How to Make an Incubator for Leopard Geckos

Although there are commercially available incubators that you may use for leopard geckos and their eggs, it is generally more cost effective to create your own incubator at home. With materials that you may purchase at any basic pet store, you may create a custom leopard gecko egg incubator that will allow you to breed and raise leopard geckos at home.

Things You'll Need

  • Plastic aquarium, 8.75 inches by 14.5 inches by 9.75 inches
  • Vermiculite
  • Heat pad
  • Thermometer
  • Small plastic tub
  • Sand
Show More

Instructions

    • 1

      Place sand in the bottom of a plastic aquarium so that it is less than an inch in depth on all sides of the container.

    • 2

      Place a heating pad beneath the plastic container.

    • 3

      Fill the plastic tub halfway with vermiculite. The tub should be small enough to fit inside the aquarium.

    • 4

      Create an imprint in the vermiculite for each egg using your thumb. Each egg should have its own imprint, which is going to be what holds the egg in place and keeps it warm while incubating.

    • 5

      Carefully place each egg in the appropriate imprint in the vermiculite. Take extreme care not to flip or turn the eggs during this process. If you disrupt the growing embryos in any way, they will die. Place them in the vermiculite in the exact same way as they were in the leopard gecko habitat.

    • 6

      Lightly dampen the vermiculite while taking care not to get the eggs too wet. Keeping the vermiculite moist will help it to retain warmth.

    • 7

      Place a thermometer inside the egg container to keep track of the temperature in the incubator. You can move the heating pad around as necessary in order to get the right temperature. Meanwhile, you should make sure that the vermiculite is staying warm. Wipe off any condensation that forms in the container so that it does not get the eggs wet.