Options for heating a DIY Bator

[happyhens]

I am wanting to make a bator out of an old 10 gallon fish tank, what are the options that I have to heat it with? Could I use just a plain light bulb, move it up if the bator is too hot, and down if it is too cold?

 

[silkiechicken]

You can do that, however, you will need a way to control the humidity and I don't know if you really want to move that light up and down ever 30 min day round as temp in the bator will fluctuate with temp outside. Might look into getting a thermostat.

 

[conny63malies]

A easy way of controling the heat a light bulb gives off is to , buya cheap extension cord and a dimmer at Walmart , cut the cord in half and hook the dimmer in between.(you might want to buy a box for .97$ too)then plug the cord in the wall and the lamp into the other side. let me fine a link for it real quick

and here it is. now it was taken from a reptile side. But both reptile and chicken fans alike need heat control for our babies.
http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19168&page=1&pp=10
it has pic , lots of them. but he made the whole thing for 6.88$ and once set up it should hold the temp dead on, since it doesnt turn on off , but restricts the electric... ahhh i am bad at explaining.

 

[eggonomist]

i thought about this last year and I'm using a heating element, I had a dimmer switch and a few fans doing circulation duty, however this method while very good, does not compensate for room temperature changes, I now have a thermostat in the circuit as well as the temp went up a month ago an my incubator went from 99.5 dead on for 3 days to 106

I was hoping make the thing for free but the lack of a thermostat means I have to keep an eye on the room temperature. I would rather have someone else moniter the temperature for me.

 

[twigg]

Keep an eye on costs.

It's very easy to buy a few bits and pieces to make your own *free* incubator, while forgetting that a basic Hovabator is pretty cheap

 

[eggonomist]

$11, I think I'm still up after buying a thermostat. I did look at premade but I had so much scrap stuff around i couldn't fail, I just need more humidity and I'm good to go.

 

[twigg]

Quote:
Ya might find ideas you can use here

 

[happyhens]

Thanks all, I am looking forward to trying this!