Egg/ incubator update.. does this sound good?

I got a Little Giant still air incubator; it is working great. I have it at a nice, steady 91 degrees; I was told and have found that it does fluctuate off a degree or two but this seems to be OK. I kept the 2 eggs in the vermiculite, in the tray with a tight fitting glass panel atop to retain the humidity. Does everything sound good here? The dents seem to definately be popping out, but it also seems like this is happening slowly; I notice it, say, when I look at them first thing in the morning after not seeing them for a few hours. Here's the Inc:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6.../incubator.jpg

Any comments?

looks like your on the right track. although I'd still lower the temp like two degress, your in the safe zone now.

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Originally Posted by jkobylka

looks like your on the right track. although I'd still lower the temp like two degress, your in the safe zone now.

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Why should they lower the temp? I have pretty much the same incubator and i have my temps set at 92 and have had zero problems two years in a row now.I was told if you flucuate your temps to much it can cause problems for the baby,so i keep it set and never change its setting.I agree that they are on the right track though.

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Originally Posted by joepythons

Why should they lower the temp? I have pretty much the same incubator and i have my temps set at 92 and have had zero problems two years in a row now.I was told if you flucuate your temps to much it can cause problems for the baby,so i keep it set and never change its setting.I agree that they are on the right track though.

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All of the research I've done has said to keep incubation temps at 88-90 degrees. I'm curious as to the source of the information which has you incubating at a higher temp. (Please do not take this as an attack, as I am genuinely curious) You have done this for two years, how many clutches have you produced and what hatch ratio. I am hoping to have eggs next year, and would like to absorb as much info as I can. :)

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Originally Posted by joepythons

i have my temps set at 92 and have had zero problems two years in a row now.

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I have never heard anyone incubating at such high temps before. What made you start incubating at that temp? I have heard alot of breeders say 87-90 but never quite that high. Not criticizing, just wondering. :)

Darn, you beat me Christie!!! :)

I'm sneaky that way. :neener: I'm just glad someone else asked the same question. :D

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Originally Posted by tigerlily

All of the research I've done has said to keep incubation temps at 88-90 degrees. I'm curious as to the source of the information which has you incubating at a higher temp. (Please do not take this as an attack, as I am genuinely curious) You have done this for two years, how many clutches have you produced and what hatch ratio. I am hoping to have eggs next year, and would like to absorb as much info as I can. :)

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Your attacking me:sabduel: .Just joking lol.The sources i recieved my temp info from was breeders both online and speaking to in person before i started breeding.Last year i had 1 female drop 8 all hatched into perfectly healthy babies.This year my other female dropped 11, 8 hatched 2 died right away after being laid and the other loss died right after hatching.The later baby looked like it had a problem absorbing its egg yolk sack.Now back to our fighting lol.

OK, i just took a second look at my thermometar and it shows between 90 and 92 temps.Its more on the 92ish area though.I left it plugged in just incase my other female ball decided to drop some eggs.

i'm also curious as to what kind of thermostat you're using and what kind of thermometer to check temps? just curious... also do you put the stat probe in the eggbox or in the bator?



vaughn

Temps that fluctuate by that much (two degrees) could kill your eggs from what I've read/heard. Get a Helix/Herpstat/Other Proportional on that thing and your temp fluctuations should be a lot less.

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Originally Posted by kavmon

i'm also curious as to what kind of thermostat you're using and what kind of thermometer to check temps? just curious... also do you put the stat probe in the eggbox or in the bator?



vaughn

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Not sure if this was a question for me or not but will answer just in case.My havobator came with a thermomater and that is what i use to read the temps inside the hovabator.I also have a hand held temp gun that i verify the eggs are warm enough.The hovabators have a built in thermostate that shuts off once the desired temp is reached.I look at it this way some people incubate there eggs at one temp other might do it at a differant temp in all its the end result thats the same.Nice healthy babies lol.Just like i do not cool my snakes down to prepare for breeding some do,we still end up with babies though.

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Originally Posted by joepythons

Why should they lower the temp? I have pretty much the same incubator and i have my temps set at 92 and have had zero problems two years in a row now.I was told if you flucuate your temps to much it can cause problems for the baby,so i keep it set and never change its setting.I agree that they are on the right track though.

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Each degree you get over 90 when incubating, you increase your chances of deformities and problems with proper yolk absorption by the babies. With a small enough sample there is probably more tolerance for error, but sooner or later the higher temps will catch up with you.

Many breeders now are actually working on the lower end of the temp spectrum for incubation ... since incubation temps have a direct influence over the rate at which the embryo develops, it is often seen that eggs incubated at lower temps take longer to hatch, but also produce much larger more robust hatchlings that tend to aggressively take food from the first time offered ... conversely, eggs that are incubated at higher temps hatch faster resulting in smaller offspring that are notoriously difficult to get feeding.

I've incubated at temps from as low as 86 to as high as 94 over the past 11 years and I now prefer right around 88 or 89 degrees.

Just my $.02

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

Each degree you get over 90 when incubating, you increase your chances of deformities and problems with proper yolk absorption by the babies. With a small enough sample there is probably more tolerance for error, but sooner or later the higher temps will catch up with you.

Many breeders now are actually working on the lower end of the temp spectrum for incubation ... since incubation temps have a direct influence over the rate at which the embryo develops, it is often seen that eggs incubated at lower temps take longer to hatch, but also produce much larger more robust hatchlings that tend to aggressively take food from the first time offered ... conversely, eggs that are incubated at higher temps hatch faster resulting in smaller offspring that are notoriously difficult to get feeding.

I've incubated at temps from as low as 86 to as high as 94 over the past 11 years and I now prefer right around 88 or 89 degrees.

Just my $.02

-adam

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This is the best post I have read in a long time. Thank you for the great info Adam!
This is exactly why you are my hero :gj:

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

Each degree you get over 90 when incubating, you increase your chances of deformities and problems with proper yolk absorption by the babies. With a small enough sample there is probably more tolerance for error, but sooner or later the higher temps will catch up with you.

Many breeders now are actually working on the lower end of the temp spectrum for incubation ... since incubation temps have a direct influence over the rate at which the embryo develops, it is often seen that eggs incubated at lower temps take longer to hatch, but also produce much larger more robust hatchlings that tend to aggressively take food from the first time offered ... conversely, eggs that are incubated at higher temps hatch faster resulting in smaller offspring that are notoriously difficult to get feeding.

I've incubated at temps from as low as 86 to as high as 94 over the past 11 years and I now prefer right around 88 or 89 degrees.

Just my $.02

-adam

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I understand what you are saying and your concerns.Maybe my thermomater is off and my temps are really 90 or less thus the reason i am not having deformities or such:confuzd: .

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Originally Posted by joepythons

I understand what you are saying and your concerns.Maybe my thermomater is off and my temps are really 90 or less thus the reason i am not having deformities or such:confuzd: .

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Didn't say that you were Joe, hope you didn't take my post the wrong way. I've stated it many many times on this forum, but obviously each breeder/keeper should do what works best for them ... there are many many ways to successfully keep and breed p. regius. I only share my experiences as a resource for people that are trying to gather as much information as possible in order to figure out what will work best for them if they've never done it before. ;)

ROCK ON! :rockon:

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

Didn't say that you were Joe, hope you didn't take my post the wrong way. I've stated it many many times on this forum, but obviously each breeder/keeper should do what works best for them ... there are many many ways to successfully keep and breed p. regius. I only share my experiences as a resource for people that are trying to gather as much information as possible in order to figure out what will work best for them if they've never done it before. ;)

ROCK ON! :rockon:

-adam

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No i understood that you were just mentioning the problems.Cmon Adam lets fight:sabduel: lol.

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Originally Posted by joepythons

No i understood that you were just mentioning the problems.Cmon Adam lets fight:sabduel: lol.

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Not how I roll bro! ;) ... But any day you want to talk snakes over beers, coffee, apple juice, or water, I'm all over it! :gj:

-adam

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Originally Posted by Adam_Wysocki

Not how I roll bro! ;) ... But any day you want to talk snakes over beers, coffee, apple juice, or water, I'm all over it! :gj:

-adam

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OK if i ever stroll your way your on :cool: .Hey Adam do we have lives outside of the computer? It seems like when i am online so are you lol.

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Originally Posted by joepythons

OK if i ever stroll your way your on :cool: .Hey Adam do we have lives outside of the computer? It seems like when i am online so are you lol.

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Seems like these days, setting up hatchlings, cleaning snake poop, talking on the phone, and banging on the keyboard is all I do!!! :P

When snake sales are strong I'm in front of the computer a lot .... this week is awesome and I don't see it slowing down anytime soon. ;)

-adam

Thanks; you guys are awesome. However I still have a delimma here; both eggs still candled with nice red veins, but they are both still denty. I am doing all I can to humidify but am terrified of them becoming too moist and dying as a result. The Inc. seems to be really holding steady and I am using an Accurite digi indoor/outdoor thermometer; the sensor is cordless and actually resembles an egg so i figure it is pretty accurate ;) What should the exact percentage of humidity be in the tub for the little boogers?

I have mine setup similar to yours and my humidity gauge says 95%. My eggs are approximately 5 days old and still look perfect!! :)

Thanks! :)

The dents are something to be too concerned about unless the egg continues to deflate. If it stays steady now that you have the humidity higher, you should be good to go.

Justin

Thanks; now I know what you all meant when you said, this time of year (the waiting-for-hatchlings) seems to take forever!

So guy's I guess Hovabator's are O.k.

The brand name of this one is Little Giant. It looks similar to the hovabators I have seen. I still have the eggs in a r-maid with vermiculite inside the inc, covered, to retain humodity and (this sounds so exciting to me!) provecting the hatchlings from coiling around the heating element.

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Originally Posted by emilio

So guy's I guess Hovabator's are O.k.

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I use the hovabators for my ball python eggs and corn snake eggs.Once you get your temps set you have zero problems.