# Ball Pythons > BP Breeding >  Incubation Temps

## mooingtricycle

What are your preferred incubation temps? If yours isnt listed Please choose other, and post it in the thread below.

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## llovelace

No poll set up...never mind

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## mooingtricycle

> No poll set up...never mind


lol.... takes a minute....

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## RichsBallPythons

i keep thermostat at 90 and i get a 88.1-89.6. with a 80mm fan wired to a old phone charger to circulate the air and humidity

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_Miss Tuniwha_ (03-15-2011),_mooingtricycle_ (02-25-2009)

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## AjBalls

I set the Herpstat at 89.6˚

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_mooingtricycle_ (02-25-2009)

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## Mike Cavanaugh

my herpstat set at 90 keeps egg box at 88 - 88.3 

mike

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_mooingtricycle_ (02-25-2009)

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## mooingtricycle

Im doing the poll to see what the general consensus says about what most people incubate their eggs at. 

I want to see if people have experimented with lower temperatures too, and what their results were. As ive heard that a slightly lower temp than 88 proves to give you more robust babies. But ive yet to have it proven to me. ( Ill find out one of these days) 

I heard a rumor, and ive yet to ask the person..."Personally", what their results were from incubating at those lower temperatures, so i tossed a poll up here, just to see what sort of responses i'd get.

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## Wh00h0069

I set my herpstat to 89F. I do not measure my egg tubs. I also do not use a fan in my incubator.

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_mooingtricycle_ (02-25-2009)

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## West Coast Jungle

I go 88.5 to leave some room for warm up. Incubators heat up but dont cool down. I goofed and put 85.5 in the poll instead of 88.5, Duh :Embarassed:

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BallPythonGeek13 (08-27-2009)

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## mooingtricycle

> I go 88.5 to leave some room for warm up. Incubators heat up but dont cool down. I goofed and put 85.5 in the poll instead of 88.5, Duh


oops! LOL

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ericswan_1 (08-18-2009)

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## SPJ

Herpstat set to 88.5

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_mooingtricycle_ (02-25-2009)

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## Dave763

Helix set at 89. Probe in the tub.

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_mooingtricycle_ (02-25-2009)

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## frankykeno

Like Raul, Mike and I went for the 88 degree range so that if there was an slight spike upwards it wouldn't put the eggs at over 90 degrees.  Seemed to work, we had a 100% hatch rate last year (granted it was only 3 clutches but for a first year with eggs, we were pleased).  :Smile:

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## mooingtricycle

Thanks everyone for the votes and the info on what you all choose to do! 

Im leaving my bator at 88.5 this year.

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## dmaricle

i have my incubater set to 90, and one of the egg boxes is reading 88.5 and one reads 86.5 any one have any idea wats up there.

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## mooingtricycle

> i have my incubater set to 90, and one of the egg boxes is reading 88.5 and one reads 86.5 any one have any idea wats up there.



Where have you placed the probe? 

I placed my probe IN the eggbox, buried in the perlite ( ill be using perlite again this year) During my testing for this years setup.

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## dmaricle

my prob hangs in the middle between the two egg boxes. the box that is perfect 88.5 is like 17 qt and the 86.6 tub is 7 qt both set up the same way and sitting next to each other.

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## mooingtricycle

> my prob hangs in the middle between the two egg boxes. the box that is perfect 88.5 is like 17 qt and the 86.6 tub is 7 qt both set up the same way and sitting next to each other.


is one more over the heat than the other? Also, is one more shallow than the other? ( and therefore less substrate is inside?)

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## Emilio

One year under my belt and I had my bator set at 89

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## stevenkeogh

91F with probe outside the egg box. Perfect.
-Steven

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## nevohraalnavnoj

Can someone temp gun some of the items in their incubator?  And let me know how surface temps match up with air temps?

I have my air temp at 89 (Helix says 89, backup Johnson actually says 90), but surface temps are 87-88.....any thoughts?

JonV

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## mooingtricycle

> Can someone temp gun some of the items in their incubator?  And let me know how surface temps match up with air temps?
> 
> I have my air temp at 89 (Helix says 89, backup Johnson actually says 90), but surface temps are 87-88.....any thoughts?
> 
> JonV


102 flexwatt temps
91 waterbottle temps
89 air
85.5 inside the egg tub.

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_nevohraalnavnoj_ (03-01-2009)

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## dmaricle

> is one more over the heat than the other? Also, is one more shallow than the other? ( and therefore less substrate is inside?)


i put the colder one closer to the heat tape, and yes the colder one is much smaller and way less substrate. i think im just gonna use the large ones no matter how big the clutch is.

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## mooingtricycle

> i put the colder one closer to the heat tape, and yes the colder one is much smaller and way less substrate. i think im just gonna use the large ones no matter how big the clutch is.


thats why. Smaller container, less substrate, means its going to be warmer overall.

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## Wh00h0069

> 91F with probe outside the egg box. Perfect.
> -Steven


I bet they cook pretty quick at this temp. How many days on average does it take for your clutches to hatch? 

I set my incubator to 89F with the probe outside of the box, and they normally hatch between 55 and 57 days.

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## dmaricle

> thats why. Smaller container, less substrate, means its going to be warmer overall.


the smaller one is the cold one.

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## Dave763

> I bet they cook pretty quick at this temp. How many days on average does it take for your clutches to hatch? 
> 
> I set my incubator to 89F with the probe outside of the box, and they normally hatch between 55 and 57 days.


Yeah I set mine at 89F with the probe in the tub. They are all out by day 57.

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## dmaricle

> Yeah I set mine at 89F with the probe in the tub. They are all out by day 57.


dave i know this is way off topic but what kind of dog is in your avatar. lol

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## nevohraalnavnoj

> 102 flexwatt temps
> 91 waterbottle temps
> 89 air
> 85.5 inside the egg tub.


Thanks! 

JonV

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## kjay

is the air being circulated, do you have anything for heat sink



> Can someone temp gun some of the items in their incubator?  And let me know how surface temps match up with air temps?
> 
> I have my air temp at 89 (Helix says 89, backup Johnson actually says 90), but surface temps are 87-88.....any thoughts?
> 
> JonV

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## nevohraalnavnoj

I have pretty good air circulation....heat sink?  As in something sucking all the heat?  

JonV

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## mooingtricycle

> the smaller one is the cold one.


Thanks.... i dont know why i was thinking opposite. I even went back and looked at the post again/numbers.....

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## ama1997

I use a Helix set at 89. I use sealed egg boxes with press and seal. Two fans. Only using one fan right now seams to be working just fine. Probe hangs down into the middle of the incubator. I converted an old upright freezer. Ive had 100% hatch rate. But also haven't produced a high number of babies either. Only about 50 or so.

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## ARpythons

i set mine to 89 and place the probe inside the egg box.  so far ive only lost 1 egg and all seem to hatch around day 55.

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## firehop

I know I have seen people try with other animals on the higher or lower temps for getting more boys or girls but has this been proven with balls??? I thought I read something by Dave Barker but I cant find it.  Just curious I think a good mix is better and I havnt had enough clutches to start any wacky experiments yet.....

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## T&C Exotics

I incubate at 86-87 and hatched this year at day 53 on the first clutch... Other clutches have the same temps and are about 2 weeks from hatch.

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## BChambers

> I know I have seen people try with other animals on the higher or lower temps for getting more boys or girls but has this been proven with balls??? I thought I read something by Dave Barker but I cant find it.  Just curious I think a good mix is better and I havnt had enough clutches to start any wacky experiments yet.....


So far, no snake species has been shown to have their juvenile sex ratio affected by incubation temperature. Additionally, every species that has been investigated has been shown to have sex chromosomes.

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## firehop

> So far, no snake species has been shown to have their juvenile sex ratio affected by incubation temperature. Additionally, every species that has been investigated has been shown to have sex chromosomes.


Thanks.  Of course it would make it too easy to selectivly breed all females or all males if we knew.  I guess its probably better that we dont.

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## LCB

even though no eggs yet! my jcps and my varanids keep humping so my bator stays at 89F with a 10" fan running. also use tubs of water on 2 shelves with a bubbler keeps my humidity around 86% no substrate needed.

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## sg1trogdor

I say 1 gajillion degrees  is the appropriate temp.  lol.  I have always heard 88-89 is best.  Dont know what the upper and lower limits on what an egg can handle are though.

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## jglass38

This season I am going a little lower.  I want to test the theory of lower temps, more robust babies.  Heat tape is at 88, egg box temps is around 87.2-87.5.  In the past I have incubated at 88.9 with no problems.

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## mumps

89 - 90.  No probs.

Chris

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## spk329

89 degrees in the boxes .......works like a charm. I use to breed Parrots so this seems easy SO FAR  :Smile:

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## TheVipersHouse

I  helix at  90.0  and  my incubator  stays inside  right at 90 .. no temp variant  unless i open the door  to put in more eggs ..

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## Python Dreams

I used to hyper-focus on making sure every shelf in the Natures Spirit was as close to 89.5 as I could...    Last year I said screw it, I will just set the HELIX at 90 and go from there...   The containers were actually a few degrees colder and I had twin babies die in the egg (Pastel Crystal and probably 5 gram Pastel Mojave) along with a couple kinked babies early in the year...   I then paid more attention to the temperatures having to set the HELIX up a couple degrees...   I dont believe I had any more problems.
  I have always heard about how tough Ball Python eggs are...   I have known of someone throwing a clutch in his backpack, hopping on his motorcycle, and then riding ten or fifteen minutes to an incubator.    I have heard that they have dropped probes in the egg pits in Africa and have found temps up to 100 degrees without problems....   I even heard (through the grapevine) of a breeder claiming that hes noticed if you incubate at 89 = 60 days, incubate at 90 = 55 days, and incubate at 91 = 50 days...
  I dont stress out as much if I see the incubator go up a few degrees...   I have a closet incubator now and I set the HELIX at 93 degrees.   I have 5 probes inside the incubator and I generally have temps right about at 90 to 90.5....    My clutches have been hatching at day 52 with higher numbers of females. :Razz: 

 I would rather a little warmer than colder...  Just my opinion...

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## jglass38

> I used to hyper-focus on making sure every shelf in the Natures Spirit was as close to 89.5 as I could...    Last year I said screw it, I will just set the HELIX at 90 and go from there...   The containers were actually a few degrees colder and I had twin babies die in the egg (Pastel Crystal and probably 5 gram Pastel Mojave) along with a couple kinked babies early in the year...   I then paid more attention to the temperatures having to set the HELIX up a couple degrees...   I dont believe I had any more problems.
>   I have always heard about how tough Ball Python eggs are...   I have known of someone throwing a clutch in his backpack, hopping on his motorcycle, and then riding ten or fifteen minutes to an incubator.    I have heard that they have dropped probes in the egg pits in Africa and have found temps up to 100 degrees without problems....   I even heard (through the grapevine) of a breeder claiming that hes noticed if you incubate at 89 = 60 days, incubate at 90 = 55 days, and incubate at 91 = 50 days...
>   I dont stress out as much if I see the incubator go up a few degrees...   I have a closet incubator now and I set the HELIX at 93 degrees.   I have 5 probes inside the incubator and I generally have temps right about at 90 to 90.5....    My clutches have been hatching at day 52 with higher numbers of females.
> 
>  I would rather a little warmer than colder...  Just my opinion...



Good stuff, Tom!  The important question is, what temp do you recommend I keep the Schlager at!?   :Smile:

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## Bill Buchman

I have Herpstat set at 86 with prob hanging in the middle of incubator.  My boxes are closed and any temp spikes because of ambient room heat (90-91) don't effect them much.  Eggs have been hatching 58-62 days.  :Smile:

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## rjk890

I set my Helix at 89. degrees, and my temps stayed between 89.2 and 90.4 degrees.
Out of 14 eggs so far this season, I have had a 100% hatch rate.

One hatchling was trucked up, and had to hit the freezer.
Even though 13 of 14 hatchlings are pefectly healthy, I plan on adding a small fan to my incubator for this coming season.

I still have 2 eggs cooking from a 1. Bee and a 1. Pastel x .1 Pastel.
They are going to be cut on Sept. 11th.  :Salute:

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## mooingtricycle

> This season I am going a little lower.  I want to test the theory of lower temps, more robust babies.  Heat tape is at 88, egg box temps is around 87.2-87.5.  In the past I have incubated at 88.9 with no problems.


I tend to agree. I dont know if i posted in this thread or not, but im incubating at 87.9 this year ( probe in the eggbox )

( Hah, i forgot i made this... LOL)

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## Patrick Long

T-stat set to 90. 

differs from 89.1 to 90.1 no biggie.

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## coolluigi007

Ya, it never fails for me, I'll always get a temp spike once or twice while the eggs are cooking. Nothin bad ever happens though...

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## WingedWolfPsion

88 to 90.  If the temps are holding stable enough, it should be 89.

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## Kirks_Herps

it seems that the majority of you incubate at 88 ish
what effect does a lower incubation temp have on the eggs?. 
i have never had bp eggs but i have  all my  colubrids,  geckos and dragons at 85 degrees. just want to know for when the time comes. Kirk

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## WingedWolfPsion

If they're below about 86, people have had eggs mature and then fail to emerge.  Most Ball Pythons need to be incubated higher than that.  They also tend to take a lot longer at lower temps.
At 88 to 89, mine take 55 to 65 days to hatch (suggesting that development rate may be partially genetic, not just temp-based).

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Kirks_Herps (10-14-2009)

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## Watever

> Where have you placed the probe? 
> 
> I placed my probe IN the eggbox, buried in the perlite ( ill be using perlite again this year) During my testing for this years setup.


*NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO AND NO !!!!!!!*

YOU SHOULDN'T DO THAT !!!!!

I have never incubated yet but I know this is WRONG !

Physic 101 : Heat move and temperature fluctuate. and mass retain energy (heat in that case).

By placing the probe IN the eggbox, you ask the thermostat to adjust the temperature inside the eggbox.

While, if you place the probe OUTSIDE the eggbox, the thermostat will adjust the temperature of the AIR SURROUNDING the eggbox to 89, making the eggbox to 89.

You will have LESS FLUCTUATION in temperature INSIDE the eggbox by placing the probe OUTSIDE the containers.


It's like placing a glass of water in a pot of water on the stove. Measure the temperature inside the glass and in the pot and play with the stove. If you put the temperature to "HIGH" you will see that the glass of water will take more time to get to the same temperature than the one in the pot, but then, if you close the heat, it will remain warmer than the outside, then you put back the temp on, and the outside will get warmer and the glass of water won't drop as much.

Same apply to an incubator.

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## snakesRkewl

> I even heard (through the grapevine) of a breeder claiming that hes noticed if you incubate at 89 = 60 days, incubate at 90 = 55 days, and incubate at 91 = 50 days...
>   I dont stress out as much if I see the incubator go up a few degrees...   I have a closet incubator now and I set the HELIX at 93 degrees.   I have 5 probes inside the incubator and I generally have temps right about at 90 to 90.5....    My clutches have been hatching at day 52 with higher numbers of females.
> 
>  I would rather a little warmer than colder...  Just my opinion...


That follows what I did last year.
90.5 to 91 degrees inside the tub.
6 eggs gave me 5 female yellow bellies and one male normal.

53 days incubating time.

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## mooingtricycle

> *NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO AND NO !!!!!!!*
> 
> YOU SHOULDN'T DO THAT !!!!!
> 
> I have never incubated yet but I know this is WRONG !
> 
> Physic 101 : Heat move and temperature fluctuate. and mass retain energy (heat in that case).
> 
> By placing the probe IN the eggbox, you ask the thermostat to adjust the temperature inside the eggbox.
> ...




Had no issues with it this year. Lots of people follow this method. I also used Water bottles in the incubator, to hold a stable temperature. The Thermostat barely fluctuated, and was only on REALLY after i would open the bator. Id have to say, with my experience this year incubating three clutches, and the one last year, with the probe outside the box, and no water bottles, this was the much more stable thus far for my incubation stuff. 

I also had a SECONDARY probe in the eggboxes, that measured the temperatures, and they remained SPOT ON.

Every single egg hatched. and all the babies came out healthy!

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## nixer

> Had no issues with it this year. Lots of people follow this method. I also used Water bottles in the incubator, to hold a stable temperature. The Thermostat barely fluctuated, and was only on REALLY after i would open the bator. Id have to say, with my experience this year incubating three clutches, and the one last year, with the probe outside the box, and no water bottles, this was the much more stable thus far for my incubation stuff. 
> 
> I also had a SECONDARY probe in the eggboxes, that measured the temperatures, and they remained SPOT ON.
> 
> Every single egg hatched. and all the babies came out healthy!


the water bottles no doubt made your temps stable.
i dont put my probe in the egg box.

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## snakesRkewl

> the water bottles no doubt made your temps stable.
> i dont put my probe in the egg box.


Me either, my probe gets taped over the flexwatt so it can't be moved.

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_Danounet_ (03-15-2010)

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## Watever

Sorry to backup an old thread. but I was doing a search on temperature fluctuation in the incubators and found back this thread.

and I doesn't want people to have bad sense of what's going on.




> thats why. Smaller container, less substrate, means its going to be warmer overall.


Doesn't make sense at all.

Not because something is smaller that it will be warmer.

It's temperature will change faster (for same material) but it won't get warmer. 
If you keep giving the same heat, it will get to the same temperature eventually.

Problem you have is either : probe placement make fluctuation in your incubator
Thermometer is not accurate (I had that problem with cheap thermometer, it would say 88.7, then jump to 91.2 in a matter of second, a good laser thermometer and another digital one proved that one to be incorect).

Try to give it some air and make the air move. Also get a good proportional tstat.


What you need to understand : heat element give you energy (not heat or temperature), the egg tubs receive it and stock it when temperature around is higher, and give it back when air temperature around is colder. Everything try to be in balance.

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## mechnut450

I got the tstat  about 90  the tempsI get inside the incubator  are  about 88.3- 89.6  butI don't have a fan that runs in there. this year  but I also  setthe incubator up to be humid too (incubator humidity about 86 %)  then I got what inside the tubs.

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## Alice

> I used to hyper-focus on making sure every shelf in the Natures Spirit was as close to 89.5 as I could...    Last year I said screw it, I will just set the HELIX at 90 and go from there...   The containers were actually a few degrees colder and I had twin babies die in the egg (Pastel Crystal and probably 5 gram Pastel Mojave) along with a couple kinked babies early in the year...   I then paid more attention to the temperatures having to set the HELIX up a couple degrees...   I dont believe I had any more problems.
>   I have always heard about how tough Ball Python eggs are...   I have known of someone throwing a clutch in his backpack, hopping on his motorcycle, and then riding ten or fifteen minutes to an incubator.    I have heard that they have dropped probes in the egg pits in Africa and have found temps up to 100 degrees without problems....   I even heard (through the grapevine) of a breeder claiming that hes noticed if you incubate at 89 = 60 days, incubate at 90 = 55 days, and incubate at 91 = 50 days...
>   I dont stress out as much if I see the incubator go up a few degrees...   I have a closet incubator now and I set the HELIX at 93 degrees.   I have 5 probes inside the incubator and I generally have temps right about at 90 to 90.5....    My clutches have been hatching at day 52 with higher numbers of females.
> 
>  I would rather a little warmer than colder...  Just my opinion...


Hey Tom.  I know this is an old thread but I was wondering what you ended up wtih last year in terms of sex ratio?  Did the slightly higher temps continue to yield a higher percentage of females?  Are they thriving?

Thanks!

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## akaangela

Since I wasn't the first to bring it back to the top  :Razz:   How did your incubation temps match what you did last year?  Did you change anything? Did you get more girls or boys, more morphs or more normals?   :Smile: 

I am cooking my eggs at 88.5-89 and have had only one clutch with 6 eggs one died, hopefully no more will die.  We are on day 53.  Can't hardly wait to see those little faces  :Very Happy:

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## Rock star Reptile

I keep mine at 88.7 to 89.1
I have had good luck with this here due to the North West has crappy weather and stays pretty cold.. 
Not that that affects this but ya know.. It just works for me.. I will leave it at that..  :Rolleyes2:

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## Freakie_frog

89 and I get swings between 88 and 91 from time to time..  :Very Happy:

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## Courtney281

I incubate at 89F degrees

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## Dave86

88 for me.

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## DemmBalls

My herpstat is set at 89 and the temp stays between 88.1 - 88.7.

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## Failshed

> 89 and I get swings between 88 and 91 from time to time..


No problems?

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## Freakie_frog

> No problems?


Hatched out all my clutches just fine last year..Got clutches in the bator now thermostat is set at 89 and never moves..

Two years ago I had my incubator get up to well of 95 for the better part of a day due to my AC going out and the outside temps being well over 100. I just knew everything was dead, but nope they hatched out just fine on worries..

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## Failshed

> Hatched out all my clutches just fine last year..Got clutches in the bator now thermostat is set at 89 and never moves..
> 
> Two years ago I had my incubator get up to well of 95 for the better part of a day due to my AC going out and the outside temps being well over 100. I just knew everything was dead, but nope they hatched out just fine on worries..


Just what I wanted to hear. I moved and the temps got to the 91-92 range for a couple hours. Adjusted but i get swings from 87-89. I figure it'll be okay, nature isn't as controlled, right? :Very Happy:

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## WingedWolfPsion

I think Freakie Frog got very lucky, I had an incubator temp spike of up to 93 one year, and had the youngest clutch in there wind up with deformities.

I incubate at 89, and tend to panic if the temp rises much above 90.

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