Royal Incubation temperatures

I thought it would be interesting with all the change in times and info what our peers are doing with ball python eggs.

I incubate at 87-88 degree's I find hatchlings come out a little bigger and start feeding quicker...

For years ive gone at 89.5-90 but am now dropping down for longer incubations say 60 plus days 86.5-87.5

I still see hatchlings out before 60 days at 87 but guess it depends on the little ones..

really ive never have even been before day 60 at 88+ ... honestly i have never ... actually ive had um pip at 58,59 at 88degrees. but never out of the egg before 60. are you talking out of the egg or heads poppin out?

after 5 years or so of doing this im droppin down this year to get slower incubations looking for 86.5 to see what happens compared to my 88.5 with 1 degree variance (87.5-89.5)

It depends have had both, have a clutch last season that were out of egg(all but 1) by day 59. Usually they have pipped by then... have had some that pipped later it could be Im just lucky :D (but doubt it) lol

This year im looking to see pips at 64 and out of the egg fat 85+gram babys out of the egg at 66-67 at a nice 86.5 degrees

I'm just curious, but what is the benefit of a longer incubation?

I kept 91 degrees in my tub last year and pipping happened at day 52 and all 6 were 70 grams and happy and healthy.

The smallest one is 550 grams at 8 months old, the largest is 800 grams.

The tubs in my inc this year have held steady at 88.7 for six weeks, not doing so warm this year.
We bought a herpstat proportional for the inc and love the more stable temperature.

im thinking with longer incubation times more egg will be absorbed hence 90 gram egg which i usually get 75gram babies will be more like 85gram babies hopefully thats like two first meals :gj:

I shoot for 88 degree's but that's simply to allow for some swing in the temp of my bator. I've had them get as hot as 95 for over a day before and they hatched just fine. But I know guys that shoot for 90-91 but that doesn't make me comfortable.

I used a hovabator last 3 seasons at 89 and this year I built my own incubator and am using a Herpstat set at 89.7.

With the Hovabator they pipped at 52-54 days and were out of the egg by day 60. All hatchlings were between 75g-80g

I'm shooting for the same times this year with the Herpstat.

Gavin

Last year I used an incubator for my JCP clutch but I also let my female ball maternally incubate hers. The incubator was set for 89F and the warm side of the tank my female ball was in fluctuated between 85 and 90 during the course of a day. This year I've got an incubator set up again at 89F and I'll just play it by ear with the snakes. If things are looking good, I'll let the moms maternally incubate but if anything looks amiss I'll put them into the incubator.

I set my incubator up for 88.5 this year, to allow for safe 2 degree temp swings.

Last year, I found no difference in hatch times between clutches incubated at 88 and 90. In fact, one of the 88F clutches hatched more quickly than most of the 90F clutches--and one of the 90F clutches hatched at 65 days.
I don't think temperatures are the primary factor in incubation time, oddly enough.
I have found that my clutches USUALLY pip around 55 days, and hatchlings are out before 60 days.

I don't have any eggs yet, but from talking to people at local shows 87-88 seems to be the trend. A local guy who had some amazing caramel albinos said he has reduced the number of kinked caramels by dropping the temps to 87.

At all the different temps has anyone had a swing one way or the other with the proportion of males to females? We were pretty much half and half last year (over 11 clutches) and we incubated at 89.

Really need an accurate thermometer to say for sure. We are only talking about a very small temperature range. With all the variation in thermometers that I have seen I would not rely on anyone's estimate of what they may have incubated at.
Here is a very interesting article http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...ation-reptiles

I have a post on my forum http://davidperkinsreptiles.com/foru....php?f=8&t=171

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Originally Posted by Dave763

Really need an accurate thermometer to say for sure. We are only talking about a very small temperature range. With all the variation in thermometers that I have seen I would not rely on anyone's estimate of what they may have incubated at.
Here is a very interesting article http://www.scientificamerican.com/ar...ation-reptiles

I have a post on my forum http://davidperkinsreptiles.com/foru....php?f=8&t=171

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yeah i read about that on some magazine , bout turtle eggs hatching out males if its cooler temps , so i uped the temp on my incubator to 90 hoping i get all girls ... so far on the first clutch 2.2 , but i got more clutches to go
so we'll see....:bow::please:

91F... 1.9 so far:O

And I have a quick question - will it harm the eggs in any way if the temp is not consistent at all times? I'm asking because my thermostat is not proportional and the temps are between 87-90 F (It's not 88 all the time, but it's changing between 87-90). I was wondering since both 87 & 90 and between are ok for balls, but is it ok if the temp changes in that range?

i always here that it is soooo important to keep very stable temps when incubating. but there is a very big difference in temps here! so if i set my incubator for say 89, and it swings from 88-90, or even 87-91, then what is the problem? is it because of the temps changing so much or will it not cause a problem?

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Originally Posted by mpkeelee

i always here that it is soooo important to keep very stable temps when incubating. but there is a very big difference in temps here! so if i set my incubator for say 89, and it swings from 88-90, or even 87-91, then what is the problem? is it because of the temps changing so much or will it not cause a problem?

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Exactly - that's what I want to know too :D

Hi,

Where do you have the thermostat probe?

Maybe putting it somewhere else copuld result in more stable temps?


dr del

No, the problem is it's a styrofoam box incubator and because the thermostat is not proportional the temp keeps raising a bit even after the heating is off (styrofoam keeps the temps very well), and then the thermostat turns on after the temp loweres, and it drops a bit below the set temp, before heating cable is back up to temp. So it's not the probe problem ;).
And I'm wondering if those small temp swings are harmfull for eggs?

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Originally Posted by GPreptiles

And I have a quick question - will it harm the eggs in any way if the temp is not consistent at all times? I'm asking because my thermostat is not proportional and the temps are between 87-90 F (It's not 88 all the time, but it's changing between 87-90). I was wondering since both 87 & 90 and between are ok for balls, but is it ok if the temp changes in that range?

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i have this problem with my rack lol

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Originally Posted by kellysballs

At all the different temps has anyone had a swing one way or the other with the proportion of males to females? We were pretty much half and half last year (over 11 clutches) and we incubated at 89.

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thought this was true with croc's and stuff not balls???

Hi,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GPreptiles

No, the problem is it's a styrofoam box incubator and because the thermostat is not proportional the temp keeps raising a bit even after the heating is off (styrofoam keeps the temps very well), and then the thermostat turns on after the temp loweres, and it drops a bit below the set temp, before heating cable is back up to temp. So it's not the probe problem ;).
And I'm wondering if those small temp swings are harmfull for eggs?

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Well that's the thing - I use an incubator even more basic ( see below for the ghettobator )than that and it holds closer temps. :weirdface

How many waterbottles do you have in it for thermal ballast?

And you might be surprised the difference moving the probe from just sitting in the incubator to being inside the egg box itself or vica versa will make.

But yes you really do want to avoid those kind of temp swings if you can I think.

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...03adjusted.JPG

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...07adjusted.JPG

http://ball-pythons.net/gallery/file...01adjusted.JPG

That is simply an insulated fish tank with a fish tank heater in the water which fills the bottom third and a shelf fixed above. It holds within one degree most of the time.

It does mean everything is as humid as possible - which can be both a good and a bad thing. On balance I'd prefer to build a more traditional incubator but I'm having trouble finding a glass fronted fridge. :(


dr del

HAHA :rofl: ghettobater. Dr. Del, right now the incubator i plan on using will be the Accu-temp 6000. u can google it and find all types of variations. im using that cuz i dont expect many eggs and it seems really easy to use but the temp dont hold exactly at 89. only swings by 1 or 2 but the top will be 89 and the bottom may be 87.

I want some answers to these same questions. My incubator I built swings from 87-90 even though it is set at 88. It hits 87 for a very short time and stays at 90 for a long time. takes about 45 min or so to drop from 90 to 87 and the heat kick back on then 15 to get back to the 90.

I also think my bottem bin is about 1-2 degrees cooler then the top one at all times. will this realy be that bad for the incubation?? I'll be with in everyones specs for incubation, but I'll have a 2-3 degree swing every hour....

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Originally Posted by Subdriven

I want some answers to these same questions. My incubator I built swings from 87-90 even though it is set at 88. It hits 87 for a very short time and stays at 90 for a long time. takes about 45 min or so to drop from 90 to 87 and the heat kick back on then 15 to get back to the 90.

I also think my bottem bin is about 1-2 degrees cooler then the top one at all times. will this realy be that bad for the incubation?? I'll be with in everyones specs for incubation, but I'll have a 2-3 degree swing every hour....

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if you have eggs in there that hatch out, let us know how it goes. surely someone here has had this situation before and either hatched eggs or didnt. i guess we will see

Hi,

People normally use small computer fans to solve the temp differences between the top and bottom.

But seriously put a seperate temp probe in to the egg box and see what the actual variation is inside the box with the medium etc in place and then try moving the thermostat probe to see if that helps.


dr del

Since I used a wine cooler it alsready had a ventelation system. I just modified it to fun ALOT slower. There is not realy anywhere else I can put my prob, If I move it much it will eather be right next to the heat source or in the dirrect path of the fan. Been messing with the wind dirrections in there to see what I can change.

But also been checking the temps inside the tubs. seems they stay only swing 1-2 degrees.. alot less then outside the tubs.

Hi,

Why can't you try the thermostat probe inside one of the egg tubs?

Or indeed actually on the heat source?

It might not work but it has to be worth trying - and if it works then you just have a dummy tub with the probe in it that you keep in there. ;)

How does the ventilation system in a wine cooler work? Does it exchange air from the outside or just move the air inside around bit?


dr del

I moved the probe now to the middle between the top and lower tub( only room for 2 tubs). I also closed off some of the vents that were blowing straight on the heat strip that warmed the bottem area.

The vent system had a fan that pulled air from the center of the cooler and blew it back out the upper and lower sections. There is a funnel system behind the back wall that transports the air from the fan to the top and bottem. There is NO air exchange from inside and outside unless I open the door.

this is deffenetly a learning experience and I know what to do and not to do when I build my next one.. lol

This is PRE reworking it.
http://i1022.photobucket.com/albums/...Incubator4.jpg