Modified Reptile Incubator

Our project's goal was to successfully incubate a clutch of bearded dragons eggs. Currently, the top of our incubator is warped so the heat and humidity that reptiles eggs need to grow escapes. We have to figure out how to seal the top to the base of the incubator.

ZooMed Reptibator (warped top)

Foam (3 ft by 2 inch)

Hot Glue gun

Cling Wrap

We discovered that the top of our incubator, which is made of plastic and has heating coils attached to it, is warped. Therefore, it does not sit on the base properly so a seal can be created, which will keep in humidity and heat. A good seal will help the incubator’s temperature remain between 88-92 degrees and its humidity between 80%-84%.

Our original design was to hot glue the foam, at least 2 inches in width, around the perimeter of the underside of the plastic top so when it sat on the base the foam would act as a insulator and closing any gaps between the top and the base.

Our design did not work they way we thought it would because our female bearded dragon laid her eggs before we could modify the incubator, according to our design, so we modified our design by placing the top on the base and wrapping both together with cling wrap to seal any gaps between the top and the base.

We design and made a tool that would introduce more water to the water well, the part of the inside of the incubator on which the bearded egg containers sit.

1. We randomly punched holes with a pair of sharp, needle-nosed manicuring scissors throughout two feet of plastic tubing which was about three millimeters in diameter.

2. We hot glued one end of the tube and let it dry to create a seal.

3. We poked a hole through the cling wrap where there was a gap between the top and the base. The hole was only large enough for the tube so the cling wrap clung to the tube, keeping the seal.

4. We fed the tube through the hole and laid the tube along the floor of the incubator.

5. We filled a plastic syringe with water and attached the other end of the tube to the syringe and pumped water through the tube so the floor of the base was saturated and created more humidity in the incubator.

We noticed water beading on the edges of top meaning the humidity was not escaping rather it was trapped in the incubator!

After week 1, we noted that the temperature (heat) remained consistent between 88-92 degrees but the humidity was low, in the upper 60% to the lower 70%.

After our tube adaption, during week 2, we noted that the temperature (heat) still remained consistent between 88-92 degrees but the humidity increased to about 80% which was ideal for reptile eggs.

Week Temperature (degrees Fahrenheit) Humidity(%)

1 89-90 68-72

2 89-91 72-80 (over five days)

3 89-91 80

4 89-91 80

5 89-91 80

We are successfully incubating eggs. According to our research, the eggs are supposed to remain undisturbed for four to five weeks.

We just hit week five so we will video tape unwrapping the incubator checking for any eggs that have become infertile (yellowed, leaking or molded) eggs.

We will remove any infertile eggs and rewrap the incubator until we see the eggs double in size and the shells have been pierced by the baby bearded dragons.