Egg humidity

So I know the signs of when eggs are too dry, or wet but I'm just trying to find a number for optimum humidity for eggs. I read one article that said 80% (it sounded low to me). I saw another one that said 100%. Then I recall brian of bhb say 90% on a snakebytes episode. I'm guessing trust the 90%; however, maybe I should just go off of look at the eggs, if it dimples before day 45 I believe then its due to low humidity so just add water. Excuse my rant. Just confused with the variety of information I'm receiving

I agree. Information is varied. Based off of my own research, and hardly any experience I would say that the closer to 100% the better, but make sure no water is falling onto the eggs from condensation on the top of the tub.

By the way, a fact that helped me out recently is that a lot of humidity can escape due to a lack of a perfect seal between the lid of the tub and the tub itself, so seal the tub with Glad brand Press n' seal to make sure you are trapping all of that moisture in. Good luck!

Do you guys vent your egg boxes? Justin Kobylka says he never does, while others say the eggs need oxygen... Why must there be so much contradicting information?

You keep the humidity as high as you can without condensation dripping on the eggs.

You'll find a lot of different information because everyone hatches their eggs a little differently.

For me, personally, I will be using press-n-seal on my egg boxes that have no holes drilled in them. Because of that, I'll be venting every 4 or 5 days just to circulate the air a little bit. I also use substrateless method so I will put a lot of water in my egg tubs and sit the eggs on egg crate. Hopefully that keeps my humidity pretty high.

I use vent holes so I don't ever NEED to vent my tubs.
90 to 95% humidity is excellent, any higher you flirt with mold issues.
The one time I did use press n seal I got mold because I didn't have the correct amount of water to substrate.
I went to substrateless and haven't worried about too much humidity or not enough humidity since.

So is substrate less just substrate (like vermiculite) with a lot of water, a crate, and eggs that sit on the crate and above the water? Wouldn't that create more condensation? My issue is people say you want condensation on the top, but so that it doesn't drip down. Wouldn't it naturally drip down?

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Originally Posted by MorphMaster

So is substrate less just substrate (like vermiculite) with a lot of water, a crate, and eggs that sit on the crate and above the water?

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Essentially yes.

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Wouldn't that create more condensation? My issue is people say you want condensation on the top, but so that it doesn't drip down. Wouldn't it naturally drip down?

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You do not want condensation on the lid at all, on the sides is perfectly fine but not on the lid.
I place the 4 tiny air holes for ventilation and it works great, no condensation and with all of that water the humidity stays 90% to 95% without ever hitting 100%.
The added water means you won't have low humidity and the vent holes mean you won't have excess humidity either.
Since we changed to doing this 3 seasons ago we have yet to have any mold issues and lack of humidity is a thing of the past.

We are all still learning as breeding BPs is still relatively new, that's why there is a lot of different advice ;)

If you are substrateless (using light diffuser/egg crate on top of perlite/vermiculite) just make sure it's really wet and close the lid. To be completely honest I have never measured the humidity in my egg tubs, I just make sure the perlite stays soaking wet, but not enough to splash on the eggs when the tub gets moved. Also, those cheap $1 shoe box tubs (what I use) are not air tight so the eggs can still "breathe".

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Originally Posted by snakesRkewl

Essentially yes.


You do not want condensation on the lid at all, on the sides is perfectly fine but not on the lid.
I place the 4 tiny air holes for ventilation and it works great, no condensation and with all of that water the humidity stays 90% to 95% without ever hitting 100%.
The added water means you won't have low humidity and the vent holes mean you won't have excess humidity either.
Since we changed to doing this 3 seasons ago we have yet to have any mold issues and lack of humidity is a thing of the past.

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This was helpful. I'm assuming the Vent holes are on the top; although, I don't know if matters too much... Thank you so much

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Originally Posted by SlitherinSisters

We are all still learning as breeding BPs is still relatively new, that's why there is a lot of different advice ;)

If you are substrateless (using light diffuser/egg crate on top of perlite/vermiculite) just make sure it's really wet and close the lid. To be completely honest I have never measured the humidity in my egg tubs, I just make sure the perlite stays soaking wet, but not enough to splash on the eggs when the tub gets moved. Also, those cheap $1 shoe box tubs (what I use) are not air tight so the eggs can still "breathe".

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Thank you! So I assume you don't use holes... That was always my assumption but its nice to here it from someone with experience.

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Originally Posted by MorphMaster

Thank you! So I assume you don't use holes... That was always my assumption but its nice to here it from someone with experience.

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Nope, no holes, just snap the lid on and put them in the incubator. I tried press-n-seal a couple years, but it wasn't necessary.

Here is a picture so you can see what it looks like inside, I don't have a good picture of the entire tub. You can see how wet I keep the perlite. The eggs are wet because I mist them once I cut them.
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...ding/001-3.jpg

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Originally Posted by SlitherinSisters

Nope, no holes, just snap the lid on and put them in the incubator. I tried press-n-seal a couple years, but it wasn't necessary.

Here is a picture so you can see what it looks like inside, I don't have a good picture of the entire tub. You can see how wet I keep the perlite. The eggs are wet because I mist them once I cut them.
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...ding/001-3.jpg

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Thanks for the pic. Now is it actually called an egg crate or something else? I like the idea of just putting the eggs in the bator and not worrying, just being excited. I am so grateful for your time!

I never see this question asked, but how mic substrate is used? About a third of the height of a 6 qt tub? About that... I just thought I might as well ask so I don't run out of humidity or something because I didn't use enough substrate.

I never actually measured my humidity once my eggs were in there tubs. I just make sure the vermiculite is wet but not drenched. as long as you dont have any condensation dripping onto the eggs your fine. But like someone mentioned already as close to 100% the better

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Originally Posted by MorphMaster

Thanks for the pic. Now is it actually called an egg crate or something else? I like the idea of just putting the eggs in the bator and not worrying, just being excited. I am so grateful for your time!

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You can get it from Lowe's or Home Depot for about $13 a sheet (it's like a 2 x 4 sheet and will give you enough for several egg boxes). Don't ask for an egg crate because they will think you're crazy. As them for a "light diffuser sheet". It's usually near the lumber with all the sheets of melamine, plywood, etc.

As for the actual mixture, I put in about 2 inches of vermiculite and SATURATED it with water. Then, I put two sheets of light diffuser (cut to fit the size of the box) on and then I will put my eggs on it (once they are laid of course....:rage:) and stick it in my incubator.

Anywhere between 90-100% is fine. You can't have too much as long as water isn't accumulating on top of the eggs. I've seen Kevin from Nerd put his eggs in straight up muddy vermiculite.

my very first clutch of eggs I used a 6 qt sterilite tub, perlite which was so wet I had to use 2 light diffusers as one would sink into it. I didn't put any holes in my container or lid. before I got half way thru the 60 days for incubating my eggs. my eggs were really collapsing. towards the end of the 60 day, the top of the egg was touching the bottom. I did lose a few but some did survived. my next clutch after I talked to a few local breeders, recommend glad press n seal. I never had a problem since. and it's been over 7 years. I use to use perlite, now I zip tie two 3/4 inch pvc pipes to the diffuser and add water, no perlite. yes it will help reduce the chance of a splash. I carry my egg box a good 20 feet to where I check on them. I don't walk slow with them. I never splash yet, and if I did splash them. they would be OK. it's being constantly wet that hurts them. I can open my egg boxes every day if I wanted to and it doesn't hurt my humidity with them. in the vpi book, it said to check on your eggs every so often. how are you going to learn anything or correct something if you don't know it's happening. if you get too much condensation on the top and it drips on the eggs. tilt the box a little so it runs down the side instead. condensation is a problem cause by difference in temps. temps from the outside of the egg box to the inside of the egg box. my eggs get fresh air once a week when I check my eggs and the last 2 weeks I peel back a corner of the press n seal to make a very small opening for air when the eggs require it the most. what others posted isn't wrong. it works for them. we all live in different places with different conditions. you need to figure out whats best for you.

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Originally Posted by SlitherinSisters

Nope, no holes, just snap the lid on and put them in the incubator. I tried press-n-seal a couple years, but it wasn't necessary.

Here is a picture so you can see what it looks like inside, I don't have a good picture of the entire tub. You can see how wet I keep the perlite. The eggs are wet because I mist them once I cut them.
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...ding/001-3.jpg

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:number1:
This has been my exact experience with tubs. After the press-n-seal a few years, I ditched it for just the regular top that came with the tub. No difference in hatch rate or success from using the press-n-seal. However, I've quit cutting eggs. The babies that I let come out on their own seem to have a better feeding response. Everyone develops their own methods. Experiment with a few things and you'll come up with your own method.

Last year (1st clutch) I used a 6qt Sterilite tub. The lids are loose, at best and I had humidity issues on day 2. I used the substrateless method with about 1.5" of vermiculite soaked and a light diffuser. I ended up having to press n' seal them to keep the humidity in. Had 100% hatch.

This year I've found some sterilite locking tubs. They are significantly smaller than the 6qts, but the lids are much tighter. I used more like 2.5" of vermiculite soaked and 2 layers of light diffuser. Haven't had the eggs in the 'bator long enough to evaluate, but during my test runs I had condensation buildup on the sides of the tubs...which I never had during testing last year.

This is my first year breeding, so I don't have a lot of experience, but...
I purchased an incubator from Hot Box Incubators about a month before I was expecting eggs, and when it came in I set it up and turned it on to make sure temperatures would stay consistent. Temperatures did very well the whole time, I set them at 90 degrees. I am using the 6 qt sterilite with vermiculite, about 2 inches, with the light diffuser on top. I made sure the vermiculite was saturated with water, just shy of soupy so it wouldn't splash up on the eggs when I move them to check on them. I also used the press n seal on the top of the tub and then put the lid on it, not sure right now why I kept the lid on but... whatever. So far I have opened the press n seal twice just to sort of ventilate for a couple seconds and make sure they were visually ok for what I can see. The second time I opened the lid and peeled back the press n seal I candled them to make sure I wasn't getting excited for nothing and the were great.

So far so good, they aren't dimpling or anything, I see a little condensation point on the side of the tub, to me it just says there is still plenty of water in there, not that it has a choice because it is sealed with no holes but...

Anyway, I will see if this works out long term as my clutch is due 5/10.

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Originally Posted by MikeM75

This is my first year breeding, so I don't have a lot of experience, but...
I purchased an incubator from Hot Box Incubators about a month before I was expecting eggs, and when it came in I set it up and turned it on to make sure temperatures would stay consistent. Temperatures did very well the whole time, I set them at 90 degrees. I am using the 6 qt sterilite with vermiculite, about 2 inches, with the light diffuser on top. I made sure the vermiculite was saturated with water, just shy of soupy so it wouldn't splash up on the eggs when I move them to check on them. I also used the press n seal on the top of the tub and then put the lid on it, not sure right now why I kept the lid on but... whatever. So far I have opened the press n seal twice just to sort of ventilate for a couple seconds and make sure they were visually ok for what I can see. The second time I opened the lid and peeled back the press n seal I candled them to make sure I wasn't getting excited for nothing and the were great.

So far so good, they aren't dimpling or anything, I see a little condensation point on the side of the tub, to me it just says there is still plenty of water in there, not that it has a choice because it is sealed with no holes but...

Anyway, I will see if this works out long term as my clutch is due 5/10.

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everything sounds good so far. I also place a lid over my press n seal. helps hold it on. I remove the lid the last 2 weeks and peel the press n seal back to make a very tiny opening in one of the corners. the humidity isn't as important and the fresh air is. sometimes you will get an egg that didn't dent. stays fully inflated. those in my opinion needs to be cut a few days before they pip. it doesn't need to be a big cut. just a tiny cut to relieve the pressure. good luck and post some pics when they come out of the egg! don

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Originally Posted by KatStoverReptiles

Last year (1st clutch) I used a 6qt Sterilite tub. The lids are loose, at best and I had humidity issues on day 2. I used the substrateless method with about 1.5" of vermiculite soaked and a light diffuser. I ended up having to press n' seal them to keep the humidity in. Had 100% hatch.

This year I've found some sterilite locking tubs. They are significantly smaller than the 6qts, but the lids are much tighter. I used more like 2.5" of vermiculite soaked and 2 layers of light diffuser. Haven't had the eggs in the 'bator long enough to evaluate, but during my test runs I had condensation buildup on the sides of the tubs...which I never had during testing last year.

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^ This. I use cross-stitch plastic under one layer of light diffuser to hold it up over the perlite.

By the way, Kat, Walmart has 7-qt. locking lid tubs that fit a clutch even better than the 6-qts. They are about the same floor dimensions, but a little taller, in case you have a clumped clutch that you can't/don't want to seperate.