EGGS! Help!

First of all, these are NOT my animals. They are animals of a good friend of mine who owns many different snakes. She keeps two corns together permanently, and knows they are male and female, both are adults and have bred before. I don't want to hear about her husbandry problems, because I disagree with them too, but she is very stubborn and the animals are healthy and eating fine, just with some husbandry hiccups that most wouldn't agree with.

She calls me today, and tells me she has eggs, and doesn't want them to die this time. Thats where I need your help. What kind of easy incubator can be created in a day that does not cost a lot of money (she's probably not willing to spend too much unfortunately).
Right now, she has a heat pad underneath the hide with the eggs in them, and rheostat on it controlling it at medium. I told her to spray the cage a couple times a day to keep the humidity up, and the mother is wrapped around the eggs.

Can someone give me exact temperatures and a very quick DIY for building a temperature as long with instructions on what to do in the meantime for these animals.

P.S. She does NOT have any thermostats, and I only have one (or I would let her borrow). She strictly uses all heat lamps and sprays constantly.

I wonder if she really should have more corns? Ah well, sorry I can't help ya more. :oops:

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

I wonder if she really should have more corns? Ah well, sorry I can't help ya more. :oops:

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I would be getting most of them. ;)

An incubator can be created with anything than can hold constant temps; such as, a cooler or a small fridge. She will need something to heat the incubator, like a heating pad or flexwatt. She also needs something to monitor and control the heat. I highly suggest a digital proportional thermostat; such as, a herpstat.

Hope this helps.

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Originally Posted by Wh00h0069

An incubator can be created with anything than can hold constant temps; such as, a cooler or a small fridge. She will need something to heat the incubator, like a heating pad or flexwatt. She also needs something to monitor and control the heat. I highly suggest a digital proportional thermostat; such as, a herpstat.

Hope this helps.

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Thanks!

Does anyone have any advice on what to do in the meantime??

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Originally Posted by blackcrystal22

Thanks!

Does anyone have any advice on what to do in the meantime??

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Just make sure that the temps and humidity is right in the snake’s enclosure, and let the mom maternally incubate the eggs until your friend can set up a proper incubator.

At this point if she does not want to invest much the cheaper way (and I am not found of those) would be to go to a feed store and pick up an hovabator (you can find them at feed store for about $35/$40).

Incubate at 82-85

Hi,

If she has a lot of animals might she have an old fish tank and aquarium heater?

I used those and some poly sheeting to make my incubator - you just have a shelf or something to sit the egg boxes on. The humidity is always perfect if you put a nice tight fitting lid on it. I filled mine about a third full of water.

Downside is you need hatchling secure eggboxes that still allow plenty of air exchange.


dr del

For maternal incubation, keep the ambient heat slightly lower than optimum incubation temperature (so 80-82). Even corns can somewhat raise the temp of the eggs, but she cant do anything to cool them. Also, too cold is a lot better than too hot.

I didn't think corns did the maternal incubation thing?

I've read that some people hatch corn eggs by just putting them in a closet...no incubator. I would assume this requires a place that has a fairly steady and slightly warm temp compared to average room temperature.

I'd be real concerned that the uncontrolled heat pad that is being used right now is going to cook them.

Corns don't incubate their eggs. It's strictly a lay em and leave em arrangement.

What is the temp in your reptile room? In mine it averages 82 so I just set my eggs up in plastic containers with vermiculite or pearlite and put them on a shelf until they hatch. I've done the incubator thing for years too but if your room is the right temp, you don't need to do anything.

You don't need an incubator to successfully hatch corn eggs, so don't stress over that.

Put them in some damp vermiculite or sphagnum moss in a tupperware like container or a plastic shoebox. Then put them in a place that stays between 75-82. You don't really need to "incubate" corn eggs in that they do just fine incubating at room temp. So if your room temp is fairly steady and doesn't get in the low 70's or mid 80's then just put them in the top of a closet or something. I've done it this way for 14 years now.

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Originally Posted by Wh00h0069

Just make sure that the temps and humidity is right in the snake’s enclosure, and let the mom maternally incubate the eggs until your friend can set up a proper incubator.

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Originally Posted by aalomon

For maternal incubation, keep the ambient heat slightly lower than optimum incubation temperature (so 80-82). Even corns can somewhat raise the temp of the eggs, but she cant do anything to cool them. Also, too cold is a lot better than too hot.

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Corns don't maternally incubate their eggs. They set 'em and forget 'em. Leaving them with the mom isn't such a good thing as they need to be put in a humid environment fairly quickly. They will dehydrate very rapidly if left in the cage. A cage for corns with good humidity will be too low for corn eggs.

Thank you everyone for the help! i really appreciate it.

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Originally Posted by kc261

I didn't think corns did the maternal incubation thing?

I've read that some people hatch corn eggs by just putting them in a closet...no incubator. I would assume this requires a place that has a fairly steady and slightly warm temp compared to average room temperature.

I'd be real concerned that the uncontrolled heat pad that is being used right now is going to cook them.

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The heat pad is not completely uncontrolled, however, I told her to remove it.

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Originally Posted by wilomn

Corns don't incubate their eggs. It's strictly a lay em and leave em arrangement.

What is the temp in your reptile room? In mine it averages 82 so I just set my eggs up in plastic containers with vermiculite or pearlite and put them on a shelf until they hatch. I've done the incubator thing for years too but if your room is the right temp, you don't need to do anything.

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Well, my reptile room is my bedroom, but that has thermostats and a space heater by the rack. Her basement (so she told me) is at an average 80 degrees right now because they haven't turned the air on yet.

Is there anyway I can get vermiculite/perilite fast? I know how to wet it, but I was always planning on ordering it for my own breeding purposes. I'm not sure where I could buy some that's not too far away?

Should be able to pick up perlite at the garden section of walmart/home depot for like $3.

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Originally Posted by Hulihzack

Should be able to pick up perlite at the garden section of walmart/home depot for like $3.

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Doesn't it need a mixture of perlite and something else? (other than water obviously).. I've rarely seen anyone use perlite alone, or is that actually alright to do?

You can use either of them alone or a combination.

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Originally Posted by wilomn

You can use either of them alone or a combination.

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Is one really better than another?

I'll be picking some up tomorrow.

Vermiculite gets mushier.

I've never found a noticable difference as far as hatch rates or anything, I just use what I have the most of. This year it's pearlite. No vermiculite at all.

Be sure to keep it moist though.

Be sure that the Perlite that you pick up does not have additives, like Miracle Grow. Home Depot and Walmart all have Miracle Grow in them (at least the ones I checked). I had to pick mine up from a local garden chain (Pike's Family Nursery in the metro Atlanta area).

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Originally Posted by blueapplepaste

Corns don't maternally incubate their eggs. They set 'em and forget 'em. Leaving them with the mom isn't such a good thing as they need to be put in a humid environment fairly quickly. They will dehydrate very rapidly if left in the cage. A cage for corns with good humidity will be too low for corn eggs.

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Thanks, I didn't know that. I have never kept corns.

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Originally Posted by rabernet

Be sure that the Perlite that you pick up does not have additives, like Miracle Grow. Home Depot and Walmart all have Miracle Grow in them (at least the ones I checked). I had to pick mine up from a local garden chain (Pike's Family Nursery in the metro Atlanta area).

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Thanks, I knew to look out for something that, so now I'll make sure to somewhere other than Walmart, etc.
Do you think a feed store might have some?

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Originally Posted by blackcrystal22

Thanks, I knew to look out for something that, so now I'll make sure to somewhere other than Walmart, etc.
Do you think a feed store might have some?

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An alternative to vermiculite/perlite is sphagnum moss. Its widely available. You just use it in the same way that you use the others, get it nice and moist (so that it doesn't drip), and then make a nice bed out of it in the container and put the eggs in it.

If you can find verm or fertilizer-free perlite locally let me know. If not, I have a ton of sphagnum moss here, and that is what I use to use for corn eggs. Let me know if you need a couple of handfuls of the stuff.

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Originally Posted by blueapplepaste

Corns don't maternally incubate their eggs. They set 'em and forget 'em . Leaving them with the mom isn't such a good thing as they need to be put in a humid environment fairly quickly. They will dehydrate very rapidly if left in the cage. A cage for corns with good humidity will be too low for corn eggs.

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that made me laugh so hard. corn snake eggs are like the George Formans of the snake world?
:D

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Originally Posted by PythonWallace

If you can find verm or fertilizer-free perlite locally let me know. If not, I have a ton of sphagnum moss here, and that is what I use to use for corn eggs. Let me know if you need a couple of handfuls of the stuff.

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Thanks, I'm going to try running out to a Johnson's feed store thats by my house and seeing if they have anything. If not, I'll pick up some moss to hold me over.

Jake, you are a pretty good hour away from me you know. ;)

well for 1

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blackcrystal22----and knows they are male and female, both are adults and have bred before. I don't want to hear about her husbandry problems, because I disagree with them too, but she is very stubborn and the animals are healthy and eating fine, just with some husbandry hiccups that most wouldn't agree with.

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theres nothing wrong at all with her leaving cornsnakes together all the time her husbandry on that aspect is just fine ..


as for a quick incubator and temps the temps need to be between 84-88 degrees(safe area)..
as for incubator like someone said if she has a closet that stays in those temps she can just put them in a container and put that inside a 10 gallon fish tank and put it in the closet with a medium size bowl of water and a piece of glass or plexi glass over the top of it with 1 sided only opened about 1/2 inch for oxygen flow .


i have produced many clutches and so have other breeders i know doing it this way . its quick ,effective ,and cheap to use ..

now if the temps fall below 84 a heat light in the closet itself will add proper heat to the whole closet (not on the tank) . if it gets hotter then 88 then vice versa stick a small fan in the closet to circulate the air and cool it down ..

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Originally Posted by blackcrystal22

Thanks, I'm going to try running out to a Johnson's feed store thats by my house and seeing if they have anything. If not, I'll pick up some moss to hold me over.

Jake, you are a pretty good hour away from me you know. ;)

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I drive out that way every once in a while. It's not that far. I sometimes forget that Aurora is a big town, but an hour drive is nothing.

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Originally Posted by PythonWallace

I drive out that way every once in a while. It's not that far. I sometimes forget that Aurora is a big town, but an hour drive is nothing.

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Well good news to you then. The Johnson's feed store on Kirk Road in St. Charles has a TON of vermiculite and perlite with no additives. I asked specifically to make sure there was nothing weird in it, and they said they specifically ordered the stuff for people breeding lizards and snakes.

So, now I'm setting up this bin for these eggs. Should I have airholes in the tub itself or should I just open the tub once a day to let the air circulate for a few minutes?
People have said to use plastic wrap, is it ok if I don't use the one side press and stick kind or is the normal kind alright to use as well?

Thanks for all of your help! I'm getting these eggs, and possibly the babies, though they're just Amel x Normal, we'll see if anything cool pops up if they survive. :please:

Edit: Forgive me for all the questions and confusion. I've read all of the stuff before 25 times, but this is the first time I'm actually going through the motions!

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Originally Posted by blackcrystal22

Well good news to you then. The Johnson's feed store on Kirk Road in St. Charles has a TON of vermiculite and perlite with no additives. I asked specifically to make sure there was nothing weird in it, and they said they specifically ordered the stuff for people breeding lizards and snakes.

So, now I'm setting up this bin for these eggs. Should I have airholes in the tub itself or should I just open the tub once a day to let the air circulate for a few minutes?
People have said to use plastic wrap, is it ok if I don't use the one side press and stick kind or is the normal kind alright to use as well?

Thanks for all of your help! I'm getting these eggs, and possibly the babies, though they're just Amel x Normal, we'll see if anything cool pops up if they survive. :please:

Edit: Forgive me for all the questions and confusion. I've read all of the stuff before 25 times, but this is the first time I'm actually going through the motions!

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No holes. Make it air tight, or close to it, and don't worry about getting fresh air in there. I used to incubate corn eggs in small ziplock sandwich boxes that were air tight, and I'd only open them every 2 weeks or so to check on them. It's the same for leo eggs. I use air tight 6oz plastic bowls, and only open them when I see that they are hatching. Same for BPs. 6 qt, practically air tight boxes that I only open every couple of weeks to see how they are coming along. I've never had any eggs run out of air.

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Originally Posted by TheVipersHouse

well for 1
theres nothing wrong at all with her leaving cornsnakes together all the time her husbandry on that aspect is just fine ..

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Of course you're entitled to your opinion, but there's not a good reason to house corns together, but that's a different thread all together

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as for a quick incubator and temps the temps need to be between 84-88 degrees(safe area)...

now if the temps fall below 84 a heat light in the closet itself will add proper heat to the whole closet (not on the tank) . if it gets hotter then 88 then vice versa stick a small fan in the closet to circulate the air and cool it down ..

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Those temps are quite warm for corn eggs. high 70's and low 80's I think are best.