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How Can I Make A Reptile Incubator For My Leopard Gecko Who Is Due To Drop Her Eggs Soon ?

Can Anyone GIve Me A Detailed Easy Way Of Making An Incubator For My Leopard Gecko Who Will Be Laying Eggs With In The Next Two Weeks Or So. Thanks do i have to use heat tape, is there an alternitive ? and what is a heat stat ? what should the temp be and the humidity level ? the container the eggs are in, should it be covered with a lid?

Public Comments

1. Make sure to have your incubator up and running for a week or so before she lays, so that you can be sure the humidity and temperatures are stable :) I used this plan to make my own incubator and it works fine. I hatched out many babies last season, and have leo eggs cooking in it right now: http://www.thereptilian.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?tid=723 Edit: Heat tape or heat mat; some form of heating that isnt going to dry the eggs out (like a lamp would). Mats are the easiest and cheapest things to use really. You should have stats on any heat mat you use for reptiles; basically they keep the mat at the temperature that you need. The egg container should have a lid, yes. I take the lid off mine for a few seconds once a week or so for air exchange. Humidity for leo eggs should be 60 - 70% and temperature depends on what sex you want the babies to hatch out as. 79 - 82F should give you females, 87 - 90F for males, and anything inbetween will give you a mix :)
2. you can also go to lllreptile.com they have an incubator you can buy :)
3. For what they cost to you should go ahead and buy an incubator. To make one could end up costing you more than to just buy one. Not to mention many homemade incubators are very inaccurate. Here is a link for one that lists for $55.00. http://beanfarm.com/product_info.php?cPath=1212&products_id=5622 You need a thermostat to control temperature. You can use a wafer thermostat, generic probe type thermostat (turns heat on and off on both models) or a Helix thermostat (dims the heat source to keep a steady temperature). Humidity level for eggs should be 80-99%. Temperature depends on whether you want males females or a mix and if you are trying to influence color. If this is your first breeding and you have not researched the effects of incubation temperature very carefully I recommend 87 degrees F. Statistically this will give you a 50/50 mix of males and females. There are advantages and disadvantages to manipulating temperature during incubation. Not only does temperature influence sex but it also influences temperament and color. Animals incubated at higher temperatures will be more aggressive and females will take longer to mature. As far as the egg box cover this will depend on the type of incubator you use. As I said in my original answer you can buy an incubator that is more accurate than most people can make for less than you can make one.