Wet egg set up!

Hey all… Sorry it has taken me so long to get to this but I really need some help…
I have a water droplet problem with my egg set up…
I keep seeing water droplets on my egg crate…
The temperatures are all good… 88-90, humidity is high high… I am just concerned that they will drops on the eggs, how can I limit / eliminate this?
I have a second set up slightly less water, but it was a test n now I’m looking like I might need both… is there a remedy for this issue .. does anyone have this issue?
I have a pretty basic setup as you can see in the pics but Need some immediate correction..

I heard of press & seal ? But is there anything else? I


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I've never incubated BP eggs, but any time I've ever hatched snake eggs, I used plastic wrap ('stretch & seal') to cover the egg container (tightly rubber-banded to the container), & then I poked some pin-holes in it so there was just enough air exchange to minimize condensation, because that condensation can drip on & drown your eggs (as you obviously realize). My methods are "old school" but they never failed me either.

You're correct that what you have there is a wet-mess just waiting to drown your eggs. Not sure what else you could do? Glad you don't have eggs in there yet.

From what I've learned on this site through various members is that your temperature outside the polybox may be causing the condensation, this is causd if there is a lot of fluctuation in the room temp your keeping the box in. You seem to have alot of water.

Is your stat in the incubator and not the egg box?

Something myself and alot if others do is put something under one end of the box which will leave the boxed sloped causing condensation to form into water drops and roll down an into your substrate level. However that advice is only for mild condensation issues.

On the press and seal i can't see that doing to much as I think condensation is mainly a temp problem and nothing to do with humidity.

I've never used it its actually impossible to get it here. Not even a copy product. I digress, but I wouldn't have any advise on that.


Out of interest is there condensation on the underside (inside) of the poly box lid?

You could also try duct taping a paper towel to the lid, hopefully it will absorb the excess condensation without lowering the humidity too much.

I had the same issue last year with my first clutches. 1) I think you have too much water in your incubation medium. 2) its being caused by a temperature difference between the inside and outside of your tub.

What I did was before I had eggs I was wiping the top down with a paper towel everytime it had a lot of droplets. As I removed the excess moisture building up. Eventually the time between needing to wipe the drops increased. Too where I only wiped the container twice during the time it had eggs inside.

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You could just wipe off the lid every two weeks. Not going to hurt anything if you stay on top of it.

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Originally Posted by JacksReptiles

You could just wipe off the lid every two weeks. Not going to hurt anything if you stay on top of it.

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If only the drips would stick to a schedule so as not to drown the eggs. :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by IrishBalls

From what I've learned on this site through various members is that your temperature outside the polybox may be causing the condensation, this is causd if there is a lot of fluctuation in the room temp your keeping the box in. You seem to have alot of water.

Is your stat in the incubator and not the egg box?

Something myself and alot if others do is put something under one end of the box which will leave the boxed sloped causing condensation to form into water drops and roll down an into your substrate level. However that advice is only for mild condensation issues.

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That is an amazing idea!! I truly appreciate this .. I wouldn’t have thought of a slope [emoji2956]


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by IrishBalls

From what I've learned on this site through various members is that your temperature outside the polybox may be causing the condensation, this is causd if there is a lot of fluctuation in the room temp your keeping the box in. You seem to have alot of water.

Is your stat in the incubator and not the egg box?

Something myself and alot if others do is put something under one end of the box which will leave the boxed sloped causing condensation to form into water drops and roll down an into your substrate level. However that advice is only for mild condensation issues.

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My stat is out side, this set up was pos2 b a ruff draft, I was between buying and doing this, but here I am
heating pad under tubs separate stats
both identical and stat & heat pad,
I’m between 88-90°.. but I fear loosing humidity by making adjustments now


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by IrishBalls

On the press and seal i can't see that doing to much as I think condensation is mainly a temp problem and nothing to do with humidity.

I've never used it its actually impossible to get it here. Not even a copy product. I digress, but I wouldn't have any advise on that.


Out of interest is there condensation on the underside (inside) of the poly box lid?

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Yes, it’s all on the sides and on the lid, when I open it it literally rains [emoji849]


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Erie_herps

You could also try duct taping a paper towel to the lid, hopefully it will absorb the excess condensation without lowering the humidity too much.

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I’m guess that b an issue eventually opening it up to change towels ?
I’m thinking of fabricating a runoff system [emoji849]


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Originally Posted by MattEvans

I had the same issue last year with my first clutches. 1) I think you have too much water in your incubation medium. 2) its being caused by a temperature difference between the inside and outside of your tub.

What I did was before I had eggs I was wiping the top down with a paper towel everytime it had a lot of droplets. As I removed the excess moisture building up. Eventually the time between needing to wipe the drops increased. Too where I only wiped the container twice during the time it had eggs inside.

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So your basically eliminating water lil by lil ...letting the water balance eventually ? How will you know you have removed enough? My fear is removing too much and I run into that issue later.. I read it is easier to add than remove .. so I’m tryna find a medium now [emoji174][emoji25]


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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

If only the drips would stick to a schedule so as not to drown the eggs. :rolleyes:

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They going to learn today !! Lol


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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ronniex2

That is an amazing idea!! I truly appreciate this .. I wouldn’t have thought of a slope [emoji2956]


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I sure wouldn't have either. I hope that works for you. You might also dry the top really well, & then rub it with barely a tiny bit of cooking oil, so the water slides off better. By now, there might be tiny mineral deposits that drops could stick to.

As I said before, I've hatched plenty of snake eggs but never BPs. BP eggs apparently need more warmth & humidity than the eggs I've worked with, so my :colbert2: for all that you have to go thru.

My methods with colubrid eggs were very low-tech- The clear plastic wrap let me see what was going on, & the tiny bit of condensation next to the pin-holes told me I had the right humidity- any more condensation than that & I opened it up for a while to air out.

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Originally Posted by Ronniex2

So your basically eliminating water lil by lil ...letting the water balance eventually ? How will you know you have removed enough? My fear is removing too much and I run into that issue later.. I read it is easier to add than remove .. so I’m tryna find a medium now [emoji174][emoji25]


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If you measure 1:1 by weight water to incubation medium. You should be able to squeeze it into clumps without any excess water dripping out. When you touch it, it doesn't really feel wet. Breeders will use press and seal and never touch it again until eggs are hatching.
If your incubator has air flow from the outside you will lose humidity as the air outside the incubator will eventually equalise with the air inside.


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[QUOTE=MattEvans;2755961]If you measure 1:1 by weight water to incubation medium. You should be able to squeeze it into clumps without any excess water dripping out. When you touch it, it doesn't really feel wet. Breeders will use press and seal and never touch it again until eggs are hatching...[QUOTE]


That's what I did for the incubation medium (vermiculite + water). And the nice thing about plastic wrap is being able to see right thru it- what's going on with the eggs, without opening it up. ;)

And in all honesty, I only really measured the water & vermiculite the first time I incubated snake eggs. After that I just went by feel & appearance of the mix- I don't think "mother nature" measures either, so I've always been pretty "casual" in my methods, compared to most of you here. ;) Of course it was never my livelihood either- admittedly that could make a difference.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MattEvans

I had the same issue last year with my first clutches. 1) I think you have too much water in your incubation medium. 2) its being caused by a temperature difference between the inside and outside of your tub.

What I did was before I had eggs I was wiping the top down with a paper towel everytime it had a lot of droplets. As I removed the excess moisture building up. Eventually the time between needing to wipe the drops increased. Too where I only wiped the container twice during the time it had eggs inside.

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Can condensation be caused by number 1? Not sure why I thought the level of water didn't affect condensation.

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Originally Posted by IrishBalls

Can condensation be caused by number 1? Not sure why I thought the level of water didn't affect condensation.

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Obviously yes. When I got excessive condensation, all I had to do to fix it was open it up (take off the plastic) for a while so some moisture could escape. I think you'll find it's always better to go "light" on the water you add- you can always add more, but it's harder to pull out the excessive water. Granted my incubation set-up was different than yours, but I don't think that changes anything.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ronniex2

My stat is out side, this set up was pos2 b a ruff draft, I was between buying and doing this, but here I am
heating pad under tubs separate stats
both identical and stat & heat pad,
I’m between 88-90°.. but I fear loosing humidity by making adjustments now


Why the two different stats? If you don't mind me asking. And if that stats are on/off type this will increase condensation.

I definitely wouldn't put eggs into that with how bad the condensation is. They will drown very quickly.

The fact your getting condensation in the whole incubator would lead me to belive there's a huge difference between incubator temp and the temp of wherever your incubator is. Either that or the insulation of the polyboz is extremely thin or crap. ..

Condensation forms when hot-air meets cold air The condensation forms on the hot side which is your whole incubator... I think a good example of this would be when your car windows start to fog up.

One more question do you have anything else in the incubator? Specifically liquid. Any water trays or bottles?

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Bogertophis

Obviously yes. When I got excessive condensation, all I had to do to fix it was open it up (take off the plastic) for a while so some moisture could escape. I think you'll find it's always better to go "light" on the water you add- you can always add more, but it's harder to pull out the excessive water. Granted my incubation set-up was different than yours, but I don't think that changes anything.

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Think its past my bedtime. Looking at it now it sounds silly Never did like physics at school.

I still think the OPs problem is temperature related as its the whole incubator as opposed to just the egg box thats soaked.. What do yiu think?