Substrateless Incubation

I just want to share my experience with the substrateless incubation method that I used this year and maybe help out some other people that are considering this method. I'll start of with how I set it up this season. I only have one breeding pair right now so I have a small Farm Innovators Reptile Incubator that I purchased on Amazon. In this incubator I placed a 7 qt sterlite tub, the same type I use for hatchlings. In the tub I placed a few pieces of PVC fittings and on top of those I placed a piece of light diffuser. Then I filled the tub with water about halfway between the bottom and the light diffuser. I then covered the tub with glad press n seal wrap. I cut a small hole in the wrap, just big enough for the sensors. Now here are some things I will be changing for next season. First of all, I do not reccomend the incubator that I used. The temperature sensor went bad while I was waiting for the eggs to be laid and I needed to contact the company for a replacement. Luckily this one lasted for the entire incubation period. Also, the humidity sensor on the incubator was incorrect as well. I have a secondary sensor so that I could keep an eye on temps and humidity. This sensor I trusted a lot more. Secondly. I checked on the eggs about 3 weeks into the incubation period and noticed that they were indented and I really have no explanation to it. Humidity was 99% I'm not sure if it will help, but next time I'll fill the bottom of the tub with perilite and water and see if it can be prevented. Which brings me to my next point. The eggs have started to pip and I just realized that they might fall go through the holes in the light diffuser and drown themselves. I will need to figure out how to prevent this, and I'm open to suggestions. Next season I will put some type of mesh over the diffuser. I will definitely be using and trying to improve this method in the future. I hope this is able to help someone. Please feel free to chime in with your experiences and how you would improve.

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I have been using this style of incubation for a few years now. Once they start to pip I put them in a hatching tub, just damp paper towels on the bottom. Have never had a issue doing it that way.

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Ahhh, I never thought about that. I'll definitely do that in the morning! Thanks!

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I have been using subtraless incubation for years also it's more of a no direct contact incubation IMO

I use a 6 quarts tub 2:1 perlite water ratio and, light diffuser and no press and seal, I hate the idea of just water and the water sloshing around.

When the hatchlings start to slit I remove the the light diffuser and the perlite, the reason is simple should an hatchling emerge without complitely absorb his yolk, you want to prevent it to be caught in the light diffuser.

So same thing remove everything when they start slitting.

Hi Its been a while since I been on here and been just checking out some post and stuff.. Came across this post and figured I could ask you guys a question.. I have a clutch of eggs at day 49 and they are on perlite like usual but don't like when they start to come out and get the perlite on them then drag the perlite back into the egg. Would it be safe to move the eggs onto wet paper towels with a plastic lid under neat the eggs so the eggs aren't sitting on the wet paper towels..

What I ended up doing was removing egg crate from the tub and placing it in an empty tub. That way you don't have to worry about the perilite or water. I kept press n seal wrap over the tub to keep moisture in and it seemed to work well.

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