Easy egg tub setup

[Stewart_Reptiles]

A lot of issue people may experience are either egg drying out and collapsing or eggs being too wet and starting to mold, I found this method to be fool proof and I have been using it now for a little over 10 years with ZERO issue.

What will you need?

The supply list is pretty simple.

6 or 7 quarts tub similar to this http://www.sterilite.com/SelectProdu...=180&section=1 You will be able to hatch 10 to 12 egg clutches in those tubs for larger clutches or big eggs use a 12 or 15 quarts tub.

Light diffuser sheet https://www.lowes.com/pd/PLASKOLITE-...Panels/3280904

Perlite https://www.homedepot.com/p/Vigoro-2...1091/205655210 or vermiculite (I prefer perlite)

Water

Painter masking tape similar to this https://www.walmart.com/ip/Scotch-Ma...Yards/25517009

Pen

First get your tub and label it, I like to use painter masking tape to make my labels, it’s cheap and comes of easy without leaving residue. You can also write directly on the tub.





Once labeled add 4 cups of perlite (or vermiculite) in your tub followed by 1.5 cup of water.





Mix the perlite and water together.



Once done place the light diffuser (cut to the dimensions of your tub) on the top of the substrate.



Now all you need are some eggs.





Candle your eggs and discard lose slugs. If the eggs are stuck together which they usually are do not attempt to separate the eggs that have weak veins or are not fertile, this is not worth the risk (eggs that go bad and start to mold will not affect healthy eggs in the clutch)



Place your eggs on the top of the light diffuser.



Close the lid.



Place your eggs in the incubator (recommended incubation temperatures are 88/90, I personally incubate at 88) and forget about your eggs for the next 55 days at which time you can start opening your egg boxes every other day to air out your eggs.



See you in 60 days or so!

..............

It's now 59 days later, as you can see some condensation has now built up on the top but since it is not dripping it's of no concern.



One hatchling has slit it's egg so it is time to switch over to damp paper towel.



Remove the eggs and put them on the side, remove the egg crate and vermiculite, rinse your tub and place a damp piece of paper towel in the tub, this will prevent any issue in the event of an hatchling getting out of it's egg with the yolk sac still attached.

If some eggs are on the top of others (which is the case here) now is also a good time to separate some of your eggs, at this time they are easier to separate but you still need to proceed with caution. Once separated place your eggs back in your egg box and back in the incubator.



It has now been 24 hours since switching to paper towel and separating the eggs and all but one hatchling have slit their egg.



At this point I chose to cut any egg that did not pip (remember cutting has it's risk and if you chose to do this proceed carefully).

If you chose to cut simply cut a small triangle shape flap (do not cut a huge piece exposing the hatchling)



Put the egg tub back in the incubator.....now it's only a matter of a few days before all the hatchlings come out.

Within the next 48 hours all the hatchling are out and now setup in a communal tub on damp paper towel until they have their first shed.

----------------------------------------------------

Note: Here are 2 things I get ask about a lot and that I DO NOT DO: I do not use press and seal, and most importantly I do not check on my eggs and open my egg box on a daily basis, remember every time you check and open your egg box you let moisture out which is the most common problem reported by people who incubate their first clutch.

That’s it now all you need is patient to get you through the next 60 days.

Hope that helps, let me know if you have additional questions.

[luizillo]

Is there any other substrate besides vermiculite?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Is there any other substrate besides vermiculite?

You can do it with anything from soaked sponges to coconut chips, I just don't guarantee that you will not have to add water in between with this method (I use perlite) it's foolproof and I have used it for 10 years so I know I can put my eggs in and forget about them.

[Cornfed_Constrictors]

Hey Deborah, great post! When you say that you incubate at 88 degrees do you mean 88 inside of the tub or inside of the incubator?

I am doing a dry run with multiple tubs. I set my incubator at 88.5 degrees. The tubs with moist substrate are at 99% humidity but the temp is at 91.4 inside of the tub.

Tubs without substrate are running at or within a degree of my incubator set point.

I am assuming that the higher humidity in the tubs with moist substrate is allowing the air inside the tub to hold more heat.

Do you think that this would become an issue? I am thinking about placing the thermostat probe inside of an egg tub to maintain my desired temp inside of the tub. Do you see any drawbacks to this?

Thank you in advance for your time.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[Stewart_Reptiles]

Hey Deborah, great post! When you say that you incubate at 88 degrees do you mean 88 inside of the tub or inside of the incubator?

I am doing a dry run with multiple tubs. I set my incubator at 88.5 degrees. The tubs with moist substrate are at 99% humidity but the temp is at 91.4 inside of the tub.

Tubs without substrate are running at or within a degree of my incubator set point.

I am assuming that the higher humidity in the tubs with moist substrate is allowing the air inside the tub to hold more heat.

Do you think that this would become an issue? I am thinking about placing the thermostat probe inside of an egg tub to maintain my desired temp inside of the tub. Do you see any drawbacks to this?

Thank you in advance for your time.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Hi, as far as my incubation temperature it is the temperature inside the dummy tub placed in the middle of the incubator (so basically I play around with my thermostat until I reach that specific temperature in my dummy tub since I place my probe inside the tub)



Doing this will give me a differential of 2 degree from top to bottom giving me temps of 87 to 89 which is more than acceptable.

Now remember if you do place your probe in a tub (which I recommend) make it is a dummy tub set like the other but with no eggs, reason being the temperature of the eggs themselves will rise toward the end of incubation.

[Cornfed_Constrictors]

Question answered. Thank you so much Deborah.

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[ShawarmaPoutine]

Hi Deborah,

I had a few questions as I’ve seen different opinions flying everywhere:

1) do we want the egg box to be airtight? Almost airtight? Is it supposed to have small holes for ventilation?

2) after putting the egg boxes in the incubator at day one, is there any reason to open individual egg box anywhere between day 1 and say day 50?”

3) is there any reason to open the incubator at all (assuming eggs look fine) if the top of your incubator is transparent and you can see the eggs directly through the egg boxes’ transparent lids?

[ShawarmaPoutine]

Hi Deborah,

I had a few questions as I’ve seen different opinions flying everywhere:

1) do we want the egg box to be airtight? Almost airtight? Is it supposed to have small holes for ventilation?

2) after putting the egg boxes in the incubator at day one, is there any reason to open individual egg box anywhere between day 1 and say day 50?”

3) is there any reason to open the incubator at all (assuming eggs look fine) if the top of your incubator is transparent and you can see the eggs directly through the egg boxes’ transparent lids?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Stewart_Reptiles]

[QUOTE=ShawarmaPoutine;2688465]Hi Deborah,

I had a few questions as I’ve seen different opinions flying everywhere:

1) do we want the egg box to be airtight? Almost airtight? Is it supposed to have small holes for ventilation?

Yes and no, obviously those are not completely airtight (you would need to use press and seal for that which I do not) but at the sale time you do not want holes as it defeats the purpose letting moisture out

2) after putting the egg boxes in the incubator at day one, is there any reason to open individual egg box anywhere between day 1 and say day 50?”

Not really most people do because they are worry and curious but it's counter productive. You probably will ask "what if there is a bad moldy egg" in there well a moldy egg will never affect the healthy ones.

3) is there any reason to open the incubator at all (assuming eggs look fine) if the top of your incubator is transparent and you can see the eggs directly through the egg boxes’ transparent lids?

Aside from putting new eggs in and take the babies out? No

So bottom line if your eggs are setup properly they will be fine and it's really about putting them in there and forgetting about them for 50/60 days.

[jsawyer7294]

How’s it going ? I am trying your method out and I have two tubs set up. My temps are exactly where they need to be but I cannot get my humidity over 90% . I have added the 4 cups of perlite and 1.5 cups of water . Should I just add more water until I get to 99%?


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