babies havent hatched yet, and i found lower temps!!!

[wendy8882]

Today is day 63, and none of the eggs have hatched yet. None of the babies are pipping either. All are still moving around in the eggs, and the ones that I cut have developed fine. Another breeder advised me to put a secondary thermostat in my incubator to check the temps, and low and behold, I found that my brand new incubator is off by about 4 degrees. I raised the temp up to 90 degrees on Friday, but still nothing. Any ideas about when these guys may come out, or what to do at this point???? Im hoping that the lower temps havent messed up their chance for survival! again, though, they are all still moving around, and developing. Not sure what to do at this point...

[KatStoverReptiles]

So you incubated at 86 for most of the time? If they're still alive and there still seems to be a lot of yolk left, I'd leave them be and let them absorb.

[RobNJ]

I think they will be fine...86 is lower than the suggested incubation range, but as long as temps are fairly consistent, I'd be willing to bet bp eggs can hatch out just fine outside of that 3.5 degree window we like to give them in captivity.

[wendy8882]

Ok. They seem to be fine, but any idea how long they can be in the egg before coming out???

[LLLReptile]

I've successfully incubated clutches at 84-86, and had no issues. It does take longer, usually closer to 70 days (75 for the clutch at 84 degrees), but there doesn't seem to be any harm to the babies. If anything, I'd say the babies came out somewhat bigger and sturdier, but this was only a handful of clutches - not a large enough sample size to be sure.

So don't worry too much, they'll hatch on their own eventually. I wouldn't start worrying until after day 70.

-Jen