Reptipro 5000 Hatch-A-Long (=

[msheets]

Quote:
Aw DANG! I had left a comment here and it disappeared? This morning I asked about what supplies I would need:
Power strip with surge protector.
Stick on thermometer from the pet store.
One of those do-dads that tells the humidity.

Anything else??

I didn't make it to the store today, so tomorrow as soon as my DH gets home I'll get the stuff.

My eggs are shipping tomorrow!!

I agree the pet stores are a good place for thermometers & hygrometers. I have & I've heard good things about the reptile ones that Velcro onto wherever you stick them, they have them separated or you can buy one that has both the temp & humidity. In the pic I posted earlier you can see the black reptile one I have & it's very accurate. It costs like $7 & the combo one is like $12, you can get them cheaper from Walmart but they're not as accurate. If you're out getting supplies anyway, you might as well get what Melissa uses, I think it's a great idea. She uses the Rubbermaid shelf liners for the shelves since the holes are pretty big for chicks. That seems like the best & cheapest solution, it's soft & allows good air circulation. Next it what to do with the gap in between the shelves & the door like I told you about before, I had a chick fall & drown that way. Melissa used duct tape, that's a good solution too & I'll let you all know if I think of anything else that would work as good & if not that's what I'll be using. Of course the shelf liners & gap isn't something you have to worry about until lockdown...

I'm so excited for you about your eggs, I bet you can't wait! I won an auction for 8+ Runner duck eggs so they'll be shipping out either tomorrow or Tuesday, then I'm bidding on a 250+ quail eggs...also I per-ordered some emu eggs that I'm picking up in Ohio whenever my incubator is clear...what was I thinking lol!

 

[JenBirdRansom]

Quote:
Aw DANG! I had left a comment here and it disappeared? This morning I asked about what supplies I would need:
Power strip with surge protector.
Stick on thermometer from the pet store.
One of those do-dads that tells the humidity.

Anything else??

I didn't make it to the store today, so tomorrow as soon as my DH gets home I'll get the stuff.

My eggs are shipping tomorrow!!

I agree the pet stores are a good place for thermometers & hygrometers. I have & I've heard good things about the reptile ones that Velcro onto wherever you stick them, they have them separated or you can buy one that has both the temp & humidity. In the pic I posted earlier you can see the black reptile one I have & it's very accurate. It costs like $7 & the combo one is like $12, you can get them cheaper from Walmart but they're not as accurate. If you're out getting supplies anyway, you might as well get what Melissa uses, I think it's a great idea. She uses the Rubbermaid shelf liners for the shelves since the holes are pretty big for chicks. That seems like the best & cheapest solution, it's soft & allows good air circulation. Next it what to do with the gap in between the shelves & the door like I told you about before, I had a chick fall & drown that way. Melissa used duct tape, that's a good solution too & I'll let you all know if I think of anything else that would work as good & if not that's what I'll be using. Of course the shelf liners & gap isn't something you have to worry about until lockdown...

I'm so excited for you about your eggs, I bet you can't wait! I won an auction for 8+ Runner duck eggs so they'll be shipping out either tomorrow or Tuesday, then I'm bidding on a 250+ quail eggs...also I per-ordered some emu eggs that I'm picking up in Ohio whenever my incubator is clear...what was I thinking lol!

You have eggs coming out the wazoo! I keep looking at the turners wondering how they actually turn the eggs. Guess I'll put one of my chicken's eggs in there and see what happens.

Seriously, I saw runner ducks at the fair one year when I was little and I was in love!! What cool ducks!!

Tell me what the difference is between a dry hatch and regular. Are both ways equally as productive?

 

[msheets]

A dry hatch is when you don't put any water in your bator the first 18 days then on lockdown you do & get your humidity 65-70%. A regular hatch you add water & try to keep the humidity at like 40-55%, depending on the person's preference the first 18 then on lockdown 65-70%. There's a debate whether which method works the best but I personally use the dry hatch method, then I don't have to stress out like I used to over if my humidity is perfect. I think the dry hatch is better because it's easy to make your humidity to high, which will drown the chicks. As long as the humidity doesn't drop below 25% at any time then I wouldn't worry, during incubation the eggs are trying to lose moisture not the other way around so a lot of people don't think the eggs need the humidity the first 18 days.

 

[Melissa Rose]

Quote:
My problem with the traditional way isn't just with drowning the chicks it's that the chicks can grow to large to pip and zip in the shell if the humidity is to high during incubation

I do a dry incubation then I don't raise the humidity at lockdown I wait till I see the first pip. In the reptipro it literally only takes seconds to get the humidity up!

 

[JenBirdRansom]

So I can set the bator up and see what the humidity comes to without water and if it is over %25 then I don't need to add water until day 17? Am I understanding that right? I can tell my OCD is really gonna get fired up over this. Ha!

 

[msheets]

Yep, I would set it up & not put any water in it at all. It's true the Reptipro's humidity is so easy to control & get up that it's not something to worry about, I know some incubators are really difficult to get it right.

 

[JenBirdRansom]

So it's been up and running for about half a day. The temp difference between the top and bottom is about 5 degrees. The humidity was 15% so I added some water.

Hopefully it will be closer in temp tomorrow. How else can I get the top and bottom the same (or closer at least)? Do I need to rig a fan? That a sure fire way for me to screw everything up. Believe me.

 

[ReptiPro]

Hi Everyone. I see that a lot of people are having great results with our incubator and am sorry to hear that some are not.

The temperature from top to bottom should be fairly consistent as the internal fan runs non stop. If you are getting a temperature difference make sure that your fan is not being blocked or that the airflow is not being impeded in some way.

As for the person who said that their unit only lasted 7 months. Please send us another email and put attn. Chris at the top. I will take care of you. We answer all emails and phone calls and don't know how we would have missed you several times.

Also the pic that you see of the unit in this thread that is black is not our unit. ReptiPro units only come in silver and the black is most likely a copycat competitor.

We strive to make all of our customers happy and if any of you ever have a problem just shoot us an email or give us a call and we will take care of any issues.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[yinepu]

Hi Everyone. I see that a lot of people are having great results with our incubator and am sorry to hear that some are not.

The temperature from top to bottom should be fairly consistent as the internal fan runs non stop. If you are getting a temperature difference make sure that your fan is not being blocked or that the airflow is not being impeded in some way.

As for the person who said that their unit only lasted 7 months. Please send us another email and put attn. Chris at the top. I will take care of you. We answer all emails and phone calls and don't know how we would have missed you several times.

Also the pic that you see of the unit in this thread that is black is not our unit. ReptiPro units only come in silver and the black is most likely a copycat competitor.

We strive to make all of our customers happy and if any of you ever have a problem just shoot us an email or give us a call and we will take care of any issues.

Thanks,
Chris

with mine completely empty I still have a temperature gradient from top to bottom of about 3 degrees

 

[suntex01]

I don't think the fan runs constantly. But anyhow, I notice there's about a 5 degrees different from top to bottom.