As for an incubator I will be getting one later this week I wanted to buy once since im too paranoid to make one. So if you have any suggestions I'd be glad to hear it
For 1 clutch? I would fill a STERILE 20gallon fish tank 50%with water, put a 100watt fish tank heater in it set to 88F. It will shut off at 89F and click back on at 86F.
Get yourself a RUB that will fit in the tank, and is big enough for 6 eggs, maybe more,....put about 2-3" of vermiculite/water. Should be 2 parts vermiculite to 1 part water. Use the kitchen scale again - place the empty box on it and press "tare"; place enough vermiculite in the box and get the weight
next, place another container on the scale and tare, then fill it with water - the weight in water should be half of the weight of the vermiculite. Mix them together with your fingers.....go on, get dirty
Finally, a thermometer placed in the box with the moistened vermiculite, partially submerged in the substrate; make sure at least the bottom part of the actual gauge itself is under the substrate or it will only read air temperature.
If the reading on the thermometer isn't what you set the thermostat on the fish heater to, give it a few days and adjust if needed. I advise doing this at least 2-3 weeks before you expect her to lay.
If humidity is not kept at a minimum of 75%, preferably 90-100% most of the time, a piece of saran wrap can be fitted around the top of the RUB and then the lid put on afterwards. Making holes in either is a personal choice. I have always put holes in the lid of the RUB, but I have friends who don't. To me it seems better to have holes and allow gas exchange, but you have to keep up with humidity more constantly as the holes affect that as well.
If you don't like that idea, I think incubators can be purchased for around $300-$500 which I hear from peoples' reports that several name-brands do not hold the temperature or humidity they are set to. Used 20gallon and a fish tank heater = $50 + $10 for a plastic RUB and a bag of vermiculite. There are other ways of making incubators with light diffusers, Styrofoam coolers, etc. LOTS of videos on Youtube.
It's surprisingly very easy
pops
about how it's hard to convey emotions on the internet. Very easy to misread things.
