Fridge to reptile incubator conversion

[@taeviansworldofreptiles3828]

That is a lot easier of a process than I have seen others take! Great video!

[@lisaespinosa3231]

I always enjoying watching your videos. Knowledge is power

[@ericangiolillo3488]

that's a cool idea man...cant wait to see how it works out.

[@beetleguice5907]

Wondering where all the power cords come out of, just the front door? Or did you have to drill a hole?

[@cbreptiledesigns7048]

I used to you a computer fan, 120mm I placed on top with 1" spacers then screwed it into the top blowing down. I put my egg boxes to the sides so the fan could blow air to the bottom. It was quite, cheap, and worked great.

[@cbreptiledesigns7048]

Side note, my old incubator had room for 4, square 1 gallon water jugs at the bottom. This helped keep the heat consistent and I think you might be able to get away with less heating. I used 1 strip of 12" heat tape along the sides and bottom. I then attached the wire to the middle of the heat tape on the bottom. This gave me an even current/ temperature range (if you attach on the top at one of the ends, that side will be hotter than the other side. My thoughts were to plug in the power in the middle at the bottom so my hottest temps would be there and the heat tape would be slightly cooler at the tops, since heat rises. I used a dremel to make a slot to run the wire to the other side (door side) to attach to the heat tape. I installed my 120mm PC fan on top with the 1" spacers, and I also added a line of LED lights (since my cooler didn't have a working light. Then drilled a small hole to feed the heat tape wire, LED lights, the USB PC fan and temperature probe through. Once I had all the wires in place and working as I wanted I took some expanding insulation foam (forgot the name but it comes out of a spray can) to re-fill the hole, once dried I took a razor blade to clean up the foam so it wasn't as noticeable. I had 4 shelves that I could stack 2 egg boxes on top of each other and fit 5 stack per shelf, but I only put 4 so the fan could blow the hot air from the top back down. I kept temperature probes on each level moving them side to side (eventually leaving them in the middle) and with my thermostat set at 90°f I was able to keep everything at 88° but the top shelf would reach 89° at times. That's when I was in Las Vegas and I believe it had more to do with the placement of the incubator and if it was hotter those days. Anyways, consider using some water bottles, they take up space but hold heat very well so its worth the space. Hope this helps.

[@SE-zw1fb]

Good idea with the pc fan I’ve got a couple laying around

[@robertmoore1123]

I like how you did that . .. I used to throw those cookers and wine chillers out by the truck load at my old job my boss would buy them at auctions and the one we raised for parts to fix some of them we would toss out lol . Damm wishes I kept a bunch of those lol. I am going yo have to make one this winter it next spring .

[@ChrisHardwickanimaladventures]

Yea, one mans trash is another mans incubator LOL

[@robertmoore1123]

No doubt . I'll get ahold of him soon and get a couple of those . I think you could use a wine cooler to not as big but might be a good starter and for my leapered gecko's. I have a few .

[@robertmoore1123]

That I'm raising not really high end but an experiment and pets .

[@ptld_train_horn]

That is a ton of heat tape. I have under 4 foot of 11 inch flex watt with a false wall to the floor of the fridge with about 1/2 inch space from the back wall with 2 120mm computer fans at the bottom and the false wall stops about 5 inches from the top of the fridge to blow all that nice warm air gently over the top. Easy build no wires all over the place and keeps a 89 deg inside the tubs at all times. My egg boxes are locking lid tubs and I don’t use any substrate at all just water. I have light defuser then 3 pieces of pvc then these plastic things used in arts and crafts then light defuser again then set the eggs on and good to go. Water didn’t splash around and don’t build up condensation on the lid the sides get a little bit not to much.

[@johnedgar2034]

Hello Chris, I have one similar to yours, I had actually removed the condenser and compressor, and then cut off the front vents and put the frame on hinges, now I need clean and paint the inside then im gonna add led lights and plexi glass on the door front, I think It will make a great spot for the thermostat and misc. storage, also I'm going to use the condenser fan on a dimmer switch to control the speed, nice video keep doing you

[@hhhserpents5495]

I'm still considering what I will do for incubation. I have provbbly a year to figure it out

[@commercialelectrician133]

Great video are you still using the battery backup

[@jeremydurga3527]

Is the thermostat for the heat tape or the heat mats or both? Would a $30 Vivosun thermostat with probe work? I’m on a budget.

[@DasChristoff]

I would use a proportional thermostat. The VE100 is dimming only. I bet you would have a consistent temp throughout with a pulse proportional thermostat. All herpatats (herp 1 and up) are proportional. ;)

[@boneznovacane7630]

Might consider doing with mini fridge

[@ChrisHardwickanimaladventures]

Go for it!

[@2_Pe_3_12]

Hey Chris, I understand you are using a VE-100 digital thermostat to control temperature at 90ºF for your snake eggs. I'm working on a different project (more like a very slow cooking kind of experiment). I need 130--140º F. Can your Vivarium unit work at the temperature range I need?

[@michaelross5674]

You can hook a dimmer switch from home Depot to fan in top

[@ChrisHardwickanimaladventures]

Actually that fan on top has a big transformer and it's 220 volt instead of 110 volt, that's when I gave up LOL.

[@Melissamorgan8181]

We are wanting to make one we are planning to breed our female python ...how much you think it will cost to do that what you did ?

[@jasoncovert9051]

What brand is your battery backup and what's the make and model of it

[@ChrisHardwickanimaladventures]

This is the one I bought, here's an Amazon affiliate link: amzn.to/2MJhTpp

[@dalebrownhill2540]

I like having refrigeration o leave mine hooked up to a cooling thermostat in case my ac goes out won't loose all the eggs

[@enigma1247]

How much money do you really save to make one? Seems like with all the things you need that it would be about the same as a actual incubator...???

[@banginbzproduction6189]

Yo Chris if you run those heat tapes 24/7 how often would you have to replace them a year?

[@ChrisHardwickanimaladventures]

Actually you should never have to replace the heat tapes.

[@paradiddlesixix7530]

is it possible that the built in fan is working extra hard because it thinks that it is supposed to still be keeping the unit at a cool 40 degrees for beverages? i dont think that fan blows that hard when it is being used as a refrigerator unless the unit is too warm. im sure that its not real hard to make that fan work the way you need it to with a dimmer or some extra resistors stuck into it somewhere. c:

[@ChrisHardwickanimaladventures]

That fan was 240 volts, kinda crazy. I'm no electrician so not sure how to adapt it.

[@dougbarnes6101]

For your 6qt tubs did you put a couple holes in the side or no? I wouldn’t think you had to but seen it done a couple times so wasn’t sure.

[@ChrisHardwickanimaladventures]

Nope, no holes at all. It breathes through the press and seal.

[@ccroyals9538]

Hey love this vid, would it be possible for me to use some clips of this vid plz??

[@angelaconley162]

Pretty cool

[@j07216507]

Hey Chris I’m setting up my first incubator box and 200 grams does not seem like enough water. Just wanted to verify this please. Thanks for all the videos!

[@Michaelgthornton]

Hey Chris nice video. Just started doing research on reptile breeding. I did have one thought though. If the added heat from two fan creates a temperature control issue couldn’t you just remove one or both of the heat strips on they back and just use the added heat from the fan motors?

[@ChrisHardwickanimaladventures]

The problem is that the heat strips are off and the fan motors keep increasing the head in the dead of the summer. Almost need an incubator that will heat and cool to maintain temps.

[@BuyestFan]

What if you leave also fan working with lights? Then no need for seperate fan.

[@ChrisHardwickanimaladventures]

I was thinking about that, but I worried that the fan might warm it up too much in there. That fan is a beast, it's like a mini box fan LOL

[@ryanchadwick2020]

Nice 👍

[@rayannflores8279]

What would you say would be the best brand incubator to buy online or at store for ball pythons?

[@rayannflores8279]

Eggs*

[@ChrisHardwickanimaladventures]

Personally I'd use an RCOM Pro incubator. I used a similar unit with my chicken eggs, you get an incredible hatch rate and it's just set and go, all the programs are built in. It controls temperature and humidity. Here's a link: rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?icep_id=114&ipn=icep&toolid=20004&campid=5338474897&mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fitm%2FR-COM-RCOM-JURAGON-PRO-90-PX-R90-REPTILE-EGG-Large-INCUBATOR-Brand-New-WARRANTY%2F253911623528%3Fepid%3D2261398513%26hash%3Ditem3b1e4fe768%3Ag%3Aa6wAAOSwAjpbs75Z%3Ark%3A4%3Apf%3A1%26frcectupt%3Dtrue

[@chasingthefish9042]

Where you using computer fans?

[@ChrisHardwickanimaladventures]

No, it was small desk fans.

[@chasingthefish9042]

@@ChrisHardwickanimaladventures cserpents uses computer fans I think that's a good choice. Get a ten inch and mount one on the bottom and one on the top

[@LittlePaws18120]

🐀🐾🙂