Moisture in egg tubs?

Just put a clutch in the incubator (first clutch ever). About an hr later there is some dew on the sides of the tub. I heard that should not happen till late in the cycle. Any thoughts? Heres a pic, Im using egg crate in a 6 qt, with perelite and water. also should i seran wrap the tub aswell?

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...snake004-1.jpg

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o...snake001-1.jpg

lower the humidity, and swipe off the sides of the tub so that there is no longer any dew. what is your humidity level at?

Once my humidity guage goes past 80% it just says 'HIGH' How can it be too much humidity I thought they need 100%?

I would use some type of glad press and seal. Others on here use it. I never did until this year and it has worked great at keeping temps and humidity stable in the egg box. I tried the egg crate thing this year with the perelite. I almost lost the eggs I couldn't keep humidity high enough for some reason. About half way though incubating my first clutch of 08. I had to switch them back to vermiculite. You might want to think about that too. I know others have used it and it has worked great for them. The egg crate thing. It just didnt work for me.

Your box will get some water drops on the inside of it. How long after the eggs were laid was it until you put them in the incubator? To me dented in eggs means they are drying out, or close to hatching. Since you just put them in, the hatching is out. As long as there isn't a bunch of water dripping from the lid onto the eggs. The water drops should be fine. If they are getting dripped on. You can put a piece of paper towel over the eggs. Change it every day or every other day.

I also used the substrateless incubation method, and had condensation forming on the top and sides of my egg tub, from DAY 1!

I experminated a little with temps, glass top, rubbermaid top, water bowl on bottom on bator to raise the humidity in the air on the bator.

I found that when using the glass top (with no air flow to the box- which would give you the same results as using the press and seal) larger condensation drops formed. So I resulted in using a homemade rubbermaid top as shown in this thread. With NO press and seal.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=63015

Anyways I found that the condensation was not a problem for me at all. It formed throughout the incubation period, and I just wiped it off once a week when I vented the egg box.


I created a thread on this topic that might help.

http://www.ball-pythons.net/forums/s...ad.php?t=65519

Was the tub already incubating before you put the eggs in? If not it is just colder than the incubator air so the moisture is condensing. I would cover the top with press-n-seal (if you never tried it before this stuff is great) I tried saran wrap but its no where near as easy as press-n-seal.

Condensation happens from a variance in temps inside and outside the tub. Once the temps even out you shouldnt have that much condensation.

you still may get a little condensation but press and seal is great when helping even out temperatures. just replace it once in a while and wipe the condensation off the sides so it doesnt build up over time. paper towels over the eggs is a great idea as well.

Thanks for the great advice, reps given. :)

I'm no expert. I used the no substrate method. I used Hatchrite,I added a lot of water.Not enough to make it soupy...maybe a cup or so.Put the light grate on the hatchrite. I had one small hole in the 6qt tub for the thermostat probe. I covered the tub with press and seal. Snapped the lid on over that. Incubation temp was 89f.If I had to guess, I would say the humidity was at or near 100%,
I had water droplets from day one. I opened the tub once a week for the first 4 weeks,just for a quick peek to exchange air. then every 5 days after that. All the eggs hatched.
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s...tch15-7-08.jpg
http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s...3/babypic2.jpg

eggs can be successfully incubated with water droplets on the sides and lid of the egg box. all it means is that the temperature within the incubator is different than the temperature within the egg box. as long as the temperature and humidity within the egg box are what they are supposed to be and youre being careful not to get those eggs wet then incubation should go well.

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Originally Posted by pythontricker

lower the humidity, and swipe off the sides of the tub so that there is no longer any dew. what is your humidity level at?

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WHAT?!

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Originally Posted by extensive

WHAT?!

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well they aren't supposed to be dimpling that early. So I figure you might want to lower it a little. I may be wrong but thats what I have heard.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pythontricker

well they aren't supposed to be dimpling that early. So I figure you might want to lower it a little. I may be wrong but thats what I have heard.

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Just the opposite

ok sorry, dont pay any attention to me. lol I am Out of my league. :oops::D

keep us updated

:gj:

I use the substrateless method too, and I have plenty of condensation. I don't think that press-n-seal or seran wrap is needed with this method because the perlite is so wet that you don't have to worry about some of the water evaporating. With verm or hatchrite, the media is dry enough to start with, so you don't want to lose any of the moisture. I just make sure to not have any of the eggs touching the sides of the egg box so they don't come in contact with the condensation or water drops. I get some condensation on the lids, too, but it hasn't been an issue with the 3 clutches I've had so far. I was worried about it dripping on the eggs, but it hasn't affected anything. I am planning to get a few of those super absorbant shimmies and cutting them to fit the inside of the lids, then hot gluing them into place to absorb any condensation above the eggs, but it probably isn't neccesary, from my very limited experience.

If you're worried, another option is to make some sort of a concave (or would it be a concove?), that's glued to the lid so any condensation above the eggs runs down and away from the eggs. Something like a 10" cylinder cut longways to fit the inside lid would work so any condensation would run down and drip off along the long sides of the egg box. I know mushrooms are sensative to water drips like eggs, so some people who grow them use a kind of cone shaped glass lid to get the same effect.

so you know people who grow mushrooms?

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Originally Posted by extensive

so you know people who grow mushrooms?

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Yes. I use to, too, but I never tried the cone top. Just big Sterilite tubs with plexiglass lids. I got the idea from a book on psychadelic mushrooms, but my friend just grows portabellas and the woody virility kind from kits. :)

I wiped of the dew and It has not returned, But I did put two paper towels over the eggs, I wet them down good and then wrung them out completely, off course when I did that the tub dewed up again. But everything should be fine. Thanks for all the help guys. First time clutch.

OH BTW, I didnt expect this clutch, gave up on her laying about a month ago. So these eggs maybe have been maternally incubating from 1-4 days. Thats prob. why they are a little dryed out. WISH ME LUCK. Super pastel clowns on the way

jk.

Be careful with the wet paper towels. You should be okay, but you don't want to smother them.