What does everyone here use as a heat source for their incubators?

I use flexwatt on a Ranco thermostat.

I use flexwatt for mine. I use it for lizards but same concept. With a Helix t-stat.

http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg239/Varanus99/003.jpg


Hey Clay recognize the design? :D

Thank you for the tips they helped me a lot setting up my incubator as well as some of my other projects. Nice site ya got there :yessir:

We use flexwatt also.:yessir:

Hey Clay recognize the design? :D

Thank you for the tips they helped me a lot setting up my incubator as well as some of my other projects. Nice site ya got there :yessir:

Always glad to hear when someone found the information useful. Looks like you did a good job on the incubator too.

Good ol Flexwatt

This is all I use..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v350/jasballs/2005_071705HYPOS0066.jpg

How many of you use Rancos for your thermostats? I am building a incubator and actually have an extra Ranco but I was thinking a proportional thermostat might be better for flexwatt. What are your experiences?

How many of you use Rancos for your thermostats? I am building a incubator and actually have an extra Ranco but I was thinking a proportional thermostat might be better for flexwatt. What are your experiences?

Depends on the insulation properties of the incubator. On a converted freezer, the insulation is excellent, so a Ranco works just fine. I ran mine on a ZooMed 500R for about 4 years, and the temperature stayed perfectly stable. The incubator has been operated year round some seasons and the room it is in is also my cool room so the temperature ranges from the low 70s in the summer to 55 in the winter, and I've never adjusted the thermostat after the initial calibration.
IMO proportional thermostats are over rated for most applications, including incubators unless your incubator is not well insulated or drafty. Nothing, even eggs, requires the +/- 0.5 degree accuracy of a proportional thermostat.

heat cable and a herpstat by spyder robotics

Thanks guys. Do you use a fan inside the incubator?

Heat Cable
Helix
No Fan

Flexwatt and a helix. I actually just ordered a Herpstat to switch it out with for this year, so I will see how well they work out. I am very excited about it, as I've heard great things about them. I use a ranco on a stack of visions I have set up, but I would rather stick with the proportional stat for the incubator.

Well, my concern is, temperature fluctuation causes unnecessary movement of moisture throughout the incubator and it's containers. In natural settings, this is part of the grand scheme and plays well with the infinite mass of the earth, but within the artificial confines of an incubator this is a potentially problematic phenomenon, at least for me. So my interests are in sustaining a heat level that is as stable as possible and moves as slowly as possible, like the mass of the earth would cause. Two things I do to accomplish this. One is to use highly precise proportional controllers such as Spyder Robotic's proportional equipment and thus minimise (as much as possible) the moisture-pumping effects of a controller's temperature differential. Even a one degree f differential setting on a Ranco thermostat will move moisture. The second is placing the super-insulated incubator in a room that mirrors the incubator's temperature as closely as is possible so that the heat inside the incubator cannot "see" cold outside the incubator. This allows for as tiny of a heat source as possible to be used, which also decreases differential volume and thus moisture movement. Doing this allows me to use extremely small heat sources for incubation. If it is not possible to put in a room as I mention, I'd add insulation to slow the heat down.

My First was flex watt and a dimmer switch...But now Flex watt and a herpstat....:wamma:

Kevin Stoltz

www.kmsreptiles.com

here's the shopping list

1) standup freezer (the insulation can't be beat)
2) flexwatt (or any configuration of the myriad of "heat pads" you may have collected over the years)
3) heat sink (increases mass for temperature retention.Water bottles work great)
4) herpstat
5) 2 small computer fans
6) dc converter/s for fans power (read the milliamps...it's usually 150ma for the fans..so make sure the converter is rated for at least twice that...and 12v too.Otherwise a 9v converter will push the 12v fan to slow.)



http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c95/Coldthumb/5-20-06012.jpg
I have one fan on the top of the door (pointed down) and the other one is mounted at the bottom pointing towards the back...and the door is filled with of 2-liter bottles of water.



The power can be out for up to fours hours before i start freaking out :wamma:

I was running a Ranco on one of my Fridge converted incubators and I couldn't get it to hold temp for some reason so I switched it over to the only other thermostat I had at the time which was a 500w ESU analog stat and it holds the temp with in a degree to a degree and a half! It works as well as the incubator we have running a Helix. Don't right off the ESU thermostats, they are in my opinion one of the best values for a good quality thermostat.

I run Johnson Controls on some of my racks but I would NEVER run one ot those styles on my incubator. I run a Helix on all of the ones I have had and do on my walk in now. It holds 89.1 24-7 and I have Flexwatt and a fan in it. Works like a charm and it was cake to do.......

I use a big cooler with flexwatt, a herpstat, and no fan. Temperature never fluctuates more than .1 degrees.

My First was flex watt and a dimmer switch...But now Flex watt and a herpstat....:wamma:

My first incubator (right at 20 years ago) was an uninsulated rubbermaid tub with two heat rocks in it. The temperature was controlled by taking the smaller rock in and out as necessary.
I hatched a load of day geckos in that setup, and a few colubrid species. It was labor intensive, but it worked fine and had excellent hatch rates.
At least I found a use for those damn heat rocks.

Hatching eggs is a far simpler affair than many give it credit for. A friend of mine back in the 60s when no one knew much at all about it, used to put eggs in a freezer bag with some damp soil and thumbtack the bag to the wall in the herp room.

My [U]
A friend of mine back in the 60s when no one knew much at all about it, used to put eggs in a freezer bag with some damp soil and thumbtack the bag to the wall in the herp room.


That sounds insane!

I use an old fridge with about 12feet of 11in Flexwatt controlled by a Helix t-stat. My cooker is in my adult room which ranges from about 70-87 degrees are times. What I did to battle the changes temps was drill huge holes in the fidge walls.. Works perfect.

Flexwatt + Herpstat

http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p137/GA_Ball_Pythons/Incubator/Incubator.jpg

flex watt heat tape

Larry what are the huge holes for in the fridge walls for? :shootout:

Thanks Richard

I use an old fridge with about 12feet of 11in Flexwatt controlled by a Helix t-stat. My cooker is in my adult room which ranges from about 70-87 degrees are times. What I did to battle the changes temps was drill huge holes in the fidge walls.. Works perfect.

I use 4 ft. of 12 inch flexwatt and a Helex proportional thermostat. 2 computer fans from Radio shack.