Advise on diy wine cooler incubator!

[crystalmcnutt]

I am making a diy wine cooler incubator. I bought the unit from someone who raises reptiles. She did not start the build but she had some supplies that she had already bought that came with it. Heat tape and a reptile fogger and a thermostat
So.... with that being said should I just go ahead and use the heat tape? Fiy the fan does work on the cooler.
or should I go with the incustat set up and gut the wine cooler?
My idea with the reptile fogger is to use it as a humidifier with a humidistat to turn it off and on. But my concern is will that be to wet and cause moisture on the eggs?
Any advise would be greatly appreciated!

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Unless your environment is SUPER dry a fogger will be WAY too much for sure. It's meant to imitate an environment wet enough for amphibians. Can't comment on the rest, though.

 

[Floof]

I made one of these and posted about it some years ago. Mine is even still in use every year. Do not "gut it" because you do not want to accidentally mess with the refrigerant. I located an area in the back that didn't have any tubes running through it and drilled a hole big enough for my lamp kit to fit through and then a second for the cords for my fan and automatic egg turners to go through to be plugged into a surge protector at the outlet. I attached an inkbird thermostat to my lamp kit and run the sensor through the same hole my cords go through and rest the sensor on my eggs during incubation. It works super well and I never have issues with it as long as I remember to add water every few days (sometimes my system is a little too "set it and forget it" and I really do forget to monitor them lol).

I have used other incubators over the years and find that I like my cooler incubator for the incubation process but hope to make a second system specifically for lock down. I want to be able to lay all my eggs flat in the bottom rather than in baskets on the wine cooler shelves because I've had tiny chicks find ways out of the hatching baskets.

 

[Floof]

This is the one I made. I've tweaked it a little over the years. You can ask questions if you have any

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wine-fridge-incubator.1171866/

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Just put a little water and a sponge in a pan, it will work just fine for humidity.

 

[Tmmv1]

I am on converting one of these coolers myself, i have a fan inside with a heat source but i a little confussed as to where to put ventilation holes and how many. Any advice would be great please.

 

[Floof]

I am on converting one of these coolers myself, i have a fan inside with a heat source but i a little confussed as to where to put ventilation holes and how many. Any advice would be great please.

I have 2 vent holes in the back of mine, one at the top and one at the bottom. I use the bottom vent to run my cords through so I can have 2 auto turners so it stays open all the time but the top hole can be closed off if I ever needed to. The top vent is about half an inch in diameter and the bottom home is slightly bigger than 1 inch. Even with both vents open, I can keep the humidity steady around 62 with a water dish at the bottom.