To vent... or NOT to vent-That is MY question.

I do pretty much what Diana (Lunar) does. I DON'T open boxes until last 3 weeks, and I also wipe condensation off the TOP of Press N Seal -- wet sides are OK. I take the press and seal off the last 7-10 day as Diana posted. I use eggcrate with a 50/50 mix of verm and perlite. I never have to add water. I incubate at 88.5-88.9. This has worked great for me so far. As we all know there are MANY successful variations on the theme.

Great stuff everyone! It's just a subject that you hear so many different things about, it's great to hear what works for everyone!

:gj:

ok so sorry to highjack this thread but if you were not to check on the eggs until the last few weeks would that not put the entire clutch at risk if there happend to be a bad or moulding egg in there? or does that even matter?

No Hijacking worries! :)


No clue... I have 2 that seem to be taking after a Chia pets... :rolleyes:

I've just been wiping them off every other day or so...

I've read both: moldy eggs can harm other eggs they are next to... and I've also read somewhere that the other eggs should be resistant, I guess it's just case by case. Also I'm sure it depends on the type of mold...

Great question!

I never vent intentionally, just incidentally when I'm checking the eggs. I still had to add water to my tubs. I use a vermiculite/perlite blend in sterilite shoe boxes. The boxes really don't seal very well and I usually have to add water sometime during incubation. Most of the problems I've had have to do with the eggs drying out too much. I like that press and seal idea, I think I'll give that a try with some of my tubs this year. One other thing that I do though is to put a paper towel over the top of the eggs to catch any drips that come off the top of the container.

Have any of you using the press and seal put a small weight or ball bearing in the middle of the plastic to make a point, and draw the water droplets into a single area to avoid condensation? I wonder how well that works? Or if it's too tight... it would avoid having to open and wipe all the time wouldnt it?

We have three big soda bottles full of water in the bottom of the incubator which seems to help stablize temps which seems to be helping with condensation. We get a tiny bit of the sides of the tubs, next to nothing on the press and seal/lid combo. We're venting every 3 days and will do a quick vent every day after 45 days until hatching. :)

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Originally Posted by MarkS

I never vent intentionally, just incidentally when I'm checking the eggs. I still had to add water to my tubs. I use a vermiculite/perlite blend in sterilite shoe boxes. The boxes really don't seal very well and I usually have to add water sometime during incubation. Most of the problems I've had have to do with the eggs drying out too much. I like that press and seal idea, I think I'll give that a try with some of my tubs this year. One other thing that I do though is to put a paper towel over the top of the eggs to catch any drips that come off the top of the container.

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Mark, I had the same problem last year, and I'm pretty sure if I had sealed the top... I wouldn't have lost too much humidity... that's what prompted me to go substrate-less this year... one less thing to worry about LOL! :oops: I'm still using the press n seal over the water/pearlite to avoid evaporation and possible temp fluxes...

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

We have three big soda bottles full of water in the bottom of the incubator which seems to help stablize temps which seems to be helping with condensation. We get a tiny bit of the sides of the tubs, next to nothing on the press and seal/lid combo. We're venting every 3 days and will do a quick vent every day after 45 days until hatching. :)

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WOO HOO! Not long now Jo! :banana: I'm getting light condensation on my first clutch now too... I'm pretty sure it's cause the inc. is at 89* and the egg box is at 92* :O

Their cookin right along! :D

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Originally Posted by MarkS

I never vent intentionally, just incidentally when I'm checking the eggs. I still had to add water to my tubs. I use a vermiculite/perlite blend in sterilite shoe boxes. The boxes really don't seal very well and I usually have to add water sometime during incubation. Most of the problems I've had have to do with the eggs drying out too much. I like that press and seal idea, I think I'll give that a try with some of my tubs this year. One other thing that I do though is to put a paper towel over the top of the eggs to catch any drips that come off the top of the container.

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hows the towel thing working out? i thought of maybe doing that but was wondering that if too many water droplets dripped on the towel and absorbed through to the side touching the eggs, wouldnt the eggs absorb that water as well?

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Originally Posted by bigballs

hows the towel thing working out? i thought of maybe doing that but was wondering that if too many water droplets dripped on the towel and absorbed through to the side touching the eggs, wouldnt the eggs absorb that water as well?

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The eggs don't seem to absorb too much from the wet towels, problems I've run into in the past, especially with colubrid eggs was with eggs dying on me from getting dripped on due to condensation coming off the lid. The towels don't stay soaking wet but spreads out the moisture and drys out enough so that the whole thing feels slightly damp. I think another thing the towels do besides catch drips is to help even out the dampness so that no area is too wet or too dry. Eggs underneath the towels usually look really good. Better then they would look without. They do mold eventually though and you have to replace them with a new paper towel every now and then.