Originally Posted by Lord Sorril
So: My two cents.
If your incubator is maintaining an internal temperature of 88 degrees and you are using moist substrate/or water only: and the container is well sealed: humidity will = 100% and thus either method works.
I don't bother my eggs except for checking them on a weekly/biweekly basis to discard 'bad' eggs or every 2-3 days near hatch date to do an air exchange. Misting or any other activity on a daily basis to disturb the eggs would be bad due to the related temperature fluctuations.
X-Rays are cool, but, don't expect them to forecast lay date. Females can and do withhold eggs until they are 'ready' and even large follicles are no guarantee that they turn into eggs or do not get reabsorbed and/or slug out on lay. Females will lay when they are prepared. Do continue to mate the female to the male until the eggs are physically in-hand.
That Exo-Terra incubator in the picture is notorious for having unstable temperatures due to poor electronics. People say that some stop working randomly and others say they heat/cool incorrectly after a period of time. I would never use one of those incubators. Building an incubator around a reliable proportional thermostat with a heat source is still your best bet. There are many posts in the forums regarding great builds. But, if you are feeling lucky...maybe your unit will be the one that works properly.
Best of luck!
I wonder if it’s maybe the machine’s heating system/airflow that is making it not sealed and as you said allowing the humidity to drop. Do you seal the egg boxes too or just the incubator itself?
Perfect I’ve definitely read that daily checks where you open the containers are a no-no!
One of the vets I work with confirmed that she is gravid and I can expect eggs but just as you said that ultimately means little and there’s always so much room for error especially with something as sensitive as eggs. She’s been seemingly more uncomfortable and in different positions the past two weeks like ones I’ve seen online and she’s gained weight tho I really refrain from touching her at all. So im still crossing my fingers! Do you by chance have any weight comparisons from snakes that went from normal to having large follicles but didn’t lay to ones that were normal to right before they did lay? I just wanna be prepped with all this prior and to be honest I’m not feeling so confident that I am! And I would hate to “produce” snakes that are unhealthy.
Hahaha doesn’t sound like a very bright future with this machine! I figured due to not the highest of ratings and the amount of people that use self built incubators that it maaaaaay not be the most ideal but wanted to see for myself and keep the receipt nearbyI figured I would take a chance to try to make it easier and so far with the thermometer (again waiting for my digital and more accurate one) it has been steady heat wise. Whether it’s the correct degrees of steady will be TBD by the other thermometer 🙃
any chance you have link to a cost effective and very well explained / simple self made incubator? I’m so nervous to mess up!
Thank you for your reply!
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