Egg humidity

[MorphMaster]

So I know the signs of when eggs are too dry, or wet but I'm just trying to find a number for optimum humidity for eggs. I read one article that said 80% (it sounded low to me). I saw another one that said 100%. Then I recall brian of bhb say 90% on a snakebytes episode. I'm guessing trust the 90%; however, maybe I should just go off of look at the eggs, if it dimples before day 45 I believe then its due to low humidity so just add water. Excuse my rant. Just confused with the variety of information I'm receiving

[sharkrocket]

I agree. Information is varied. Based off of my own research, and hardly any experience I would say that the closer to 100% the better, but make sure no water is falling onto the eggs from condensation on the top of the tub.

By the way, a fact that helped me out recently is that a lot of humidity can escape due to a lack of a perfect seal between the lid of the tub and the tub itself, so seal the tub with Glad brand Press n' seal to make sure you are trapping all of that moisture in. Good luck!

[MorphMaster]

Do you guys vent your egg boxes? Justin Kobylka says he never does, while others say the eggs need oxygen... Why must there be so much contradicting information?

[BHReptiles]

You keep the humidity as high as you can without condensation dripping on the eggs.

You'll find a lot of different information because everyone hatches their eggs a little differently.

For me, personally, I will be using press-n-seal on my egg boxes that have no holes drilled in them. Because of that, I'll be venting every 4 or 5 days just to circulate the air a little bit. I also use substrateless method so I will put a lot of water in my egg tubs and sit the eggs on egg crate. Hopefully that keeps my humidity pretty high.

[snakesRkewl]

I use vent holes so I don't ever NEED to vent my tubs.
90 to 95% humidity is excellent, any higher you flirt with mold issues.
The one time I did use press n seal I got mold because I didn't have the correct amount of water to substrate.
I went to substrateless and haven't worried about too much humidity or not enough humidity since.

[MorphMaster]

So is substrate less just substrate (like vermiculite) with a lot of water, a crate, and eggs that sit on the crate and above the water? Wouldn't that create more condensation? My issue is people say you want condensation on the top, but so that it doesn't drip down. Wouldn't it naturally drip down?

[snakesRkewl]

So is substrate less just substrate (like vermiculite) with a lot of water, a crate, and eggs that sit on the crate and above the water?

Essentially yes.

Wouldn't that create more condensation? My issue is people say you want condensation on the top, but so that it doesn't drip down. Wouldn't it naturally drip down?

You do not want condensation on the lid at all, on the sides is perfectly fine but not on the lid.
I place the 4 tiny air holes for ventilation and it works great, no condensation and with all of that water the humidity stays 90% to 95% without ever hitting 100%.
The added water means you won't have low humidity and the vent holes mean you won't have excess humidity either.
Since we changed to doing this 3 seasons ago we have yet to have any mold issues and lack of humidity is a thing of the past.

[SlitherinSisters]

We are all still learning as breeding BPs is still relatively new, that's why there is a lot of different advice

If you are substrateless (using light diffuser/egg crate on top of perlite/vermiculite) just make sure it's really wet and close the lid. To be completely honest I have never measured the humidity in my egg tubs, I just make sure the perlite stays soaking wet, but not enough to splash on the eggs when the tub gets moved. Also, those cheap $1 shoe box tubs (what I use) are not air tight so the eggs can still "breathe".

[MorphMaster]

Essentially yes.


You do not want condensation on the lid at all, on the sides is perfectly fine but not on the lid.
I place the 4 tiny air holes for ventilation and it works great, no condensation and with all of that water the humidity stays 90% to 95% without ever hitting 100%.
The added water means you won't have low humidity and the vent holes mean you won't have excess humidity either.
Since we changed to doing this 3 seasons ago we have yet to have any mold issues and lack of humidity is a thing of the past.

This was helpful. I'm assuming the Vent holes are on the top; although, I don't know if matters too much... Thank you so much

[MorphMaster]

We are all still learning as breeding BPs is still relatively new, that's why there is a lot of different advice

If you are substrateless (using light diffuser/egg crate on top of perlite/vermiculite) just make sure it's really wet and close the lid. To be completely honest I have never measured the humidity in my egg tubs, I just make sure the perlite stays soaking wet, but not enough to splash on the eggs when the tub gets moved. Also, those cheap $1 shoe box tubs (what I use) are not air tight so the eggs can still "breathe".

Thank you! So I assume you don't use holes... That was always my assumption but its nice to here it from someone with experience.