The Suspended Incubation Method (SIM incubation)

[chameleoman]

this one?

http://www.pangeareptile.com/store/sim-incubation-container.html


and theres no substrate at all??? so all i do is put the eggs on the rack, put it in my closet and thats all??? or do i put the container in an incubator? p.s. as soon as i order it and my eggs are laid ill post pics and stuff

 

[chameleoman]

bump. . . . come guys need to know

 

[amanda509]

im curious to know too, what do u put in the bottom? substrate or just straight water? does it need heated, etc.? im curious about using it for geckos in the future..is there a diy version?? i hate shipping stuff :/

 

[Canny Chams]

you put water below it, and you put it in an incubator, make sure you buy 4 extra rails, they are 99 cents each

 

[amanda509]

you put water below it, and you put it in an incubator, make sure you buy 4 extra rails, they are 99 cents each

i dont have an incubator..or the money to get one -.- grr..

 

[mychamtini112012]

What incubator would be best for this kind of thing.? Not extremely expensive. Could you put this in the whole closet/rubbermaid method or does it HAVE to be in an incubator.?

 

[Canny Chams]

if you have a closet with a VERY consistent temp than yes, generally if you need an incubator, the cheapest is the zoomed and accutemp if you cant afford a very good incubator they are a kinda must have if you are breeding they are 150 bucks, il link you to the accutemp, its not as accurate, but it has cooling so yea, id say if your not willing to spen 450 bucks on a good incubator get one
heres a link, this is the accutemp http://www.bigappleherp.com/Accu-Temp-6000-Reptile-Incubator-Digital-Reptile-Incubator

 

[Canny Chams]

bumping post up

 

[SoCaliRocker]

if you have a closet with a VERY consistent temp than yes, generally if you need an incubator, the cheapest is the zoomed and accutemp if you cant afford a very good incubator they are a kinda must have if you are breeding they are 150 bucks, il link you to the accutemp, its not as accurate, but it has cooling so yea, id say if your not willing to spen 450 bucks on a good incubator get one
heres a link, this is the accutemp http://www.bigappleherp.com/Accu-Temp-6000-Reptile-Incubator-Digital-Reptile-Incubator

I know the zoo med incubators had a lot of problems. So far on accutemp, I've only seen mediocre reviews. Basically stating the middle one was the most accurate with the temps. The top and bottom had a few degrees off. Hovabators have pretty good reviews all around. They start at $39.95 at LLLreptile.

 

[EvilLost]

can we get a little clarification on what exactly is going on here?


you are just incubating the eggs by suspending them on a plastic platform in midair in an "ideal" temperature air? I see some are suggesting to place this container in a container of water to better insulate, but I don't see this serving any real purpose except to protect against small, sudden temperature variations...? Is the water really necessary where the air temp in the room is already very consistent? I'm probably missing something, but it doesn't seem to be


I'm still learning about egg incubation, but does the moisture/water that we add to the incubation media not serve any purpose? do you have to mist the eggs incubated by this method? or....?

 

[fluxlizard]

Nobody has answered, so here you go-

eggs take in moisture.

Vermiculite, or the soil they were laid in in the wild allows them to take in moisture directly from the substrate. But if you have super-humid air, they can take moisture in from the air. That is how these containers work. The water reservoir beneath the tray saturates the air with moisture. The eggs use the resulting humidity.

BUT- there are problems with this system and I suggest anyone thinking of using them for chameleon eggs check their support forums to see what they are. Specifically 2 problems stopped me from buying them this season and trying them- I still plan to try them at some point.
These problems for chameleons are
1) these containers work best with a heat source. If you are incubating eggs at room temperature, they are not likely to work as well as if you have a heat source of some sort. The heat encourages evaporation within the container which in turn raises the air humidity for the eggs. So for cool loving eggs- maybe not the best choice.
2) With fluctuating temperatures (which many or most of us use for chameleon eggs) these containers tend to collect condensation on the lids which in turn can drip down onto the eggs and kill them. Some on the forums had good luck mounting a sponge to the inside of the lid which ends up collecting the condensation (or preventing it- not sure which). Other advice included drilling holes in the sides to release excess humidity (which kind of defeats the system at work IMO but perhaps when a heat source is causing evaporation from the reservoir and raising the humidity, it isn't much of a problem.

That isn't to say these wouldn't work, only that they might need some tweaking. There are also discussions on the forums about using different substrates (chopped sponge for example) beneath the tray in the reservoir improving results in certain situations.

All this added up for me personally to having to figure stuff out, and since I am happy with the results in my current system, I decided to postpone trying these out.

 

[OldChamKeeper]

I just came across this thread...it's years old. But what were the results of this method if anybody knows?

 

[fluxlizard]

I think recently people are using them. I think they are using non-sealed containers and adding water regularly.