Incubator Heat Source Ideas

[Flawedatdesign]

Okay all I'm building my fridge bator. I have used light bulbs previously but had a major disaster last hatch and then it snowballed on me.

What can be used for safe heating besides light bulbs?

 

[shelleen]

I successfully used light bulbs hooked up to a water heater thermostat to regulate temps. Bought a thermometer with the humidity readings @ Walmart & was good to go. The temps would range from 96-108 & had 90% hatch (I'm pretty sure the temps never stayed high for long). Much more successful than the purchased, rotating incubator. There is a YouTube video on homemade incubators:

I used this as a guide. Might need more bulbs for a fridge though.

I ran mine for a week before putting eggs in it to tweak the settings. Also, most of the ones who did not hatch were from eBay & had arrived during a freak MN Spring storm. Our own mutt eggs hatched REALLY well. They also hatched over a 4-5 day period each time. Just make sure to clean the mess up & remove eggs shells to avoid a SMELLY mess. We did not the first time, and my husband chucked it outside on Day 3...so more may have hatched. The other times, I slipped a piece of a brown paper shopping bag under the eggs before they hatched (while pipping) to catch the mess & it worked like a charm. The other issue the first time was our "window" wasn't very big & my elderly in-laws couldn't see & would take the lid off to peek

What to do with the 80+yr olds??

Hope this helps.
Good Luck--

 

[CapricornFarm]

I have heard of using crock pots and electric frying pans. I think I would try the frying pan, since it has a heat setting like a dial

 

[conny63malies]

How about flexwatt heat tape or undertank heat cables? They come in all sorts of length and width. Can be bought at bigappleherp.com. Reptile supply stors are great for buying incubator parts, since some reptiles/eggs require really precise temps and humitity.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

My fridge incubator is hair dryer powered...

http://cmfarm.us/PickingAHeatSource.html