If you put a heat lamp in your bator, you'll have cooked eggs... use 2 light bulbs (one serves as a back up in case the main blows). Since I can't find incandescent bulbs anymore, I use the GE crystal clear, 100w halogens. 2 of them. Depending on the size of your box, you may use a smaller watt bulb.... my box isn't insulated, it's a clear storage box, so I needed more wattage.
Originally, I did have a raised floor, but then I took it out. I may regret that, I don't know. This is my first incubation, so I'm no expert, I've just read a lot of Sally Sunshine's articles/posts on incubating..... It isn't mandatory to have a raised floor. People use them so they can place a shallow pan of water under it to help raise their humidity, as needed. It's out of sight and doesn't take up your floor space for hatching. I use a small, oblong container that runs along the side, I put a sponge in it and run aquarium tubing down to it. I have a 2" funnel at the top and just add water without taking the top off.
If you put hardware cloth over your raised floor, I would suggest using some rubber drawer matting ($4.50 at
walmart) over it so little feet don't get stuck....
Good Luck!
