Beginner DIY incubator and Incubation quesions

[SamanthaLovely]

So I found out my female Leopard Gecko is gravid last week and now I'm going a little crazy trying to get everything ready. I didn't even think about incubating until I happened to read about it. I'm looking at doing a DIY incubator right now.

So my plan is a styrafoam cooler with a heating pad inside on the bottom (On a plastic lid if need be so it doesn't melt the cooler)
The eggs would be in a deli cup sort of thing with pearlite and water and a thermometer. Can anyone suggest a good Perlie:water ratio for me?

Should I put anything between the heater and the cups? I read someone put sand on the heater and I saw that someone else put their heater on the outside of the styrafoam.
Any hints or suggestions would be wonderful.

I don't know if the eggs will be fertile or not because I've only had her for 4 months and I'm not sure if she was in contact with any males before then. (I really hope they are though

I'm going to look around for an incubator that's in my price range aswell.

What should the humidity be for the eggs?
And is 84 degrees ferenheit good for a mix of male and female? Or should I stick with a high or low for the first time?

I'll probably have an endless supply of questions. The vets around here don't like to answer my questions on the phone and they're much too expensive to go to each time I have a question.

 

[thorrshamri]

Samantha, perlite is an excellent choice as an incubation medium. Use 1 part of perlite for 3-4 parts of water (based on weight). 84-86°F will be ok for a balanced ratio but I'm more familiar with the metric system so I'd say to you 29-30°C :lol:
I know many people do fine with homemade incubators but there are several possible issues, such as evaporation forming water drops on the inner "roof" of the incubator and falling on the eggs...I have never had much success with such incubators, probably because I was born with 2 left hands :lol:
I would suggest an ExoTerra or LuckyReptile II incubator. They are not so expensive and the cooling function is really helpful in summer. You have to adjust temps prior to using them though, but once you have measured the gap between the actual temp and the programmed one, it will stay constant no matter what.
If you need further advice, don't hesitate to use our search function

 

[SamanthaLovely]

I've been using the search alot. I just haven't been able to answer my questions exactly. Such as the humidity of the deli cup for the eggs. And if it needs air holes or not. I read to take the lid off to air once a week. And if the heating pad is better on the top or underneath. Lots of ands

 

[thorrshamri]

I've been using the search alot. I just haven't been able to answer my questions exactly. Such as the humidity of the deli cup for the eggs. And if it needs air holes or not. I read to take the lid off to air once a week. And if the heating pad is better on the top or underneath. Lots of ands

The humidity in the deli cups should be much lower than the substrate under them- I use DRY perlite to fill in plastic corks where I place the eggs. Ventilation is a good question: with ready-made incubators from the pet trade, there is usually a ventilation system which solves this issue. In a homemade incubator, small holes should be made at least on 2 opposite sides of the styrofoam box yet it doesn't guarantee the absence of water drops falling on the eggs nor an absolute guarantee against mould or insufficient air flow. The heating pad is certainly better when placed underneath, lots of people also use aquarium heaters inside homemade incubator. Seriously, when you can have a near-professional incubator for $ 150 or even less if you browse classifieds, why bother with a more "random" system? You need to sell 3 to 5 geckos to get your investment back, that's really not much Just my humble opinion though.

Hervé

 

[SamanthaLovely]

The humidity in the deli cups should be much lower than the substrate under them- I use DRY perlite to fill in plastic corks where I place the eggs. Ventilation is a good question: with ready-made incubators from the pet trade, there is usually a ventilation system which solves this issue. In a homemade incubator, small holes should be made at least on 2 opposite sides of the styrofoam box yet it doesn't guarantee the absence of water drops falling on the eggs nor an absolute guarantee against mould or insufficient air flow. The heating pad is certainly better when placed underneath, lots of people also use aquarium heaters inside homemade incubator. Seriously, when you can have a near-professional incubator for $ 150 or even less if you browse classifieds, why bother with a more "random" system? You need to sell 3 to 5 geckos to get your investment back, that's really not much Just my humble opinion though.

Hervé

Just to clarify, you use dry substrate in the cups with the eggs and the cups are set in damp substrate? Or the cups with the eggs have the damp substrate in them but a layer of dry on the top? A good incubator is on my list of things to get. Unfortunatly there are none for sale around here and I need one soon. Also I'm not sure if these eggs will be fertile. But if there's breeding in the future it's on the top of my list

 

[thorrshamri]

Just to clarify, you use dry substrate in the cups with the eggs and the cups are set in damp substrate?

Yes, that's the method I use with many species With cresteds and hemidactylus I simply bury the eggs into the more or less moist substrate with no plastic cup
I don't know if it is done in the US, but here pet shops can order such products and allow you to pay over 2 to 4 months over a certain sum

 

[SamanthaLovely]

Alright. That makes sense. And the heater would go on the bottom on the outside of the styrafoam box? Sorry I have so many questions

 

[thorrshamri]

Alright. That makes sense. And the heater would go on the bottom on the outside of the styrafoam box? Sorry I have so many questions

Don't be sorry, we are here to help
Since styrofoam is a thermic isolant (forgive my English at this time of the night, I hope it's clear for you) it won't be useful to place any heating source outside this box. You will have to check if your heater is waterproof, that's the reason why many people use aquarium heaters for such incubators, or heating cables

 

[SamanthaLovely]

Don't be sorry, we are here to help
Since styrofoam is a thermic isolant (forgive my English at this time of the night, I hope it's clear for you) it won't be useful to place any heating source outside this box. You will have to check if your heater is waterproof, that's the reason why many people use aquarium heaters for such incubators, or heating cables

I'm really glad to have found this website and it's so good that everyone is very helpful even when I ask the silliest questions. I'm definatly going to try that. So if I wanted the eggs at a certain temperature would I heat the water to that temperature or would it be higher or lower to get the right one inside the eggs? And the eggs still need to be moist too yes?

 

[thorrshamri]

I'm really glad to have found this website and it's so good that everyone is very helpful even when I ask the silliest questions. I'm definatly going to try that. So if I wanted the eggs at a certain temperature would I heat the water to that temperature or would it be higher or lower to get the right one inside the eggs? And the eggs still need to be moist too yes?

Avoid moisture on the eggs themselbes as embrryos could die inside them.
You need to heat the water more than the desired air temperature, you will have to make your own tests before introducing any eggs inside your incubator

 

[thorrshamri]

And there is no silly question. You have to make your own searches with our forum search function, but if you don't find answers you need then it's much better to ask any question than to remain in the dark

 

[SamanthaLovely]

Avoid moisture on the eggs themselbes as embrryos could die inside them.
You need to heat the water more than the desired air temperature, you will have to make your own tests before introducing any eggs inside your incubator

I'll definatly be trying it out and hopefully be perfecting it by the time the eggs are here.

 

[thorrshamri]

Please keep us posted about the future eggs and how your incubation works