Excessive Dimpling?

[Galaxygirl]

Our large 120g+ eggs have been in the incubator for only 10 days now at 89.7 degrees and one in particular seems to be dimpling a lot? There's at least half an inch or more of water in the bottom of the tub and we just added a lot more. We're not using cling wrap or anything, but the hydrometer says its at 100% humidity. Is this normal?

[Galaxygirl]

Just to make clear, the perilite in their tubs is glistening and wet (we've checked on them twice since putting them in 10 days ago) in addition to the half inch or more water sitting the bottom. It doesn't appear dry at all in there.. Just wondering if maybe having them raised above the perilite could be affecting them or if no press and seal isn't a good idea, or maybe just because they're big eggs? I haven't seen any condensation in the tubs though.

[fatSNAKEs]

I would suggest using cling wrap or press-n-seal ... makes a world of difference & will help in your case. Good luck!

[CD CONSTRICTORS]

Lol.... I just posted this one thread down.

I don't go by any gauges when it comes to humidity. Any condensation in the tubs at all? No condensation on the tub walls and it's probably too low. Cheap pet store hygrometers are inaccurate.

Clutches put in so far (first one hatched out already):









Tubs with no eggs put in yesterday awaiting eggs this week:





Clutch placed in today and still warming up:

[CD CONSTRICTORS]

Egg tub prep:

[Galaxygirl]

We wrapped the tubs and added more water. Hopefully it'll be fine!

[MrLang]

At 10 days in, if you get the humidity up they will probably plump up a little and be fine.

[Galaxygirl]

So I decided to peek real quick at them today and see if the changes caused condensation. It did not. Doesn't condensation form when there is water in the air, but when it interacts with a cold surface? We have cling wrap taped over the top of the tub, and as you can see from this photo, they're basically sitting above a lake of water. There haven't been any changes in the appearance of the eggs now. I don't understand why our eggs aren't plump like a lot of other peoples. We live in Texas so the humidity is already high, even in our apartment, and when I open the incubator it feels so muggy in there.

[Alicia]

This is going to be a really dumb question, but there's normally a tight lid on that egg tub, right?

That aside, you are correct about condensation -- you won't see it when everything is exactly the same temperature (which is theoretically possible in a home incubator) or there is air movement. Air movement in an environment that feels very humid to us as humans still causes moisture to move around. So, you'll have areas of higher or lower humidity and the levels will not be constant.

With substrateless incubation, eggs stay plump up until the final weeks because, ideally, they are in a box of close to 100% humidity. Barring any other factors, your eggs are deflating because they are losing more moisture than they are gaining from the air. When it comes down to choosing to believe the hygrometer or the eggs, always believe the eggs. Stopping the airflow is the easiest thing to do, which (you are using a lid, as well, right??) you're already doing. Another thing is to give the water more surface area to evaporate -- in this set up, by adding more perlite. I like to put down ~2 inches of perlite, give or take, add warm water until it just begins to float, then I set my light diffuser directly on top of it. Maybe it makes a difference, maybe it doesn't. If there is a fan in your incubator, try it turning it off. That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

[Galaxygirl]

This is going to be a really dumb question, but there's normally a tight lid on that egg tub, right?

That aside, you are correct about condensation -- you won't see it when everything is exactly the same temperature (which is theoretically possible in a home incubator) or there is air movement. Air movement in an environment that feels very humid to us as humans still causes moisture to move around. So, you'll have areas of higher or lower humidity and the levels will not be constant.

With substrateless incubation, eggs stay plump up until the final weeks because, ideally, they are in a box of close to 100% humidity. Barring any other factors, your eggs are deflating because they are losing more moisture than they are gaining from the air. When it comes down to choosing to believe the hygrometer or the eggs, always believe the eggs. Stopping the airflow is the easiest thing to do, which (you are using a lid, as well, right??) you're already doing. Another thing is to give the water more surface area to evaporate -- in this set up, by adding more perlite. I like to put down ~2 inches of perlite, give or take, add warm water until it just begins to float, then I set my light diffuser directly on top of it. Maybe it makes a difference, maybe it doesn't. If there is a fan in your incubator, try it turning it off. That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

I figured someone was going to ask that. To specify - yes, there is a lid that snaps on both ends of the tub. We do have a small computer fan in the bottom of the incubator circulating air in the incubator. If any condensation forms, its on the incubator walls where the cold air seeps in, but haven't seen any in the actual tubs. I thought about turning the fan off, so I'll do that now.