condensation in egg box?

[250rider]

ok so my egg box is a sterilite shoe box glad press n seal and I'm using hatchrite as the medium. so its day 2 in the incubator. I opened the box and press n seal is covered in water droplets. is this ok? anybody know whats going? what should I do? thanks!

[Stewart_Reptiles]

As long as you have a slight dew on your tub or as long as the condensation does not start dripping on your eggs you are ok if it does than that is when you have a problem.

[250rider]

ok thanks, would it be a good idea to put a folded piece of paper towel over the eggs incase it does start dripping?

[250rider]

ok this has been making me nervous. I pulled back the press and seal and there were water drops on the eggs I lightly wiped them off. and put a folded piece of paper towel over the eggs. could it be that I used too much hatchrite?...should I take some out?

[Danounet]

The paper I would think would be the perfect environment for bacteria and mold to grow, so you probably don't want to use paper or anything like that at all.

There is probably too much water in the tub/hat rite. But I don't know much about this, haven't breed anything yet.

[SNIKTTIME]

Try making up a new box with air holes in it. Cover them with electrical tape as needed until desired himidity is acheived. Bp eggs are pretty hardy when t comes to being moved and temps, but too much huidity especially directly on the eggs is the worst thing for them. Also covering and uncovering the eggs too often could be part of the problem with your humidity.

[PythonWallace]

I would not make any holes in the egg box. The Hatchrite has just the right amount of water for the eggs. If you make holes you will lose moisture and there won't be enough for the eggs. Water can drop on the eggs a little without doing any harm, you just don't want it to happen to the point where the droplets are not evaporating or are dropping on the eggs constantly.

I wouldn't worry too much, but you can hot glue a piece of cotton or other material, like part of a t-shirt to fit the inside of the lid so it absorbs the excess water so it doesn't drop on the eggs. Or you can put a plastic bowl or other dome over the eggs to the condensation runs down the sides and back into the Hatchrite instead of dripping down onto the eggs. I get condensation that drips onto the eggs, but I don't worry about it, I just leave them alone until they hatch, and I haven't had any problems; no mold, nothing, but I also do substrate-less incubation. Good luck.

[West Coast Jungle]

Condensation happens when the temps inside the egg box vary from the outside the box. Thats why car windows have fog on them in the morning because of temp changes.

If you incubator temps are dialed in and the egg box has been acclimated to the temps there shouldnt be much condensation or very little.

If temps are unstable or the egg box was just added and temps are adjusting condensation will form.

Thats why a light fan is helpful in the incubator, to constanly circulate air and keep hot and cool spots from forming keep temps even under and over egg box.

IMO you need to get temps stable in egg box and through out incubator and condensation will become minimal and a non factor.

Hope this makes sense.

[j_h_smith]

That's why it's important to set up your incubator weeks ahead of time.

Jim Smith

[250rider]

yeah I had the incubator running for over a week prior and I had the bag of hatchrite in there too so it would be at the right temp. I added some more water bottles in there maybe that will help stabilize the temps better. thanks for the info and advice