Egg incubation Q's - Problems..

Dom · 03-18-03, 10:29 AM

Alright,

After getting millions of advises from different ppl - I can now say I am paranoid..

I have a stable temp of 88.4 wich I am very satisfied with but my humidity is driving me insane.. Its at 92% I CAN"T GET IT DOWN.... any suggestions.. I have punched 6 holes in my stryrofaom box to lower humidity but that did no difference at all ..

The vermiculite is damp but as hard as I squish .. I can get a drop or two out.. the plastic container has about 30 small holes the size of a pencil lead on the sides and now one ont eh top lid on a side away from the eggs.. that one is the size of a nickel..

Here is what is driving me even more crazy .. the top eggs still have creases.. mening that they need more humidity .. GRRRRRR.. I have tried the paper towel Idea once and it made no difference.. I will try it again today..

The bottom eggs look great but the top one have the crease.. I have thrown out the one original egg that was infertile.. and from what I can see.. there seems to be about 2 more that have a chance of going bad also .. they have had the little brown spots from the start but still appaer white..

I am using a 90$ thermometer / hydrometer that is cordless (tx Grant VG) so I garantee u my readings are accurate.. plus an other digi thermometer with probe to make sure lol

Any advise.. lol I need to un-dimple the eggs and at the same time lower humidity lol

the paranoid father

Dom

Dom · 03-18-03, 10:59 AM

Man oh man

Here's what they looked like last Tuesday (March 11)

Heres a recent pic.. (March 18)

Dom · 03-18-03, 11:09 AM

After looking at my bofore and after pic.. I think i am going to loose em all .. I have two suggestion .. covering the eggs with substrate.. and hope for the best or wet paper towels.. .. ideas?

I get the feeling I will loose em all..

jadegrasse · 03-18-03, 11:14 AM

When were the eggs laid? IMHO, I would lower the temp to 86, put a damp paper towel over them and stop worring. You could also cover them completely in vermiculite. I often mist dimpled eggs and they come back ok.

Alain

JKUROSKI · 03-18-03, 12:32 PM

Dom, mine look worse than yours...carpet eggs just do that i think. My humidity is lower than yours...hovering around 90%. I am going to cover mine with new dampend substrate to see what happens. I wouldn't worry too much. There is a definate difference in a bad and good egg. An egg that has a dead embryo will rot very quickly. Relax...

Jeff_Favelle · 03-18-03, 12:46 PM

Don't worry Dom, they look fine. COver them some more with vermiculite, mist them, etc etc. But remember that you are not incubating humidity, so why even measure it? You are incubating eggs, so let them tell you how much water to add/delete. What if your eggs were imploding but the humidity was only 50%?? Would you add more water?

Grant vg · 03-18-03, 12:48 PM

Dom,

Glad to hear u got the digital hygrometer! You wont regret it,
Now im no incubating expert, but seeing that the lower ones seem in great shape, i would think that they are receiving more humidity then the ones above.
i agree with the post above, use a damp paper towel on only the ones on top and keep it there for a few days before u start trying ur next option.
If u are really paranoid , you probably arn't giving the damp paper towel a long enough chance to do its job.
As Kuroski put it....RELAX....!!!
Good things come to good ppl.

And im no carpet expert, but shouldn't eggs be kept around 95% humidity???

Gvg

Zoe · 03-18-03, 03:25 PM

Damp paper towel for a week worked like a charm for my eggs... i remoistened the paper towel about every 3 days.

Zoe

Dom · 03-18-03, 09:12 PM

Alright well ..

Tx for every ones advise.. I have covered the eggs over with a long straing of sphagnum moss.. and now I will not open that stress box for an other week and hopefully by then They will look good! ..

I have been sugested to stay away from paper towel as it is posible for the paper towel to get stuck on the egg and wet paper towel is a great breeding ground for fungus..

Jeff.. Nice to see u here.. I alright apreciate and value your input..

Chris Marshell and Chris (reptiel HQ) .. A million thank you's

breath in - breath out lol

JKUROSKI · 03-19-03, 08:53 AM

Quote:

I have been sugested to stay away from paper towel as it is posible for the paper towel to get stuck on the egg and wet paper towel is a great breeding ground for fungus..

Obviously whoever gave you this advise has never even tried it before. Paper towel will not stick to the eggs. And your entire incubating conatainer is a breeding ground for fungus! There are several options out there...I just stated what has worked for me.

Jamie · 03-19-03, 11:21 PM

I have used moist paper towel to cover my bp eggs and I will always use it now as my hatch rate has gone up to 100%. I just keep it moist and keep the eggs covered, this method also saved my corn snake eggs. Good luck and keep us posted

Jamie

Zoe · 03-19-03, 11:40 PM

Yep, the paper towel thing worked perfect for me. It didn't stick to the eggs - no reason so, the egg shell should be dry. Sure it's a breeding ground for bacteria, but what do you think if growing in the vermiculite? Don't soak the paper towel, and remove it every now and then and you will have nothing to worry about.

Zoe