Home Made Incubators

One of the most rewarding experiences of having pet reptiles is when you find out that your female is gravid (pregnant) and there’s going to be babies!  The fact that your female is gravid means that you have looked after her well and provided the perfect environment within the enclosure for your reptiles to mate.

However, the perfect environment for mating is not necessarily the perfect environment for the eggs to hatch successfully.

If you decide you want to hatch the young yourself and depending on the species of your pet, you may need to set yourself up with an incubator.

There are many professional/commercial incubators available but they are not necessarily accessible to the everyday reptile keeper in terms of availability and cost.

So here is the DIY version that will cost you less than $200.

You will need:

1. A foam esky with a lid.

2. A take-away container with a lid.

3. Vermiculite

4. Thermometer/Hygrometer Gauge.

5. A Probe Thermostat.

6. A Heat Lamp or Heat Cord

Firstly leave the eggs where they are until your incubator is complete.  When you move the eggs from the enclosure you MUST NOT roll them as this will cause the placenta to break away from the inside of the shell killing the embryo. 

Put a couple of cm of Vermiculite in the take-away container (approx 40g) and dampen it with water (approx 40g).  Pour the water into the Vermiculite and mix them together until the water is absorbed.  Flatten the Vermiculite and using your finger poke shallow holes in the Vermiculite.  This is where you will place the eggs so they won’t roll.  Put the lid back on to hold in the moisture/humidity.

Mount the Thermometer/Hygrometer Gauge on the outside of the esky and poke the cords through the esky and rest the probes inside the take-away container. This way you will always be able to read the temperature and the humidity immediately surrounding the eggs.

If you decide to supply heat using a heat lamp, mount the lamp in the lid of the esky and plug it into a Thermostat and then to power.  An ordinary 25W house light can create temperatures of up to 65°C so it is absolutely necessary to use a Thermostat at all times.  Poke the Probe of the Thermostat through the lid of the esky so that it sits within a couple of inches of the heat lamp. 

If you decide to use a heat cord, coil the cord around the take-away container in the bottom of the esky and plug it into a Thermostat and then to power.  Poke the Probe of the Thermostat through the side of the esky about half way to measure the temperature inside the esky. 

Some breeders believe that incubating using a heat lamp is unnatural (most eggs will be laid underground in the wild) and can possibly cause stress to the developing embryo, however we at Reptile Trader have used the heat lamp method (as well as professional setups) and have always had a very good hatching success rate.

There are many variables involved in incubating different species of reptiles.  Temperatures, humidity levels and incubating periods will differ from species to species and there many things to check such as replenishing stale air and what to do about preventing mould. So the next thing you need to do is hit the books!  There are many books available with valuable information on incubating your pet’s eggs.  There is a comprehensive range of books on our Catalog and in-store.