ethan508
Member
I added a 'slightly used' pair of Russian tortoises via classifieds a few days back. When I picked them there were eggs in the vivarium. I doubted the eggs viability, but figured it wasteful to not try incubation. If nothing else getting an incubator built and running would be good practice for future breeding opportunities.
First I started with a Styrofoam shipping box (10"x12"x12" with 1" thick walls). I filled this with water and found out that it leaked/wept. So lined it with a small garbage bag. To manage the cords I cut a small notch in the box.
I filled it full of water and placed a 75W aquarium heater in the water (smaller wattage would probably work as well, but I had the 75W kicking around). Then I found a small glad-ware container and filled it with moistened vermiculite. I placed the container on top of the water, added a thermometer, place the Styrofoam lid. I then let it run a couple of days without eggs so that I could do some minor heater adjustments and let the temperature stabilize to the exact temperature I wanted. But it is now up and running with tortoise eggs for a few day.
Let me know if you have any thoughts for improvement.
First I started with a Styrofoam shipping box (10"x12"x12" with 1" thick walls). I filled this with water and found out that it leaked/wept. So lined it with a small garbage bag. To manage the cords I cut a small notch in the box.
I filled it full of water and placed a 75W aquarium heater in the water (smaller wattage would probably work as well, but I had the 75W kicking around). Then I found a small glad-ware container and filled it with moistened vermiculite. I placed the container on top of the water, added a thermometer, place the Styrofoam lid. I then let it run a couple of days without eggs so that I could do some minor heater adjustments and let the temperature stabilize to the exact temperature I wanted. But it is now up and running with tortoise eggs for a few day.
Let me know if you have any thoughts for improvement.
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