incubator ?

[zman]

how do i maintain the humity i need in my incubator, i put that moss stuff , and mist the moss the humidity was up now it seems to be droping.

[WingedWolfPsion]

Some more information would be helpful. What are you using as a hatching medium? Vermiculite, perlite, hatchrite? What kind of incubator is it?

[zman]

Some more information would be helpful. What are you using as a hatching medium? Vermiculite, perlite, hatchrite? What kind of incubator is it?

oh ok , np i have vermiculite in with the eggs , i have a little giant incubator i got from tractor suppley , styrofoam kind , maintaining 89% the A/C is on the the same room , i might have to turn it off or move the incubator

[WingedWolfPsion]

Ok--I assume it's the still-air model? Fans can be drying.
Make sure all the ventilation holes are plugged.

Make sure your vermiculite is mixed 50/50 with water by WEIGHT (not by volume). It should hold together when you squeeze it, but you shouldn't be able to wring any water out of it.

Bury the eggs in that, and they should be fine.

[zman]

Ok--I assume it's the still-air model? Fans can be drying.
Make sure all the ventilation holes are plugged.

Make sure your vermiculite is mixed 50/50 with water by WEIGHT (not by volume). It should hold together when you squeeze it, but you shouldn't be able to wring any water out of it.

Bury the eggs in that, and they should be fine.

i have the vermiculite bout half way up the container , the vermiculite is a around the eggs , i have damp sphagnum moss on top

[zman]

i have the vermiculite bout half way up the container , the vermiculite is a around the eggs , i have damp sphagnum moss on top

temp inside is 89.4 the humity reads about 64 % it keep dropping , do you think its cause of the A/C in the room

[WingedWolfPsion]

Where is the humidity gauge?

I wouldn't put sphagnum on top of the eggs, it is prone to molding. I would just mound the vermiculite over them. I usually leave just a tiny circle showing of each egg, and bury them completely (and that's just so I can see when they pip, and keep an eye on them, they don't need it, lol). The more vermiculite you use, the better it will retain moisture and temperature.

89.4 is ok if your incubator is SUPER stable, otherwise I would lower it to 88.5--just to be on the safe side and give yourself a margin of error of a full degree either way. Temps over 90F can injure developing embryos.

[zman]

Where is the humidity gauge?

I wouldn't put sphagnum on top of the eggs, it is prone to molding. I would just mound the vermiculite over them. I usually leave just a tiny circle showing of each egg, and bury them completely (and that's just so I can see when they pip, and keep an eye on them, they don't need it, lol). The more vermiculite you use, the better it will retain moisture and temperature.

89.4 is ok if your incubator is SUPER stable, otherwise I would lower it to 88.5--just to be on the safe side and give yourself a margin of error of a full degree either way. Temps over 90F can injure developing embryos.

ok cool , ill take off the moss stuff and add more vermiculite , ill do another mix , the mix thats in there felt pretty moist .

[zman]

ok cool , ill take off the moss stuff and add more vermiculite , ill do another mix , the mix thats in there felt pretty moist .

what does pip mean ?

[zman]

what does pip mean ?

ok i got rid of the moss and mixed some more vermiculite up and added more water to the first batch , the inside temp really goes down when you mess with the incubator its climbing back up to 89 % again , the way the eggs are stacked it is hard to cover the top egg but the other are covered pretty good