Incubating Temperatures

[3skulls]

Yep Anna I was gonna build one but then I foundout that Tim was getting out so I jumped on it. I was feeling good about the temps 89 in the top and bottom tub with 99 % humidity. Then someone posted that the accurite was only accurate +/- 4 degrees now I don't know. I guess I should check it with my temp gun. I have the unit in the top tub and the probe is in the bottom tub. oh and I bought a light diffuser I'll cut it tomorrow. Now do I just sit the grate on top of the vermic?

1.1 pastels, 1.0 lesser, 0.1 het blurry, 0.1 spider, 1.1 norm. 0.1 dinker,

Yeah just set it on top. If its real soggy, it will sink.
I cut mine with a pair of snips. Snapped off any remainder with some needlenose.

[MrLang]

Reviving this bad boy from the dead.

I just read an article on Maternal Incubation where they said the average temp was 83 degrees. The babies hatched in 70 days with a median weight of 70g, all healthy.

I've heard a fair amount of pretty scary stories of deformations and weird incubation issues from too much heat.

There's one instance here where issues were believed to be caused by incubation at a low temp. Anyone have any more?

[Kaorte]

Reviving this bad boy from the dead.

I just read an article on Maternal Incubation where they said the average temp was 83 degrees. The babies hatched in 70 days with a median weight of 70g, all healthy.

I've heard a fair amount of pretty scary stories of deformations and weird incubation issues from too much heat.

There's one instance here where issues were believed to be caused by incubation at a low temp. Anyone have any more?

It makes a lot of sense that if you incubated at lower temps, it would take them a little longer to hatch and the babies would come out bigger.

I think it works similarly in crested geckos if I remember correctly.

I think our notion of ~86.5º for incubating is really just the highest you can go and still have a really good (and quick) hatch rate. Maybe this has something to do with impatience? I know I am getting pretty impatient! 4 weeks to go!!

Perhaps one season I will try incubating at 84 or 85 and see how it goes. I will admit I was a little nervous at first putting my eggs in the 87º incubator. It felt so hot I thought I was going to make some hard boiled eggs! But everything is fine. I am 50% though incubation of my first clutch and all eggs candle strong veins and lots of movement.

[The Real Krafty]

I haven't started breeding yet, but when I do I will be sure to keep it at 88.5-89 degrees F

[FireStorm]

We maternally incubate, and use ambient heat only (no back or belly heat). The room is kept at 85F. Last year we saw hatch times from 60 days to 79 days. Our hatchlings ranged from 75g to 95g, and we didn't have any issues that I would attribute to the lower temps. Out of 28 clutches (I think) we had just 2 or 3 twisted umbilical cords, no issues with kinks or anything like that. This year I want to keep a more detailed spreadsheet, so I can get a good average of weights and time to hatch. I would also like to figure out a way to get a female or two to keep a thermometer probe in with the eggs. I want to know what temp the females actually maintain.

[MarkS]

I've got my herpstat dialed in at 88 degrees but the actual temp is 89 in the incubator (plus or minus .5)

[SquamishSerpents]

Yes, the eggs will be in the tub. However, consider this scenario: You take the tub out and peek in at your pearly whites. The tub temperature drops from opening, and you trap the cooler air inside with the lid before returning the tub to the incubator. Now, the entire incubator is increasing in temperature until that one tub is back to 89deg. Now, your other tubs have been getting hotter, the water bottles have been getting hotter, and the tub with the probe will now overheat because of all of the ambient increases around it (tub will continue to heat when the tape shuts off because everything else is hotter).

IMO, the two ways to place a stat probe in an incubator are to either place the probe in an EMPTY egg tub (which could still create the microcosm that then creates large temp swings in the rest of the inc), or suspend the probe in the vicinity of your tubs and place a thermoMETER probe in an egg tub as a check (this is how I do it, and get minimal swings). I do agree wholeheartedly with increasing the thermal mass in the incubator with as many water bottles as you can squeeze in there.

This.

I never put any probe in the tub.

I have 2 probed thermometers in the incubator, one marked top, one marked bottom, and STAT probe in the middle. I simply foil tape the probe cords to the wire shelving in the incubator.

And I go for 88-89 as well

[grcforce327]

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