How am I lookin Guys?

Ok, so this clutch of six was layed April 9th. Theyre lookin pretty dimpled and i have concerns about one. Theyre all candling very well, and i can see movement inside. I had planned on cutting June 3rd...but i think i may cut on the 30th. Or just cut the issued egg on the 30th and cut the rest on the scheduled date of June 3rd. Here are some pics...

Here the whole clutch. Substratless, locking tub, with press and seal, humidity gage is crappy but reads at least 90% at all times. However, im getting no condensation anywhere... My concern is obviously for the egg on the far left.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/IMAG1049.jpg

The egg is severly dimpled on top and bottom and looks dehydrated. Even though candling is becoming difficult due to dimpling and lack of room inside the egg, i can still see some veins and embryo movement.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/IMAG1050.jpg

http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/s...s/IMAG1051.jpg

Idk anything about breeding but from whst i have heard those guage hygros can be as much as 20% off so it could be down to 60-70 % humidity and be reading 90

Yea I think your gauge is way off, I had one of those analog gauges in my incubator at first, I don't know if it didn't work but the dial never really moved.
Probably the reason yours saying 90% is the back of the gauge is right against the grate where the water is, the water is barely an inch from the back of the gauge so of course its reading 90%.
Prop the gauge up against the eggs or sit it right on top of the eggs and you'll might get a different reading.
I'd suggest getting a digital therm/hydrometer as soon as possible before the eggs dimple to a point they can no longer safely develop.

Thanks for the input guys. Yeah, i know this guage isnt very reliable. However, a new guage is only gonna tell me what the humidity is. I know accurate readings are the first step to solving most issues and it probably IS a humidity issue by what i can see, so if it is...how could I fix it? Early and severe dimpling are typically caused by low humidity. Im already using press and seal, and a locking tub. How could i further try to raise the humidity.

you spray or have lots of water open near by? what kind of incubator set up do you have?

I have a big circulated wine fridge, holds stead temps, works great. I dont spray, and i use the substrateless method so theres open water right under the eggs.

It looks like your substrate needs to be wetter. I have so much water it almost slushes around when i move it. To be honest i don't even use a humidity gage. If i see eggs dimpling too early i add a bunch more water and that takes care of it. If you are substrateless its easy to stay right around 100% humidity since you can put a ton of water in the tub. I always want to be able to see the water in my perl/verm.

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I could add more water, but if you look at the first pic you can see that the water is already up to the egg grate.

I know the water cant touch and soak the eggs, so ill add a lil more n see how it does. Do you think theres any hope for the little egg or anything else i should do?

what creates humidity is heat, so what is the heat at?

Right where they should be, soldin steady at 89-90 degrees at all times.

That really is strange that they have dimpled so much. They certainly do look more than a bit dehydrated.


I always incubate with the egg crate on substrate method, my substrate doesn't normally look as wet as yours looks there and i rarely use tubs with very tight fitting lids and i've NEVER used film on the top to seal.

My eggs don't normally start dimpling at all till day 30+ and they have never looked as dimpled as that!


I would get some damp sphagnum moss and pile it up around the eggs without covering them completely.

Saying all that, i'm sure they will hatch just fine since they only have around 10 days to go. ;)

Same as yours, I have eggs laid on April 9 and using substrate less method, 88.5-90 deg F, the humidity is 65-75% and I'm also use press n seal. Small dent or dimpled also condensation was observed during my last check.

Hopefully your eggs will be fine.

How about your tub? What is the lid like? If there is a big gap you might want to put some press n seal on the tub. I just use the cheap $1 tubs from Walmart and there really isn't a gap so I don't use press n seal.

One other thought not already discussed, what about air circulation? I had a clutch last year do the same and discovered the tub was above the air circulation. Moving my fan fixed that quickly. Do you have good air movement? I thought it was worth asking. Good luck ... its a huge drag to get this far and have things go bad. Know the feeling.

Yeah, i already have locking tubs. Theyre not as secure as you would think for a lockin tub and theres some slack on the sides, but ive been using press and seal throughout their incubation.

My incubator is circulated with a multi-setting fan inside.

Ive added more water, and im gonna try turning the fan up to the high setting to get more air moving. I might try to install a second fan on top once the clutch is hatched.

Hatch/cut day is approaching and even though theyre more dimpled than they should be, i dont think theyll have any problems except the one egg. But i candled again today and so far so good, everyones still on board!

Thanks for all the input guys!:D

So i added more water to the tub and increased the air circulation inside, but it didnt seem to make any difference.

However, i drapped a lightly damp paper towel over the eggs last night and it has already made a world of difference. The eggs look better and i finally have some condensation building up on the side of the tubs.

Im not sure why it took a paper towel covering the eggs to finally get conditions right...but whatevers works.

That's good news. Can we see some comparison pictures of the newly hydrated eggs?

And the only dial hygrometers I would trust are the kinds meant for musical instrument cases. They are expensive, but work perfectly since humidity can affect an instruments sound, which is crucial.

You can recalibrate your current dial hygrometer or test out it's accuracy with a salt test.

Salt test:
To check the accuracy you need table salt, a Ziplock bag, and a small shallow open container( like a bottle cap). Place a teaspoon or so of salt in the shallow container and add a few drops of water - just enough to get it wet. You don't want a salt water solution, just damp salt. Place the shallow container in the Ziplock bag along with the hygrometer. Make sure the hygrometer doesn't touch any of the salt. Seal the bag with some air trapped inside and let it sit for 6 to 8 hours. Check the hygrometer reading without opening up the baggie. It should read 75%. If it doesn't read 75%, you can adjust it manually.