Having started out with a Hovabotor incubator, it seemed ok for the price. The Styrofoam construction held up, but the temperature controller went crazy one to many times.  It was big enough for three clutches of Bearded Dragon eggs, but that damn temperature controller, how I hate that thing.  When it operates correctly it will keep the temps within 4 degrees, but I hate having to monitor room temperature knowing that a few degree change in the room can make this incubator go crazy.

I did some shopping around for a digital incubator that maintains accurate and reliable temperatures and got sticker shock. I couldn't see spending $600-1,000  for something that I know could build myself. 

This incubator holds the humidity in rather well.... maybe even to good.  Do not soak your incubating substrate, or your eggs will mold.

Get a container.  I chose a 150qt Igloo cooler (89 bucks at the Navy Exchange).  Any type  of container will work, it just needs to be water proof.  You can use a plastic storage container from your favorite department store for less the 10 dollars.  Size matters.  If your going to put money into making an incubator, be sure to get a container big enough to work for you now and the future.  If your container is to small in a year or so, you can always rip everything out and build another.

Get a temperature controller.  I bought mine at "Big Apple Herpetological".  It's reliable and accurate.  $110.  It was the priciest thing I bought for this project.  When there is 40 eggs in the incubator you don't want to worry about your controller failing or going nuts. Wafer thermostats change set point when the atmospheric pressure changes. I strongly recommend a proportional digital electronic temperature control.  There are other good controllers out there, that are cheaper and I'm sure just as good.

6 Foot piece of 2 inch PVC- Used to support floor grate

White eggcrate louver- found in the lighting section of hardware stores. 6 dollars

Get a heat source. I used 3 feet of 11-inch wide "Flex Watt". You can use a Under Tank Heater (UTH), Lights even a ceramic emitter.  Your heat source needs to be big enough to heat your container with out over working it self. It should be water proof since it will be exposed to humidity. Flex Watt has some open ends and needs to be sealed off, we will do this.

Get an accurate thermometer. I picked up a Dual Location Digital Thermometer with dual probes, one for humidity and one for temperature cost was 25 dollars. The more accurate it is, the happier you will be.

(Optional) 120V fan.  Radio Shack, 15 dollars.  I'm going to use this when I want the same temp in all parts of the incubator.  I will be putting a speed controller (dimmer switch) with an on and off switch that will energize it.  Warm air rises. It will be warmer towards the top of the incubator without a fan.  A fan can also be used to facilitate increasing the humidity, well at least in this design it will.

Empty water bottles.  Free from the recycling bin at work (lol).  These will act as a heat sink.  They will hold in some heat so your incubator wont be trying to raise the  temperature in the incubator from "room temperature" every time you open it.

(Cool option) DC to AC Converter for a automobile cigarette lighter.  Radio Shack, Cost was 30 something dollars.  Make sure it will handle the wattage of your heating element.  Ever loose power?  Wouldn't it be great to hook your incubator up to a cigarette light in a car?

My cost for this project was about 250 dollars. You can go much cheaper and I'm sure much more expensive.  Compared to the 100 qt cooler (that I really liked) I found being sold by a reputable dealer for $799, I'm on the road to save some serious money and add some features that they don't offer.

Soldered all connections, then covered with electrical taper, then covered that with duct tape.  Tape the Flex watt to the bottom with aluminum tape.  Do not  attach electrical plug to your electrical cord yet. When your done it should look like this.

Drill a hole large enough to slide wires in and out of the cooler.   Don't drill through top for wires.  Pick a spot in front.   Slide heating source wire out through the hole.  Slide the temp controller  temperature plug from the outside into the cooler. If you wanted you can run your thermometer wires into the cooler through the hole also.  If you really wanted to, you could just close the container top on the all the wires.

 I do recommend that you skip this step and continue putting it together before you put a hole in the cooler.  That way, you can make sure it all goes together right and it looks like you want. Just toss all the wires between the cooler and the lid until your ready to put the hole in. 

Place to pieces of 2 inch PVC piping that you have cut to the inside length of the cooler. One piece goes along the front, one along the back.

Just some extra info and pictures here.

We keep the incubator in a walk in closet (wife's side-lol). We plugged it into the closet light after I screwed in an light fixture extension with outlets and a pull string. I ran an extension cord across the ceiling down the wall to the incubator.

So no one turns the incubator off, I taped over the switch that controls the light, so it cant be turned off.  The light can be turned on and off by the "ghetto rope" that I attached to the pull switch.

Here is a picture of the outside the way it sits most of the time.  The dimmer on top controls the fan.  I turn on the fan to circulate the air for an hour each day.

You can see how much room this sucker has in it.  I like using the cooler insert for my AFT gecko eggs. If you place your eggs in containers that have holes in them, you can stack them. 

This page was loaned to me by Mark@familyzoo.com   Family Zoo Home