I got a SURPRISE!!!!!

[cschneider]

Hi Everyone! I know it's been way to long since I have posted anything. So much has happened in the past few months, I just get time to check BP.net every now and then . I know this is kind of a long post, but I would really appreciate any opinions on my situation...

Anyway, so I've been pairing up my pastel and bee this year and was starting to loose hope until yesterday morning. I went to do my normal saturday rounds, cleaning and watering, etc, and I found a proud mommy pastel wrapped around a clutch of eggs! I was instantly freaking out since i was caught a bit off guard and didn't have my incubator set up. She hasn't gained a lot of weight, but she has been refusing meals, so I was on the fence if she was going to lay or not, as I didn't see an ovulation, but did see many locks. So from that point I rushed up to the store, bought a 6qt tub, press-n-seal and 2 acurite thermometer/hydrometers. Got home and assembled my Hovabator with the tub in it. I've finally got the temp stabilized at 89, but still working on the humidity before I add the eggs.

So this brings me to my question... I am leaving for vacation in 3 weeks. I'll be gone for a week, and unfortunately I do not have anyone that can keep an eye on them. I am very worried that if we have a power outage, the incubator may heat up and i will loose the clutch. My sister would watch them, but i would have to move the incubator to her house, and I'm not so excited about that since it has taken almost 24 hours for me to stabilize the temp.

If you were in this situation, what would you do? I'm debating on just letting her maternally incubate. At first, she had 2 roll-outs, but this morning I checked on her, and she has gathered them back up. She is a first time mom... I have heard mixed reviews on the Hovabator heating element. Some say it works great, while other say it is crude and hard to keep stable. Do people usually hook up an additional thermostat with these?

I'll try to get pics posted when i get a chance. I'm excited to see how many eggs she is coiled around!

Thanks everyone and Happy Father's Day!

[MakiMaki]

I would bet that the eggs would be fine, but it's hard to plan for the unexpected. If you are worried about a spike in temp, you could consider buying an on/off thermostat, setting it a touch higher in temp, and plugging your incubator into that so that you have a back up system to turn off your heat if it spikes. Also, maybe your sister would be willing to come over once during the week to check on them?

[zues]

If your incubator stable I would put the eggs in it. You will not be gone all that long and it's not close to when they will be hatching. It wouldn't hurt to have your sister check on them a few times when you are gone. What type of thermostat are you using? I know I have lost power a couple of times this year and when my Herpstat comes back on it still has the correct temps set. If your female was bigger I might be tempted to let her keep them but you make it sound like she is on the smaller side. If that's the case I would want her back on food ASAP.

[cschneider]

My sis lives about an hour away, and works some crazy hours so I don't know if she would be able to come to me. I'm trying to get my mom to check on them, but she is terrified of snakes. I have tried to convince her that they won't even be close to hatching, but that doesn't seem to make a difference. I'll try to keep persuading her lol. She lives very close...

As for a thermostat, I just have the cheapo one that the Hovabator has built into it. It's pretty much a chicken wafer style thermostat, which I have heard mixed reviews on... I have a herpstat on my rack, but don't have an extra, and I'm really pinching pennies for vacation as it is, so if I could go without purchasing another for the incubator, that would be prefered. I'll check out the on off ones for sure.

This is my first clutch, so I think I'm just a bit paranoid that I'm going to screw something up. I want everything to be perfect and yield healthy babies!

[JayCee]

but still working on the humidity before I add the eggs

You don't need to worry about humidity in the incubator. If using a sealed tub (based on you stating you were picking up press-n-seal), humidity is kept in the tub.

[cschneider]

Yes I'm using a tub with press-n-seal inside the incubator. I think I will go ahead and move them over. Thanks for everyones advice!