Reptile Egg Incubators | Classroom Incubators

Reptile Egg Incubators

Lizards and Amphibians are becoming popular pets these days, and many people like to try to raise their own instead of just buying one from a pet store. It can also be very informative for a classroom learning about reptiles to have a class project to hatch a lizard. If you are trying to hatch a reptile egg in an reptile egg incubator, there are some important procedures you need to know first.

Choose Your Medium

The first thing you need to do is choose a medium to rest the egg on while it incubates. There is a lot of debate over what is the best substance to use for this, but the top two candidates are perlite or vermiculite, which should each work just as well. Both of these materials will expand around the egg to ensure proper airflow and prevent mold (which is the biggest concern when incubating reptile eggs).

Your medium needs to be moist too. The rule of thumb when determining proper medium-water mixture is to allow the medium to get wet to the point where is barely clumps, but so it won't drip water if squeezed. Try to maintain this consistency until the egg hatches.

Egg Container

This next layer will keep the egg and medium enclosed while inside the incubator. You can decide whether or not your container will have a lid or not, although having a lid can affect the humidity. Be sure to check the humidity settings on the incubator and set accordingly by what species you are trying to hatch. A Tupperware works just great. Holes should be punched in the lid if you use it.

Reptile Egg Incubator

Any properly made homemade or commercial incubator will do. For plans on how to build your own egg incubator, see the link below. If you want to buy an egg incubator, I would suggest the Hova Bator Thermal Air Flow IncubatorJust place the egg, in the medium, in the center of the incubator and set the device to the settings required by your specific species of reptile. Monitor your egg(s) closely, watching if they are too hot, too hot, too damp, too dry. If the eggs seem too wet, and are in danger of molding, remove the cover from the container and reduce water moistening of the medium. Eggs that are too wet may begin to grow mold, and eggs that are too dry may begin to collapse (not to be confused with the normal dimpling of the egg that occurs before hatching). Again, be sure to know the specifications for your species.

For more information about making your own egg incubator, see Homemade Incubators. For more information about choosing a commercial incubator, see Classroom Incubators