Hatchrite Product Questions

[ScubaDiver007]

Hey Everyone, I know there is a lot of opinions and experience out there.

I have my FIRST clutch in the incubator, its set at 89.2. I have 11 eggs cooking on Hatchright. Im not covering 50% of the media. They went in on Sunday the 21st. I went to check on them this morning and noticed all of them are still plump and full .. Except for one has a wrinkle/dimple in it.

Should i be concerned at this point? do they dimple here and there. Am I being over cautious cause its my first? I dont have any dew droplets on the sides or top of the lid. AND I only have two small holes in the tub.

I used Hatchrite because of " easy factor ".

I want to hear from Hatchrite users please as i know the use of "other" substrates can start a chain of discussions all in itself.

Thanks, Scuba

[KMS]

Scuba, Ive used hatchrite for the last few years and have had no real issues, Did you candle the eggs? did you seperate the eggs, A picture is worth a thousand words...Post a pic and youll probably get a better answer...
Kevin

[ScubaDiver007]

Scuba, Ive used hatchrite for the last few years and have had no real issues, Did you candle the eggs? did you seperate the eggs, A picture is worth a thousand words...Post a pic and youll probably get a better answer...
Kevin

Hey Kevin,

Can you describe your egg tub? did you put holes in it? I have two small holes on the sides. Do you use a plastic wrap on top of your box then cover with the lid?

I can take a picture tonight when i get home and post it. If you go into my gallery there are a picture of the eggs. I didnt separate them. there are 11 of them, and since i am new I didnt want to risk a tear.

Thanks, Scuba

[ScubaDiver007]

Scuba, Ive used hatchrite for the last few years and have had no real issues, Did you candle the eggs? did you seperate the eggs, A picture is worth a thousand words...Post a pic and youll probably get a better answer...
Kevin

And no i havent candled them yet. I guess i should.

[SlitherinSisters]

It is my first year too and I am using hatchrite. I kept noticing one dimple here and there so I added a tiny bit more water. I ended up losing three eggs, I'm guessing because it was some how too wet. There really can't be any other reason. It's really frustrating and I'm really sad

If you want to do it the easy way, go substrateless. You don't have to worry about how dry or how wet the substrate is. Leave it and go. I switched to substrateless after I lost the 3rd egg on day 27ish. I'm on day 45 now and the eggs I have left are all perfect. I would have lost at least 1 or 2 more by now at the rate I was going. I didn't lose my first egg till day 18. IMO substrateless is the way to go. Hatchrite is supposed to be for first timers and infallible, but I didn't have luck with it.

Oh yeah, and no holes in the hatchbox. You will lose moisture. That' why you use glad wrap/plastic wrap under the lid, to help hold in the moisture. All you have to do is open the lid every now and again for air exchange.

[sho220]

Why do you have holes in the egg box? They don't need holes for ventilation or anything...

[PassionsPythons]

I used hatchrite my first year and lost 6 eggs from my first clutch. This year I'm using 100% vermiculite and water with a 1.1 ratio by weight. So far my first clutch is due on July 5th. I candled them two days ago and from what I can tell I have 3 spiders, 2 normals and the other two I can't tell. I'm using the same incubator and the same temps as last year, except I'm positive my eggs will hatch this year. Last year at day 50 I noticed black spots on a few of my eggs. I cut the eggs to find 5 dead babies in the eggs with only 1 living, and the 1 living didn't last long because he wasn't ready to come out of the egg. However, I'm glad he did end up dying also because he was very kinked up. I personally will never use hatchrite again due to my horrible first season experience. I'd strongly recommend vermiculite over hatchrite.

Side Note: I noticed massive amounts of dimpling in my eggs last year just after the 2 week mark. This year using the vermiculite they didn't start dimpling until about 5 days ago, which is common considering how close they are to hatch time.

I hope this helps you out. Good luck with those eggs.

[ScubaDiver007]

It is my first year too and I am using hatchrite. I kept noticing one dimple here and there so I added a tiny bit more water. I ended up losing three eggs, I'm guessing because it was some how too wet. There really can't be any other reason. It's really frustrating and I'm really sad

If you want to do it the easy way, go substrateless. You don't have to worry about how dry or how wet the substrate is. Leave it and go. I switched to substrateless after I lost the 3rd egg on day 27ish. I'm on day 45 now and the eggs I have left are all perfect. I would have lost at least 1 or 2 more by now at the rate I was going. I didn't lose my first egg till day 18. IMO substrateless is the way to go. Hatchrite is supposed to be for first timers and infallible, but I didn't have luck with it.

Oh yeah, and no holes in the hatchbox. You will lose moisture. That' why you use glad wrap/plastic wrap under the lid, to help hold in the moisture. All you have to do is open the lid every now and again for air exchange.

Thanks for the feedback: Question what did you do to go substrateless? can you take a picture? for me? describe in more detail.

Thanks,

[DesignerBP]

I use hatchrite and think its great. never had any problems. the dimple shouldnt be a big deal. I had a clutch hatch a couple weeks ago that some were dimpled from the start. And no holes-theyll get the air exchange during periodic check-ups.

[sho220]

Im not covering 50% of the media.

What does that mean? If you're talking about the eggs, you don't really need to cover them at all. Fill the egg box with a couple inches of hatchrite and place the eggs in.