View Full Version : Incubator themostat died!


JenH
10-03-2010, 01:54 PM
Last Saturday morning I was packing for a work business trip and I wondering into the snake room to make sure everything was ok... Well, it wasn’t. The thermostat on the bator was flashing ER 1 and I went to check and the internal temps were down to 84 degree. Whew - at least it failed properly and shut the heat off AND I caught it before it hit room temp!!!!

I have one clutch left in there and it was from my bee and Jeff's pin - 7 eggs on day 50. I would hate for my eggs to fail, but would feel even crappier since half the babies aren't mine! First off I bypassed the thermostat and plugged the heat in to the wall. I only have 1ft of flexwatt in the cooler so maybe if I turn the fan up high, it would keep it warm. After 30 minutes it was climbing up to 88-89 and not slowing down – another option was needed…..

I have 2 of Jason’s Jungle baby racks – its back heat and uses 6qt tubs 2 tubs across and 14 high. The tub can be turned 90 degrees and slid back closer to the heat. I keep the baby rack a little cooler – it’s usually 83-88 front to back. So, I transferred the eggs to one of my baby rack tubs, put 2 cheap temp gauges in and pushed it closer to the heat.

All this happened in an hour or so and I still have to leave!! My husband told me not to worry and that he would watch the temps. He said “I’ve smoked BBQ before, I can watch the temps.” :lmao: I asked that they try to keep the two temp probes between 84-88. Cooler is always better than too hot!
I left and I know I pestered them for 5 days asking for temp reports. Anyone looking at the texts on my phone would be very curious….

I got back Wednesday night and first thing I did was cut eggs. They all look fine and currently 2 are out and the rest are looking good. I think I lucked out that the eggs were so far along. :rolleyes:

I’ll post pics in the picture section when they are all out….

Buckskin
10-03-2010, 02:08 PM
Nice catch Jen.

JOHNS6068
10-03-2010, 03:20 PM
Nice job....Now what did ya get? :lol:

JenH
10-03-2010, 03:49 PM
Lol... A normal, 2 pastels, a spider, .1 pin, .1 spinner and a spinner blast! Missed hitting the cycle (no bee) but I am happy with the results....

I figured this story would help others down the road - ball python eggs are pretty resilient...

JOHNS6068
10-03-2010, 03:54 PM
Not bad....I'd be happy to getting a spinner and spinner blast....Congrats :cheers:

JenH
10-04-2010, 08:24 AM
Thanks - spinner blast is out and it's a girl too. Was hoping for a boy - I guess I'm just getting picky now....

Art In Scales
10-04-2010, 10:41 AM
Congratulations! :cheers:

Nice job saving the eggs. :yes:

Mrs. Sputnik
10-04-2010, 10:44 AM
Glad you got to it in time

JoshuaAMills
10-05-2010, 07:55 PM
Nice Catch, and congrats on the babies!

BigDog
10-05-2010, 10:12 PM
what was the make of the controller.....

iCandiBallPythons
10-06-2010, 01:17 AM
Nice save, and congrats on the SB! I would def add a back up t-stat to the bator

Anthony Caponetto
10-06-2010, 10:47 AM
Hey Jen, good work! I once had an employee accidentally unplug an incubator for almost a week before I noticed. I had produced over 200 carpet pythons that year on top of all the geckos....I was super busy and it was down to one clutch (my last 2007 sable clutch), so I just hadn't been paying attention to snake eggs like I knew I should have...and those eggs were at day 45, so I was only looking in there periodically to make sure nothing looked wrong. I was really worried because the eggs were at 75 degrees, but I plugged it back in and they all successfully hatched about a week late, but all healthy.

JenH
10-06-2010, 06:33 PM
what was the make of the controller.....

Nice save, and congrats on the SB! I would def add a back up t-stat to the bator

It was a simple herpstat from Spyder Robotics. I will get a new proportional one and a cheaper one and put them in series next time....

JenH
10-06-2010, 06:40 PM
Hey Jen, good work! I once had an employee accidentally unplug an incubator for almost a week before I noticed. I had produced over 200 carpet pythons that year on top of all the geckos....I was super busy and it was down to one clutch (my last 2007 sable clutch), so I just hadn't been paying attention to snake eggs like I knew I should have...and those eggs were at day 45, so I was only looking in there periodically to make sure nothing looked wrong. I was really worried because the eggs were at 75 degrees, but I plugged it back in and they all successfully hatched about a week late, but all healthy.

It makes logical sense that temp spikes affect development much more in the first 30 days. But it is nice to read real accounts - thanks for the information!!!