Day 61 and no sign of babies yet

[nocturnalmedic]

I'm hoping someone can give me some advice here. This is my first clutch ever so I know I'm being a little paranoid that I'm doing something wrong. i discovered my eggs on May 4th but I don't know if they were laid that day because I'm a paramedic so I work long shifts and I was gone for 36 hours before I found the eggs. Anyways, so if I'm going by the May 4th date, I'm at day 61 right now and none of the babies have started piping yet. They are all dimpled at this point and that started about a week ago. I've been doing a lot of online research and it seems like I should have seen something at this point. I'm not completely comfortable with cutting them because this is my first clutch. Any advice would be greatly appreciated )

[RichieBoo]

What temp is incubation...

[nocturnalmedic]

Temp is 88
Humidity is 90%

[John1982]

Have you used anything to double check the temperature? I know some thermostats/thermometers can be off by several degrees so double checking with an alternate is almost required to predict hatch dates accurately. If the eggs are looking good, and it sounds like they are, I would personally wait for at least one pip before cutting. If you do decide to cut we have several members in the Gainesville area - sure someone could lend you a hand.

[nocturnalmedic]

I've been using 2 thermostats. One is in the tupperware with the eggs and that one has read 88-89 the whole time and the other one is the digital thermostat of the incubator itself which usually reads 87-88.
I'm just starting to get worried that I won't see any piping at all. At what day should I start to be really concerned?

[Philip451]

It is not unusual for some clutches to take longer than others. 61 days is only 3 days later than my observed avg of 58.
Have you candled the eggs? do you see good vein structure? movement? If so, I would say things are fine, and they will come out when they are fully cooked

[nocturnalmedic]

I didn't know about candling until I saw it on a forum today and googled it. I'll do that when I get home from work tomorrow. Can I use just a regular flashlight?

[ElliotNess]

You are in scrubs and name is medic. I am no rocket scientist but ill guess you are a nurse. Your best bet is penlights from work grab one and candle away.

[Philip451]

yup. lights off in the room, and a flashlight. This late in the game, if they are alive, you should see some wiggling in there when you light them up

[kc261]

Any flashlight or other little light that is fairly bright in a fairly concentrated small spot will work. I had good success using the "flash" for the camera of my cell phone. I have a way to turn it on and leave it on to use it as a flashlight. It was a little awkward because of the shape of the cell phone, but it worked.