Heat sourse question for incubator

[s_and_ke]

Does the heat have to come from above? I have heat tape and was wondering if it could be used to heat the incubator. Also curious if it could be used in the brooder? There would be no direct contact at all.

 

[Ms.FuzzyButts]

Hmm, don't know. Good question though. It will be interesting to see what others say about it.

 

[FenDruadin]

Disclaimer: I have never built a homemade bator.

However, I have read quite a bit about world traditions for incubating, and it's quite amazing the different ways people have of hatching eggs, especially without electricity. Did you know it can be done with rice bags warmed in the sun?

So, anyway...... I suspect that if you can get the incubator up to the right temp using heat tape (which is GREAT stuff by the way--used to have it for our ball python, along with a SUPER nice VERY expensive thermostat scaleable for multiple reptile habitats but ALAS I let it go with the snake when I gave him to my friend, lol), then it should work fine. In fact, heat below is great because heat rises... and I've seen many homemade bators with a lightbulb in the bottom--makes sense to me--seems like you'd have fewer temperature layers that way.

As for using it in the brooder, I've wondered the same thing. A mother hen, of course, would provide heat from above. But I don't know that it's necessarily necessary. Interested to hear what others say about it.

 

[Dingo]

I've used heating pads in place of a heat lamp in a brooder, worked fine, the birds didn't need a spot light showing them where the heat was. You just dont want to give them access to anything that has the potential to burn them.

 

[s_and_ke]

Thank you! I do have corn snakes and use the heat tape for them but could find no info about any heat source other than light bulbs for birds. I know just how I would set them up too. Both the incubator and the brooder