Lowest incubation temperature?

[Bristen]

Just wondering what is the lowest incubation temperature everyone has successfully used?

Thanks,
Bristen.

[coldbloodaddict]

eighty six

[Bristen]

eighty six

wow, that's low... I should be fine then... everything is between 87F and 89.5F right now... I've never maxed out my incubator and since it's not very sophisticated, the temperature is not consistent from top to bottom or from front to back... I just wanted to make sure everything was going to work.

Thanks for the reply!

Regards,
Bristen.

[jglass38]

Bristen,

Two things to consider:

1. Consistent, stable temperature - Keep those fluctuations to a minimum. A well insulated incubator and heat controlled by a proportional thermostat are the best ways to ensure this.

2. Keep it at 90 or under - I prefer not to go above 90. This would be the temperature inside the egg box.

Don't worry too much about the temp being different in different parts of the incubator. Big breeders use room sized walk in incubators. The temperature is different throughout but it is stable. BTW, I am breeding at 87.8 this year. That is the temp in the egg box on the top shelf of the closet incubator. I am putting my potential Caramel eggs lower in the incubator in the hopes that lower temperature will reduce the likelihood of kinking. We'll find out! Good luck!

Jamie

[West Coast Jungle]

I just turned mine down to 87.5 because the room has a tendency to heat up in the summer months. Incubators usually have no trouble warming up, its cooling them down where the problem lies

I see Jon went down to 86 so looks like I could go down further, but then the wait would be longer

[jglass38]

I just turned mine down to 87.5 because the room has a tendency to heat up in the summer months. Incubators usually have no trouble warming up, its cooling them down where the problem lies

I see Jon went down to 86 so looks like I could go down further, but then the wait would be longer

I'm willing to wait longer. I think lower is going to work out better. We'll see. I am hoping for bigger hatchlings, better eaters and kink free Caramels. It's a worthy experiment I think. This is my first year in my new place using this closet incubator. It is not insulated (it's inside the snake room) and even though my temps have fluctuated in the snake room during the day the incubator is staying consistent. It's why I use large egg boxes and a lot of medium.

[Bristen]

My incubator is heated using heat tape and a Helix proportional thermostat. It's been working perfectly for 4 years now... however, I always ever used 2 shelves at any given time. This year, it's completely maxed out (all 4 shelves). The temperature is stable, but it is not the same on the top shelf as the bottom shelf. From what I'm reading, I should be fine. Another problem is that there is no more room for the 3 to 4 clutches that are not yet laid. So I killed the hot spots for all the animals in the hatchling/incubator room (some sub-adults in there as well), and just raised the entire room to 88F. The RayTek gives me readings of around 87F where I will have the egg boxes in the room, so I should be ok. Normally the room was about 84F.

I will be producing about 4 times more than any other year this year... it certainly won't be boring in this house for the next little while! :S

Thanks for the reply!

Regards,
Bristen.

Bristen,

Two things to consider:

1. Consistent, stable temperature - Keep those fluctuations to a minimum. A well insulated incubator and heat controlled by a proportional thermostat are the best ways to ensure this.

2. Keep it at 90 or under - I prefer not to go above 90. This would be the temperature inside the egg box.

Don't worry too much about the temp being different in different parts of the incubator. Big breeders use room sized walk in incubators. The temperature is different throughout but it is stable. BTW, I am breeding at 87.8 this year. That is the temp in the egg box on the top shelf of the closet incubator. I am putting my potential Caramel eggs lower in the incubator in the hopes that lower temperature will reduce the likelihood of kinking. We'll find out! Good luck!

Jamie

[Bristen]

I'm willing to wait longer. I think lower is going to work out better. We'll see. [...]

I've often wondered if anybody took measurements of clutch temperatures when they dig them out in Africa? It would be interesting to see what temperature range they find "out in the field"...

Regards,
Bristen.

[jglass38]

My incubator is heated using heat tape and a Helix proportional thermostat. It's been working perfectly for 4 years now... however, I always ever used 2 shelves at any given time. This year, it's completely maxed out (all 4 shelves). The temperature is stable, but it is not the same on the top shelf as the bottom shelf. From what I'm reading, I should be fine. Another problem is that there is no more room for the 3 to 4 clutches that are not yet laid. So I killed the hot spots for all the animals in the hatchling/incubator room (some sub-adults in there as well), and just raised the entire room to 88F. The RayTek gives me readings of around 87F where I will have the egg boxes in the room, so I should be ok. Normally the room was about 84F.

I will be producing about 4 times more than any other year this year... it certainly won't be boring in this house for the next little while! :S

Thanks for the reply!

Regards,
Bristen.

Sounds like you need a bigger incubator!! I'm using the closet plus I have a full size closet incubator as a standby. You can never have enough incubator space! Good luck!

[jglass38]

I've often wondered if anybody took measurements of clutch temperatures when they dig them out in Africa? It would be interesting to see what temperature range they find "out in the field"...

Regards,
Bristen.

Sure would. I would guess that it's the last thing on their mind. I'd be curious to know though!