Temperatur in Incubator

Hmmm,

my incubator that is et up in a real hurry this morning only provides 28.5°C and fluctuates upwards to 29.9°C.

Will this be harmful for the eggs?

Can't find anything safe to have it heated up more...


Robb

What are you using as an incubator? Is it home-made?

Yeah,

a homemade incubator - I made it for corn snakes and now am breeding Balls...

DANG, she laid the eggs just too early....


Robb

Any input for me???

Robb

Do you have your probe in the container you are going to incubate in? That seems to help with the fluctuations. Also what kind of thermostat are you using?

Neil

What's that in farenheit? Us yanks could help more if we could analyze your temps. Is ther a fan to even out temps?

Gotta love surprises! We have our incubator set at 89-90 degrees with a fan to help even out the temps. Our's is a homemade job too....made out of an old refridgerator. So far (knock on wood) we haven't had any problems with it. Good luck!

28.5C = 83.3F
29.9C = 85.8F

89F=31.6C

The temps are a little to a lot low for BP eggs, the two degree fluctuation in temperature is the least of your worries now. You need to raise the temperature to around 89F and then try to maintain a steady temperature. An incubator should maintain a +/- 0.5F or better without much problem with a decent proportional controller.

I have no experience with BP eggs incubating at 83-85F so I don't know if they will hatch or die. The last few degrees may be very important. Someone else may know the answer, I know the recommended temperature is around 89F.

Herpstat and additional Flexwatt arriving tomorrow.

In the meantime, let's keep our fingers crossed - I raised the temperature in the entire appt. and am around 87.5 in the incubator now.

Robb

Finally I found the problem with my incubator.

The thermostat probe was too close to the ground, measuring the high temps of the floor only...

I got that fixed...

Now,
some literature recommends to have the temps dropped over night to 27-28°C (81-82°F).
Any comments on that?

Second clutch to come REALLY soon.

Robb

I haven't started breeding yet, but I've been doing A LOT of reading. All the articles I've read have stated keeping a CONSTANT temp. of 89-90*.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LilRobb

Finally I found the problem with my incubator.

The thermostat probe was too close to the ground, measuring the high temps of the floor only...

I got that fixed...

Now,
some literature recommends to have the temps dropped over night to 27-28°C (81-82°F).
Any comments on that?

Second clutch to come REALLY soon.

Robb

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That wouldn't make any sense. This is because although in the wild there is a temperature drop of 10 degrees or so, maternal incubation is the only choice, and so the eggs are never exposed temps that low.

??

But don't drop temperatures in the wild over night?


Robb
not sure what you mean

Quote:

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Originally Posted by LilRobb

??

But don't drop temperatures in the wild over night?


Robb
not sure what you mean

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Yes, but there is maternal incubation and so the temps of the eggs are raised to the desired level by the female python incubating them ;) .

In latest book by the Barker's they discuss reasearch done on BP's that shows they cannot increase temps of their clutch like many other snakes can. What I think helps the BP's maintain temps in the wild is where they lay which is either underground or in termite mounds where the termites actually affect temps, but being under ground helps keep temps and humidity somewhat constant. When it comes to incubators we found what the best temps are and we try to stick as close to that as possible because low or high temps can lead to deformities. Some believe to stick closer to 88 degress to allow for a little warm up during the day. Most incubators heat up fine but can't cool themselves down.

I added some 3feet of 11inch flexwatt and a Herpstat instead of the non-pro thermostat.
Running for 6hrs now and looking WAY better.
Second clutch came today - 8 fine eggs, had to separate em - not enough height in my incubator.

Robb