Note: I plan to upgrade to the VE-200 since it has proportional heating vs the on/off functionality of the VE-100 thermostat. Should be fairly easy to swap out since they all use the same probe cords as far as I’m aware.
It was actually rather simple to do, just needed to disconnect the cooling part from the power. Our fridge model has basically a plug that goes into the cooling motor, so once disconnected the cooling part doesn’t run anymore. This allowed me to still use the built-in fan as well as the light bar.
For the heating, we removed the water tray from the bottom, and used the drain hole in the bottom of the back of the fridge to wire the thermostat probe and heat tape connectors through. Once they were all wired through, we attached the connectors to the heat tape per the included instructions.
After a few hours, the temperature is sitting nicely at 88°F. Ready for some ball python eggs!
The ve-100 is . I have a few and they’re missing proportional and also night drop (not that you need that with an incubator). All the cords and probes are interchangeable on the VEs minus the Night Drop Module that is unsupported, afaik.
You could also check out the Herpstat thermostats. I used one for my incubator this year and liked it. I also use them in my racks. I got a VE-200 and didn’t like it as much as the comparable Herpstat model personally.
@asura
Yeah, I had the 100 hooked up to a rack. Swapped it out with a different one so I could use it for the incubator for now, at least until I can get extra funds to buy an upgrade.
@crypticoils-pythons
I’m afraid switching to a Herpstat would cause me to have to do more work since they don’t use the same type of connection for the probe. Thanks to my stepdad not fully listening to my instructions or input (not sure why he offered to help if he was just gonna do things his own way… man don’t even know squat about reptiles or breeding and I was having the worst time trying to explain the reasonings of why things needed to be done a certain way) the drain hole is covered by the heat tape. I’d have to pull up the heat tape to get access to it again. Not to mention the struggle with getting the probe back in/out of the hole. It’s a pretty small hole.
With a VE thermostat I would just need to swap out the units, which would be much easier.
Perhaps later on if I do another incubator build I’ll try a herpstat instead!
Overall looks like a great incubator setup. You gonna do the water bottles in the bottom for thermal mass thing?
Last season I made my incubator from a styrofoam cooler that my f/t rats shipped in, but I can only incubate 2 or 3 clutches at a time. And it was kind of a hassle to have to load the bins in from the top. I’ll have to upgrade to something like this soon.
I actually just put two gallon water jugs in there today
I think having the light bar is pretty neat, though it’d be nicer if it were a white light instead lol
It worked well! I plan to use the cooling part for brumating hognoses, might use it to incubate hognose eggs too since I got a CSerpents hotbox incubator for my ball pythons
I have one of these wine coolers that I am going to fix up to be a incubator as well.
So, a Herpstat brand would be the better choice for the thermostat?
I haven’t bought one yet. Thought I would ask some opinions since this
thread was already started. Any one have any other suggestions?
. I have a few and they’re missing proportional and also night drop (not that you need that with an incubator). All the cords and probes are interchangeable on the VEs minus the Night Drop Module that is unsupported, afaik.
