Incubator confusion

[acpart]

I am planning to upgrade next season from a hobovator. The hobovator has been great for the last 5 years for my purposes but I want one of those incubators that heat and cool because in the summer I have to put the hobovator in my basement so I can maintain the temps I want. Also, even with the bags of water in the bottom and the proportional thermostat, I still find the hobovator affected more by the ambient temps than I'd like.

By reading threads on this forum, I've found 3 heat/cool incubators that look nearly identical, are sold 3 different places at 3 different prices. Two of the three are sold as incubators; the other as a mini heat/cool fridge.

Here they are:

a. http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/car/6ad2/
b. http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog...-incubators/-/lllreptile-pro-mr148-incubator/
c.http://www.reptipro.com/supplies/incubators/reptipro-5000-reptile-incubator.html

WARNING: I request that people be very careful when responding to this thread so we don't violate TOS. I would guess that personal accounts of successes or failures with any of these incubators would be OK, but anything relating to business practices/ethics is not OK (quote from TOS: Posts and threads commenting on any business or individual with regards to their business and/or reptile husbandry ethics are not allowed on GeckoForums.net. This includes complaints about retail pet stores. )


THere have been several threads about this issue (including one where the reptipro owner has provided useful information) and I have already read those. I am still confused.

What I want to know specifically is:
--what people's personal experience has been with any of these incubators
--how well they hold the temperatures steady
--whether anyone from personal experience has a sense of how these 3 may differ from each other.
--if anyone has information that explains the price differential

THanks in advance.

ALiza

 

[jakemyster44]

It seems to me that the one from thinkgeek.com is not exactly the same as the others. It appears that the veiwing window is smaller, and it does not have a handle. It is also hard to tell if it has a drip tray. The shelves inside seem to be clear, rather than white like the other two sold as incubators. I am not sure if there is any real difference between them, but there does seem to be slight differences. Personally, I think I will buy mine from LLLreptile, not beacuse the other dealers are bad, but beacuse it is the cheapest one sold as an incubator. For $30 more, I feel like its worth it to order from a company that I have already done buisness with. I am pretty much on the same page as you are. From what I have heard, since these are all fairly new products not many people have written reveiws on them. From the few people that have used them, I have only heard good things.

 

[LLLReptile]

Ok. HOPEFULLY we can help clear some of this up. If this doesn't, absolutely call or email us for any further information. We are happy to help.

First - up until last month, we carried the Repti Pro 5000. We don't now.

We now carry the MR-148 model. It has the identical, exact features (taken directly off of the manufacturer's website, NOT repti-pro...). We have both the repti pro and the MR 148 on hand, side by side, and didn't want to offer the MR148 until we went over it head to toe, inside and out. Personally, we see no differences, at all. That being said, maybe there is? According to Repti Pro there is, and we are not here to dispute that. That is up to him to talk about his own product. However, we have used the MR-148 for a full month before we offered it. It was very steady, held the temp perfectly, and is a great digital incubator with awesome features. For $129, we absolutely had to offer this model.

Now, from the manufacturer of the MR-148, and the ThinkGeek fridge, this is what we found out. The ThinkGeek is NO longer manufactured. The MR-148 is REPLACING this for several reasons. ThinkGeek must still have some in stock, but according to the manufacturer, when they run out, that is it. The MR-148 is the upgraded, revised model that fixes a couple of minor issues. Also - the MR-148 is BIGGER. Not by much, but it does add some internal space, allowing for more eggs than the previous model. The ThinkGeek model is 12.5 x 13.5 x 17.5. The MR-148 is 13” x 15” x 19”, and again, comes with a couple of cool features that the prior one did not. We guarantee the LOWEST price on the MR-148 at LLLReptile.com, and have them currently in stock. It is a fantastic option for breeders. On top of this, 3 to 4 MR-148's are WAY cheaper than the super high end medium sized digital incubators, and with 3 or 4, you have a ton more space than larger ones. Plus, you can do one at 82 degrees, another at 88 degrees, etc.

None the less, I really hope this helps clear up some differences. If you have ANY questions at all, don't hesitate to call or email us anytime. We are open 7 days a week. We do our research before we offer products, and hopefully this helps everyone out! PM me with any specific questions as well.

Scott
LLLReptile & Supply
www.LLLReptile.com

 

[robin]

Scott
LLLReptile & Supply
www.LLLReptile.com

that's what i am talking about! thank you for your response! :main_thumbsup:

 

[ReptileCraze]

This is the fourth thread that I have found talking about these incubators and I also found this unit but at a different source http://www.bigappleherp.com/Accu-Temp-6000-Reptile-Incubator-Digital-Reptile-Incubator

I paid $159 minus the 5% discount for joining the mailing list and got the bonus Free $30 worth of products (digital thermometer & humidity gauge and a bag of vermiculite). I ordered it on Thursday at 3:30 PM and got it the next morning. That's amazing but anyway after thoroughly testing the incubator it has so far proven to be highly accurate and I'm satisfied with the purchase.