Got my first clutch!

[rufretic]

So I found 7 large, healthy, veiny eggs last night I was expecting them any day so she was right on schedule but I was surprised how well she did for a first time mother and she was only 1200 grams when I started pairing her about 8 months ago. She ate well the whole building process and got up to 1800 grams last time I weighed her. AnywY, I couldn't be happier, I was just hoping for 3-5 healthy eggs so 7 with no slugs is great.

I do have a question. Since this is my first time, I'm probably over paranoid but I just want to double check that I have them setup right for the long weight. I've had my incubator setup and running for about a month now and it doesn't fluctuate at all, it's 88 degrees and 99% humidity so I'm pretty sure that's good. My only concern is that the tub the eggs are in builds a ton of condensation so I propped one end up about 1/2" so any drips on the top will hopefully run down to one side rather than dripping on the eggs. Is that ok that they are not level? I know it's important to keep the eggs how the mother had them which wasn't an issue because I was able to move all seven together in a stuck together group but that got my thinking about how being unlevel technically changes which side of the egg is up a little. Am I over thinking things?

[JodanOrNoDan]

I have never propped a tub. A little condensation is normal but having a lot at this stage is a little odd. This means that the temp outside the tub is lower than inside. That said propping the tub should not hurt anything unless the eggs are shifting. My suggestion would be don't fix a problem unless you actually have one. I would make sure that the eggs are being dripped on before I did anything.

Congrats on the clutch. My first ball of the season came out today.

[rufretic]

The tub built a lot of condensation since I set it up, this is the first day with eggs in it. You are right though, for some reason the way I have it setup, inside the tub is a couple degrees warmer than inside the incubator. I never figured out why but I have herpstat probe in the the incubator set at 87 and the wireless probe for my weather station in the tub. Inside the tub reads 88. It's been like this since I set it up a month ago.

[rufretic]

I checked the eggs last night, I'm at about two weeks, and the press & seal I covered the tub with was completely covered with condensation. So when I carefully tried to peal it up of course it dripped all over the eggs I blotted them with a paper towel to try and soak up as much as possible but I'm a little worried. How sensitive to getting wet are the eggs actually? All seven still look great and are full of veins but now I'm worried about getting them wet every time I check them. Plus, I'm not sure but they could be getting dripped on in there all the time. Do you think this is a serious enough situation that I need to change something about the way they are setup or should I just leave them alone because the condensation drips won't be enough to harm them? I'd really hate to lose any healthy eggs because of a mistake on my part.

[willow211986]

Mine do the same thing. We have 80 eggs and this is our 4th year breeding. They get dripped on all the time and we haven't lost one yet . We check them every few days and just wipe the water off the top. If you do see mold just take a Q tip , wet it and wipe the egg down. I have one egg that is a boob egg that has been in bad shape right from the start with mold and other problem but at day 55 its little head is popping out and he is fine so far. They are not as fragile as you would think.