

You can see how I build my incubators with step by step instructions on my blog if you click the link in my signiture below this message. You probably can get some ideas from that.

My controllers are herpstat pros. They are very accurate and can do a temperature drop at night, which you will probably want for panther chameleon eggs.

Honestly though- for a single clutch of panther chameleon eggs, I'd probably use a cheap poultry style styrophome incubator and put it on a timer so it shuts off at night.

And it sounds like you already know this, but - of course if your ambient room temp is in the mid 70s or so you really don't need an incubator at all.

 

[junglefries]

homemade

I have three homemade styrofoam fish coolers, & all 3 are within 1° fluctuation. They work just fine everytime. Just make sure to take your time while building. it takes maybe 45min - 1hr to do it right. Of course, let it run for a couple of days before using. check temps regularly and make sure it won't catch fire (if you did it rigjt).

 

[skala]

Incubation place - is it "dark place" important?

Hi, I have question for you.

Many people say "put the eggs on dark place" during incubation. Is it really necessary? I have this question because some incubator have transparent door.

Have you some experience with it?

 

[junglefries]

?

Skala asks a good question.

 

[Mike Fisher]

Hi, I have question for you.

Many people say "put the eggs on dark place" during incubation. Is it really necessary? I have this question because some incubator have transparent door.

Have you some experience with it?

Common theory is that light bothers the developing embryo. Some people report loss of entire clutches after they have candled the eggs with a powerful flashlight. In the wild, the eggs are in total darkness.

That being said, I've never had a problem with "casual" light causing problems. I ran low wattage red party light bulbs to heat my incubators for years with no ill effects.

 

[KatiLemons]

We live in Michigan and we just had our first clutch hatch in 6.5 months (panthers). We kept our incubator (Zoo Med Reptibator) in the closet and it worked great. We had it at 79/80 degrees and set at 80% humidity. We added water a couple times to the hatchrite. Good luck.

 

[fluxlizard]

Common theory is that light bothers the developing embryo. Some people report loss of entire clutches after they have candled the eggs with a powerful flashlight. In the wild, the eggs are in total darkness.

That being said, I've never had a problem with "casual" light causing problems. I ran low wattage red party light bulbs to heat my incubators for years with no ill effects.

In the old literature (CIN I think) they used to say light caused early hatch syndrome- hatchlings coming out too early, too much umbilical or failure to thrive or death at hatch time.

Don't know how valid the theory is though. I had a friend who used to keep her chameleon eggs out on the counter in her dining room where they were exposed to ambient room light during the day. Hers seemed to hatch out alright. I've always kept mine in darkish places, but have candled mine often and occasionally weather depending (right now) they incubate on a bathroom floor where they are exposed to dim light from the next room a lot during the day and the light switch flipping on and off during the day. They should be in diapause now though. The bathroom floor is cool and that is why they are there...

 

[Beautiful4Ever]

You can see how I build my incubators with step by step instructions on my blog if you click the link in my signiture below this message. You probably can get some ideas from that.

My controllers are herpstat pros. They are very accurate and can do a temperature drop at night, which you will probably want for panther chameleon eggs.

Honestly though- for a single clutch of panther chameleon eggs, I'd probably use a cheap poultry style styrophome incubator and put it on a timer so it shuts off at night.

And it sounds like you already know this, but - of course if your ambient room temp is in the mid 70s or so you really don't need an incubator at all.

Holy crap...your iguana is HUGE! lol well great looking guys and nice job on a great looking blog as well