Incubation Dilemma

[MrLang]

If you asked me a few months back I would have told you I'd be lucky to have one of my females lay. Well one did and the 2nd is definitely going to be laying in about a week. This would not be a 'dilemma' however after testing tubs and a few options with fans and bottles, I had to put my first clutch in the incubator without everything perfect.

The incubator only holds 2 tubs. The top tub with the eggs in it now is holding the eggs steady between 88 and 89 degrees. The bottom tub is holding steady at around 85 or 86 degrees.

Based on dates, if everything goes 'on schedule' the new clutch will be laid when the first clutch is at day 28. The first clutch will hatch on day 55 at day 28 for the 2nd clutch.

Do I leave clutch 1 at 88-89 degrees through the 55 days and incubate clutch 2 at 85-86 for the first 28 days then 88-89 for the 2nd 28 days?

Do I move clutch 1 at day 28 from 88-89 to 85-86 for the last 28 days and leave clutch 2 at 88-89 throughout?

My crackpot rationale tells me to move clutch 1 down to 85-86 and hope that the final stages of development produce a small amount of metabolism heat / are developed enough to not be harmed at all by a slightly lower temp.

Clutch 2 is going to be producing 'higher value' animals and based on her size it will be a bigger clutch - another reason I'm thinking of moving the other down.

Next year I'm shelling out cash for a PRO incubator... or spending more time and energy tweaking.



TL;DR / this is too wordy - I'm wondering if it's better to incubate at slightly lower temps during the first half or 2nd half of incubation

[Rockstars]

Do you have a fan in your incubator for circulation?

[FireStorm]

I've always thought temp changes are what causes problems....it's just a theory and I don't really have a way to back it up. So, if they were my eggs, I would leave the clutch that is already cooking where it is, and put the other clutch on the lower shelf for the entire incubation. We maternally incubate at 85F, and the babies are fine.

[satomi325]

Leave the eggs alone and do not move positions. Temp fluctuations and changes during incubation are bad. Keeping steady temps is the key. Even if the temps are a little lower than your liking for clutch 2, it is fine as long as it doesn't flux. It will just take a few days longer to cook and hatch than your first clutch with a higher temp.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

[Annarose15]

Is your fan running 24/7? I found that my fan was actually heating the incubator even when the heat tape was off, unless I hooked it up to the thermostat also.

[joebad976]

Is your fan running 24/7? I found that my fan was actually heating the incubator even when the heat tape was off, unless I hooked it up to the thermostat also.

Same here. I had to slow it down to the lowest setting because it was generating too much heat.

I purchased this USB fan with built in speed control. You can buy a USB power adapter at walmart to power it. It works GREAT.

http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-Mo...rds=usb+pc+fan

You can buy a USB power adapter at walmart to power it. It works GREAT.

If you don't have a fan you may want to add one (at least for next year). If will help even out the temps from top to bottom.

[S.I.R.]

Definitely check the fan. However, I would leave the eggs where they are. Small fluctuations are not that bad, but just stay as consistent as possible. Last year we had a power outage and our temps dropped to 70 degrees for a few hours and all of our clutches still hatched with no loss. We were super lucky!

[MrLang]

Thanks. Keep the responses coming but it's looking like I'll end up leaving them top and bottom at slightly different temps.

[ClarkT]

I would definitely just leave them where they are. Temp fluctuations aren't good, and I've seen problems when those spikes or drops happen right in the middle of incubation. You're talking of deliberately causing a change, right in the middle of development. Just speaking from experience, leave them be.

Good luck on the odds, but more importantly, healthy babies!