homemade incubator

[esoteric-lizard]

i will be converting an old freezer into an incubator. i was wondering if anybody had any additional ideas.

i am going to get an upright freezer soon - i called around town and found one that is stripped of all its junk parts.

all i need is some heat tape, a thermostat, and a cooling fan.

i found a link on how to make an incubator out of a freezer.

http://www.arbreptiles.com/cages/incubator.shtml

any input would be appreciated, especially if you have built one of these yourself.

thanks!

Brian W.

[liljerzeedevil]

We have in the past, and a freezer is def. what you want, it opens completely up, unlike a fridgerator does.....other than that, I always give people that link for a incubator, so you should be golden then!!
Have fun, its easy as hell!

[esoteric-lizard]

thanks... i will post a thread on my project - including pics.

[Hennek]

I don't think it would be too difficult to do, but if you added another lid, made out of acrylic, INSIDE the freezer, it would be very advantageous. This way you could open up the freezer top and look at the eggs without such a huge temperature and humidity drop within the freezer.

Matt

[liljerzeedevil]

yeah, bubafat has a point. It depends on how many eggs you are going to incubate. if it isnt much, try revamping one of those mini-fridges instead of a full size freezer, we've done those also...and are just as easy.

[Herpquest]

One question, why buy a cooling fan? If the thermostat is a Pulse Proportional one, there shouldn't be too much of a difference between temps at the top and bottom of the freezer/incubator. Get a couple of digital thermometers, drill two holes through the side of the freezer - one near the top and one level to where your lowest egg box will be, pass the probes through the holes, and monitor the temps of both for a week or so prior to placing eggs in.
Don't forget to plug around the probe wires with something like 'Blue tack'.

[Hennek]

Simple answer...heat rises.

[Carlos Boillat]

also you need the fan if want to keep the temp the same all around. I think computer fans work great.

[liljerzeedevil]

yeah, the computer fans work perfect, i think so anyway......thats what we had used in our freezer incu...and a digital thermometer, and thermosat.
whether it is a pulse proportional or another thermostat, you still need a fan to circulate the air, right?????
thats what I thought anyway, always worked for us., and we had one hole drilled in the middle for the probe.....its def. easier than it all sounds thoguh!!

[esoteric-lizard]

over the next couple of days i am going to put it together... i will post pics as the process develops.

thanks.

[esoteric-lizard]

http://constrictors.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5786

HERE IS A LINK TO ANOTHER FORUM... IVE POSTED LOTS OF PICTURES. YOU MIGHT HAVE TO REGISTER THOUGH TO SEE THE THREAD.

[Carlos Boillat]

how do you plan to keep the humidity?

[esoteric-lizard]

the sweater boxes will be filled with vermiculite... and small holes will be drilled in them too. if humidity is a problem, then i can put a water bucket inside or something... maybe water bottles with holes in the tops. i dont think humidity will be a problem... but we will see.