Incubating at 87 degrees

So I thought I would start this thread since my intention this season is to incubate all of my clutches at 87 degrees instead of 89 as I have in the past. I have heard that there may be some advantages such as larger hatch weights and better feeding response, but don't know how much truth there is to it. So far my first clutch looks good. Here is a shot at day 48 and so far only one egg is even showing signs of a little sinking. The rest looked like when they were laid on March 8th.

[IMG]http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/...psxr8un0wd.jpg[/IMG]

I wasn't able to weigh all of the eggs individually so I won't be able to compare the hatch weight to the egg weight. More over I just want to look at the average weights as my previous clutches I have never had a hatchling exceed 63 grams. Also, my previous clutches had a 30% to 50% incident of hatchlings having to be assist fed before they would start eating on their own. I will update this thread as my season progresses and I have some data.

Thanks for looking.

Great topic. I am interested to hear your results, please keep us posted :)

I incubate at 89°F and have never had a problem but I am always looking to improve and learn as much as possible.

I have incubated at 85-90 and never really saw enough of a difference to say one way or the other. However I always incubate around 86-87 just in case there would ever be a heat spike I have a little extra room in the temps. It only adds a couple days on to the time at the end.

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Originally Posted by bondo

However I always incubate around 86-87 just in case there would ever be a heat spike I have a little extra room in the temps. It only adds a couple days on to the time at the end.

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You say it only adds a couple days to the hatch time but right now at 52 days, my eggs still look perfect. With the exception of one that is only slightly dented (same as in picture from day 48) they have yet to start collapsing. How many clutches would you say you've incubated at the lower temps? How has your experience been with feeding responses? Have you had much incidence of hatchlings requiring assist feeding?

Last year I inadvertently incubated a clutch at 86.5*F (was going for 87.5*F). I'll have to check my notes but IIRC all nine pipped within a day of each other at day 68.

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Originally Posted by rlditmars

You say it only adds a couple days to the hatch time but right now at 52 days, my eggs still look perfect. With the exception of one that is only slightly dented (same as in picture from day 48) they have yet to start collapsing. How many clutches would you say you've incubated at the lower temps? How has your experience been with feeding responses? Have you had much incidence of hatchlings requiring assist feeding?

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I am not sure how many clutches I have incubated at that temp. There have been 50+ anyway at that temp. I cut eggs at 57-58 days. Hmmmmm now that I think about it I guess the lower temp probably actually added a few days not 2. In your case though I would wait because this is your first time doing it at cooler temps. To be safe I would let one pip first. After cutting mine they are usually all out within about 5 days. Out of all those clutches I can only think of 2 I needed to assist feed. One I only assisted once and it took off. The other was very stubborn and took probably 7-8 assists. However after she took on her own she rarely misses a meal now. She is almost 3 years old now and is close to 3000 grams if not over now. I don't ever get any real runty hatchlings though. I am not sure if that has to do with incubating temps or other factors though.

Well day 61 and the first pipper decides to say hello. I am surprised at how good the eggs still look.

[IMG]http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/...pspjvz1mjv.jpg[/IMG]

Once they are all out, I will get some preliminary weights and then to wait for them to shed and see how the feeding responses are.

I'm a little anxious because so far none of our other girls have even ovulated yet, unless I missed it.

Thanks for looking.

Congrats if it makes you feel better I just got my first eggs a few days ago. I am even farther behind then you. :)

Over the years I have incubated at various temps from high to low and I have not notice any difference aside from the time it takes for the eggs to hatch obviously.

I have small and big hatchlings at low and high temps, strong feeding response from the majority of the animals I hatched and a few animals that need assisting each year (around 1% to 2% of my animals need assisting and generally it's less than 3 consecutive times more often than not just once).

It's day 63 and everyone is finally out. As I said earlier in the thread I wasn't able to weigh all of the eggs individually, but there were 9 eggs and the combined weight was 736 grams. I weighed all 9 babies and the combined weight was 501 grams. So this means that about 68% of the total material weight of the eggs ended up in the bodies of the babies. Now to wait until they all shed and see what their feeding responses are like. I have a long ways to go compiling data but I like how this first clutch has gone so far. The pairing was a Pastel to a Normal and the results were 0.0.6 Pastels and 0.0.3 Normals. I will follow up with the gender results once I have popped them. The Pastels are the 6 on the left.

[IMG]http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/...psqffro4s5.jpg[/IMG]

I was surprised how blushed the head on this one is. The head almost looks more like a super than a single gene.

[IMG]http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/...psqy2ru7hk.jpg[/IMG]

Thanks for looking and following this thread.

Great job on the hatchling dude! Those are some real healthy looking babies, I like the pastels!

Today was feeding day for the new babies. Went with mouse hoppers. All 9 ate without issue. This is the first clutch I have had 100% success on the first feeding. Way too small a data set to draw any definitive conclusions, but I am liking the results so far.

My second girl is in pre-lay shed right now so I should have a second clutch in the incubator in about a month or so.

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Originally Posted by rlditmars

Today was feeding day for the new babies. Went with mouse hoppers. All 9 ate without issue. This is the first clutch I have had 100% success on the first feeding. Way too small a data set to draw any definitive conclusions, but I am liking the results so far.

My second girl is in pre-lay shed right now so I should have a second clutch in the incubator in about a month or so.

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While I realize that the plural of anecdote is not data, the nine babies from the clutch that I incubated at 86.5*F last year all ate immediately as well.

Well I thought I would update this thread. Clutch #2 pipped on day 59 and all the snakes had crawled out by day 61.

[IMG]http://i1247.photobucket.com/albums/...psy4do1bl3.jpg[/IMG]

Again I was not able to weigh eggs individually but the combined weight of the babies was about 65% of the total combined weight of the eggs. Unlike the first clutch, all of the babies shed as expected within about nine days. Today was three days since the last one shed so I offered all of them live mouse hoppers. They all ate no problem. Again, compared to past experiences this is excellent. Other clutches I had incubated at 89 - 90 degrees always had babies that didn't eat without me having to assist feed them. Still too small a data set, but I am liking the results.

I have two more clutches to go in the incubator. One is at day 59 and the other at day 57 so I should have some pippers here pretty soon. I'll keep you updated as they hatch.