Crash course in egg incubation - need help

[NJ Balls]

I'll skip all the background stuff and get right to the point. I bought a female bumblebee on craigslist about 2.5 months ago and it just laid eggs.

I've started building a collection of BPs and the plan was to start breeding in a year or two. Plan B "I have eggs now what do I do".

I know most of the basics stuff and have all the equipment already because I have bred bearded dragons, crested geckos, and tri-colored milks in the past.

The two most important questions I need answered is how long can the eggs last before you put them in the incubator and does the container need holes?

I was away for work for two days and when I came home, I found eggs in her tub. Wednesday morning I did my normal cleaning and water check routine and left the house around 9:30. I returned Friday at 1:00. eggs were in the incubator by 2:00 at 89 degrees.

the eggs where kind of stuck to the newspaper but I was able to separate them gently.

Let me know what you think. Do the eggs look good? They felt kind of juicy when I put them in the egg box.

[dr del]

Yeah, Those eggs look fine

You can candle them if you want to check for veins to be certain - I use one of those small led torches on mine.

And congratulations.

[Meerna]

Dude, free snakes.

[PitOnTheProwl]

This will be a GREAT first for you. Especially not knowing whats in there LoL

They do all look good but I would candle them.
You better keep us posted on this one.

[NJ Balls]

Just candled the eggs and they are loaded with big juicy viens.

Now the question is what's in them. I know they're half bumblebee.

[John1982]

The two most important questions I need answered is how long can the eggs last before you put them in the incubator and does the container need holes?[/IMG]

Eggs are pretty darn durable. As long as they aren't laid/left in a water dish(drowned) or directly on the heat source(fried), they're usually fine for days. You could simply throw some lightly dampened sphagnum moss on them and let the female incubate maternally - until you get everything set up for artificial or even letting her take the clutch full term. Ventilation in tubs comes down to personal preference. I drill a few small holes in my tubs for air exchange and find it helps cut down on mold a bit. If you use a lot of ventilation, you'll probably have to add water to your medium at some point. If you go substrateless, you probably won't want holes or you'll struggle to keep humidity high. I'm a vermiculite guy though so my eggs get partially buried.

[NJ Balls]

60 days later, still not sure what's in there but I'm loving the color of the first nose.

[Booper]

Aww yay! I'm so excited to see what comes out of those eggs!

[JodanOrNoDan]

Mystery animals. This is going to be interesting. Glad to see they made it.

[NJ Balls]

Any guess on what the father may have been? Maybe when the rest of the clutch hatches it will be easier to tell.

I think I'll name this one Awesome.