help with incubator problem asap

[hugo1]

Hello, I need some advice re my incubator. My bearded dragon laid 6 eggs the other day and the original incubator I was going to use had a serious malfunction at the last minute. Therefore I have made one from a styrofoam broccoli box, household globe, thermostat, thermometer in the vermiculite. I am getting a temperature varient of 3C. While not ideal, I thought if I could keep it between 28 and 31 I'd be okay. However, this morning it was running one degree hotter, meaning it was nearly 32 for a short period of time. I played around with it and got it back down. I've been using a 40W bulb and now and trying a 60W bulb. Looks like that is not working either so will try a 25W. Guy at our local reptile shop says he uses the exact set up and only gets a varient of half a degree??

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers,

 

[CodeRed]

I'd be using a heat cord instead of a globe for starters.

If you cant get the temp stable then just try and keep it on the low side instead of the high side. Beardies eggs will hatch at 25 deg C (if you wait 4 months) but will die at 33-34 deg C (not sure of the exact kill temp required)

 

[hugo1]

thanks for the reply. Is it okay to have a continuous 3C fluctuation? Also, while the humidity looks to be good, some of the eggs are a bit dented. I think I read to put a drop of water on them. Sound reasonable? I'm really freaking out as they are my first batch and I really want them to do well. Cheers,

 

[hugo1]

I'm thinking something could be wrong with the thermostat. The light stays on while it raises a couple degrees. By the time it shuts off it still raises another degree.

 

[CodeRed]

Have you plugged it in correctly?

 

[slacker]

I'm thinking something could be wrong with the thermostat. The light stays on while it raises a couple degrees. By the time it shuts off it still raises another degree.

Likely cause would be no fan/limited air circulation, I would think.

What sort of thermostat are you using, also? You'll get much more accurate control with a dimming thermostat (if on globes) or a pulse-proportional thermostat (if using non-light-emitting heat sources), as opposed to a standard switching thermostat.

 

[nuthn2do]

If you're getting a total of 3 degrees from high to low you are doing well

 

[hugo1]

I'm using a thermostat with a round dial to point to desired temp (not the kind you mentioned, just went to local reptile shop today to see if I could get better but it's all they had,), lamp wire plugs into thermostat, thermostat plugs into wall.

Local shop gave me another to try to see if mine had a prob. Just setting it up now. If I can get it back to 3C I'll be happy. I played around with diff globes today and now I can't get within 7C. I've put eggs in bottom of dragon cage for moment which is maintaining 29C in vermiculite, while I get the incubator sorted.

I know this should have been sorted out when I first got the dragons, hindsite is great. It was only a week ago I was sure she was pregnant and my first incubator, which was running well, **** itself (long story). Appreciate all your imput. Cheers.

 

[nuthn2do]

If its a cheap probe type stat no matter how much you mess around it won't help, these types of thermos are either on or off and they need a temperature gap between switching (hysteresis), 3.5 degrees either side of set temp is normal.
You need a dimmer type to get more control.

 

[hugo1]

It is a Reptaprobe thermostat, $65 new on ebay. I'll look into getting a dimmer type tomorrow. The one similar to my thermostat that I got at the shop today is really confusing me. I set it at 30 and my temp is reading 25 and it isn't coming on. I dial it to 30 and it comes on for a few seconds, then stops, and cools to 25 (just above room temp) and doesn't come on again. I'm going crazy and wondering what on earth I'm doing wrong. I just want to get back to my 3C varient now. Although my prob with that was that it jumped a degree overnight, putting it above 31C. If I get it working again I'll just set it lower. Keep the advice coming!! Cheers