The cooling is what matters for crested gecko eggs. The 12 V car plug is the feature I did not expect to love.
Video · 12 min watchWritten by Brian
The main selling point of the Exo Terra reptile incubator is that it heats and cools. Crested gecko eggs do best a little cooler: I keep mine between 20 °C and 22 °C (68 °F and 72 °F), usually at 20 °C (68 °F). This unit can hold eggs below your room temperature, and lower incubation temperatures mean longer incubation, bigger hatchlings and better structure.
They sell for about $200. I paid $185. Sometimes you can find one on sale, or repackaged under another brand, for about $160.
Features I like
- Simple controls. Four buttons across the top (on/off, light, up and down) and a temperature display.
- Wide range. From 4 °C to 71 °C (39 °F to 160 °F), more than any reptile egg needs. Set it and it regulates itself. Lights on the back show whether it is heating (red) or cooling (green).
- Top handle. You can unplug it and carry it level without taking every egg container out. It sounds minor, but it keeps your eggs undisturbed.
- Latching door. It clicks shut, so it can't be left slightly open and let the temperature drift.
- Adjustable shelves. Notches let you move the shelves to fit your deli cups or egg containers and use all the space. It also comes with two incubation trays, which I would not use.
- Cord storage. A small compartment on the back holds the spare cord.
The 12 V car plug
It comes with a 100 to 120 V AC cord for the wall and a 12 V DC cord for a car outlet. If you are moving, across town or across the country, you can plug it into your car with eggs inside. Set it on the floor and move the seat forward to hold it steady. You could also pack geckos in deli cups, as you would to ship them, set it to 22 °C (72 °F), and move a collection of 50 to 60 geckos temperature-controlled the whole way. That alone makes it worth it to me.
Downsides
The price. $200 is a lot, especially for the size. I wish it were bigger so it held more.
My verdict
I love this unit and nothing else really rivals it. I recommend it to anyone serious about breeding high-quality geckos in numbers that fit in one or two of these.
A cheaper option
When I was starting out and could not afford a $200 incubator, I used wine coolers from thrift stores. They usually cost $40 to $50 at Goodwill or a similar shop, most have a lowest setting of 19 °C or 20 °C (66 °F or 68 °F), and they are generally bigger than this incubator. The catch is that running them constantly at the lowest setting burns out the cooling, and I got about a year out of each one. For the price of one Exo Terra you can buy four and get four years of use, or four to five times the space.