gosh...this stinks!!!

So I am kinda bummed.

ok I have 7 eggs incubating and they have been wonderful.

until now.

:(

they were laid on 7/02 and since then I have had 2 power outages.

the first one only lasted a couple hours and everything looked great. but then last Saturday we had another and the power was out almost ALL DAY.

so on monday I glanced at them and noticed a couple starting to dent. they were only 21 days so it was a lil early for that.

well I left them alone and I looked in at them today and noticed that there were a couple moulding. :(

so I open it up and it smelled a lil but there are 3 of the seven that have begun to mould.

So I had Susan come over with a flashlight so I could candle them (the kids killed the batteries in mine) and the good news is that the other 4 do have veins. they are also a lil more sturdy (if that even makes sense). I did not see veins in 2 of the 3 mouldy ones but maybe in the 3rd.

I left them all in the box so we will see what happens.

I have not been opening the box to check on them. the humidity and temps are all great. I think it was the sudden drop in temps. It got to about 74 degrees in there before the power came back on.

Jeff is getting a generator for next season though!

anywho...just wanted to share.

Meme,
I have mentioned this before, but I'd like to reiterate in case you missed it. If you are going to use a generator for any of your snake stuff, make sure you are using on/off thermostats, as the "dirty" power that is supplied by most generators will not run a proportional t-stat. I treid to run my Helix's after Hurricane Katrina with a generator, and I had 0 luck. Snakes didn't have heat for 31 days. Fortunately it was about 90 degrees outside for the duration of our power outage.

Just a little note I thought you might like to know.

Tim, this may have been discussed, but I thought I'd throw it in. I'm wondering if a battery backup for a computer placed between the thermostat and the generator would clean up the power enough to make it work?

Steve

Argh, I am sorry about that. In both cases where my eggs went bad though, it was because the incubators crashed the temps upward.
I hope that you get some hatchlings out of them. Maybe since the ones are not decaying much now, they are still viable? Once you know the stink of dead eggs, you know what it is for life. :( I wish you the best though.

Thanks Tim!

I will let Jeff know that. ;)

I just hope I don't lose any.

I have been really good about everything with them and so far that has been the only problem.

damn that Dominion Power!

but since I did candle them and 4 of them for sure have veins...I feel a lil better.

so only a couple more weeks! and my fingers are crossed!

I agree with Tim on generators...but it cost a lot less to get APC back ups..I know tons of companies and people that use these and it works very well...when you get a power outage it gives you the proper amount of time to shutdown your computer or disconnect whatever...in your case it will store enough power to power your incubator

http://www.apc.com/products/category.cfm?id=13

but a generator would work great too

There are UPS systems out there that run much longer. I only know this as I worked for a company assembling bank machines, and now for a cable company doing tech support, at both we had UPS that could keep systems up and running perfectly for up to 4 hours... I bet they cost an arm and a leg though, and unfortunately although I used to install them I can't remember the name brand of the ones we used for the bank machines.

Awwww...that sucks Memes...I know you where so excited about these :(


I hope the others make it to full term :hug:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by muddoc

Meme,
I have mentioned this before, but I'd like to reiterate in case you missed it. If you are going to use a generator for any of your snake stuff, make sure you are using on/off thermostats, as the "dirty" power that is supplied by most generators will not run a proportional t-stat. I treid to run my Helix's after Hurricane Katrina with a generator, and I had 0 luck. Snakes didn't have heat for 31 days. Fortunately it was about 90 degrees outside for the duration of our power outage.

Just a little note I thought you might like to know.

---

I took note of this the first time you mentioned it, very important advice you gave out there, for which I am very gratefull for!

Wow sweetie! I know that sux.... but focus on the good ones, and I'll keep my fingers crossed for you! :)

MEME i have an incubator that can be up and running if need be, waiting on my girl to lay but with these storms lately if you need it just call or let me know and i will bring it over! also battery back up systems they have at best buy or any other place that carries them for computers can keep it on for up to 8 hours ( expensive) but the ones that last 2 are only like 50-100 bucks

Nertz,


Sorry to hear this Meme, hope the rest of em are ok for ya.

Are power outages a common thing where you are? I have been here 11 years and never had one ( well, once, but that was more a forgot to pay the bill thing. :oops: ).

The computer UPS units should be better for the thermostat - I have two over here but have never used them because I can't afford the batteries for them. :rofl:

They are usually rated by wattage so if you are only using a small peice of flex you should hopefully get longer out of them than you would at full load.

Check ebay etc for them or look for somewhere that recycles old computer equipment from large companies and you might be able to get a bargain.


dr del

At first I was going to say you could rig something to use a small flame to get heat during an outage but that's got its obvious drawbacks. Then I remembered that there are alot of chemical heating devices - some of which work for periods over 12hrs. If you could get a stable fixed heat source then you could control the temperatures by adding/removing separators.

Of course, a generator is best but if it doesn't work out for some reason...

http://www.raytechcatalog.com/produc...g-pad-134.html

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

Nertz,
Are power outages a common thing where you are? I have been here 11 years and never had one ( well, once, but that was more a forgot to pay the bill thing. :oops: ).

---

its guns, not butter, these days.

I hope they make it for ya. Finger's crossed

MeMe, I'm sending all the good vibes I can out your way for the remaining 4.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by muddoc

I have mentioned this before, but I'd like to reiterate in case you missed it. If you are going to use a generator for any of your snake stuff, make sure you are using on/off thermostats, as the "dirty" power that is supplied by most generators will not run a proportional t-stat. I treid to run my Helix's after Hurricane Katrina with a generator, and I had 0 luck. Snakes didn't have heat for 31 days. Fortunately it was about 90 degrees outside for the duration of our power outage.

Just a little note I thought you might like to know.

---

Thanks for that heads up Tim. I missed your first post. Now I need to think of an alternative to handle this. :confused:

dont forget the trick of having waterbottles or bricks in there to keep the steady temps...helps a whole lot ( have heard ) if power goes out

Thanks everybody!

the question about power outages in our area...we only got them because of storms.

and I do have water bottles in the bottom. ;) That last time the power was out for about 14 hours. :oops:

I also appreciate your offer Nick! :hug: I should be ok for this season and next feb I am getting a nicer incubator. :D

I am really just concentrating on the other 4 eggs and hopefully they will make it.

:rockon:

So sorry Memes! Glad we got to see candle them! You know I'm wishing for the best. :hug:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by daaangconcepts

So sorry Memes! Glad we got to see candle them! You know I'm wishing for the best. :hug:

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:D thanks Susie-Q!

if they make it I think I am gonna name one of them Daaang! ;)

or...Cooter. :rolleyes:

:cool:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jeffnme

:D thanks Susie-Q!

if they make it I think I am gonna name one of them Daaang! ;)

or...Cooter. :rolleyes:

:cool:

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Awww... That makes me smile and want to slap yo mouf at the same time! :D

Haha! Just joking about the mouf slappin' :hug:

have power problems today MeMe? ours went out for a few seconds here

Hang in there memes! They don't all make it. Its entirely possible that those weren't slated to make it full term. Best of luck with the others!!

hey Susan it's ok. I may like it. ;) (nh of course)

and no Nick. None today but I was stressin it for a lil bit!

thee storms lately have been so crazy!

and thanks Jamie. :hug:

I am really goin to go nuts for the next couple of weeks now for sure though!

:rolleyes: