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n/a
deleted
40 Posts |
 Posted - 06/05/2010 : 10:47:55
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Hi
My felame had 4 eggs last sunday I bought them an incubator the pet store made it up for me, there in polistireen box, heat mats top and bottom, vermiculite on the bottom and in there small tub where I made a whole for the eggs to go in and covered them up.
As this is my 1st time I have been told to leave them for 60 days and check on then around 55-65 days as thats when there more likly to hatch but is there anything I can do to make sure there ok.
I have been told the 90% hatch and of those 90% will feed ok so out of the 4 eggs I guessing 2 will survive (although I want all to).
What do healthy eggs look like?
How do I know if there alive?
I have been told the eggs are soft is the true as i have not felt them?
there temp is 80-82f is that ok?
Do they need watering? to keep humidity?
I understand this is alot to answer but I do need to know as I want the best start for my little ones. |
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Mouse
Yearling
United Kingdom
958 Posts |
Posted - 06/05/2010 : 12:44:11
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Riiight, 2 heat mats?!
mine has 1 heat mat on the bottom.
Cake cooling rack ontop of that.
Tub with vericulite in, then eggs in the verm
Thermostat, and heatmat probe in there to regulate and check on temp.
(I have extra jar of water in there to help boost humidity, as it's a bit rubbish in mine :( but misting should help)
it has 2 small holes for air intake, and 2 'windows' in the top so I can check on them!!
Healthy eggs are white, generally yellow ones are duds, but some have been known to hatch, so...*shrugs*.
They shouldn't be saggy.
Temp is ok.
Humidity needs to ideally be as close to 100% as poss. Do you have a hydrometer in there?
Keep the vermiculite moist/damp.
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1.0.0 - Gobo - Snow Corn (RIP)
0.1.0 - Sprockett - Normal/hypo/het snow Corn
2.0.0 Anery Hatchlings
0.1.0 Amel Hatchling
0.1.0 Normal Hatchling
*Location - Southampton, UK*
http://www.weneedcake.co.uk |
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SexyBear77
Fully Grown Corn
United Kingdom
3796 Posts |
Posted - 06/05/2010 : 12:50:51
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Pics will really help. I don't understand how you have got your incubator set up either- is there verm over the heat mat on the bottom? You only really need one heatmat, on the bottom.
Here is a pic of my incubator-
The eggs are in a tupperware tub, half filled with damp verm, and they have a layer of damp sphagnum moss ovet the top. The tub is raised on 2 polystyrene blocks, with the stat, therm and hygrometer cables running into it. The heat mat is on the bottom,and there is also a jug of water in there to keep the humidity up. You want the humidity up 90%-100% ideally. |
9.11 Cornsnakes
1.1 Hogg island boas
1.0 Dwarf Burmese python
Location: Watford
Website- http://rassnakes.yolasite.com/ |
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n/a
deleted
40 Posts |
Posted - 07/05/2010 : 09:39:44
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Hi thanks for the input I have just gone up to check on them and a good job too the heatmat taped to the top had fallen down.
There in a small plastic tub covered in the verm, because the eggs were together I put them in as they were and put a light cover of verm over the top with the lid on, the tub is sat on the verm.
One thing how do I know about the humitity?
Do I need to add hot or cold water (in a tub for hunidity)?
Will the water increase the temp? as they are from 80-82f I dont want to cook them.
The eggs look white well the top 2 do I didnt want to remove them to see the others.
I think I need someone to check its all ok for them lol I worry alot.
Oh and whats misting? |
Edited by - n/a on 07/05/2010 09:42:07 |
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Mouse
Yearling
United Kingdom
958 Posts |
Posted - 07/05/2010 : 15:30:55
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The eggs should be 1/3 to 1/2 buried in the vermiculite.
The water you can put in at room temp, it's in a seperate container so won't cook them, just evaporate, thus raising humidity!
A Hydrometer is best for checking humidity. you can buy a dial one, and stick it to the inside, or buy a digital one and leave the probe inside.
(The digital ones look like the digital thermometers, but are a little more expensive.) |
1.0.0 - Gobo - Snow Corn (RIP)
0.1.0 - Sprockett - Normal/hypo/het snow Corn
2.0.0 Anery Hatchlings
0.1.0 Amel Hatchling
0.1.0 Normal Hatchling
*Location - Southampton, UK*
http://www.weneedcake.co.uk |
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mikerichards
don't say the 'M' word!
United Kingdom
2901 Posts |
Posted - 07/05/2010 : 17:05:43
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Hi, the advice you have been given is not right, its not totally wrong, just miss guided.
Have a look at the picture SexyBear has put up, that is how your incubator should look from the top, or a variation of that.
From what i gather from your posts, you have a empty tub with the eggs in, buried in vermiculite on a heatmat with another on the lid.
You only need one heatmat, they are more than capable of keeping the temps up nicely in a poly box.
Without touching your setup as it is, i suggest you do the following:
Soak some vermiculite in warm water, not to hot, warm enough for you to be able to feel its not cold, roughly 27 degrees.
Get a small tupperware box, complete with lid, make 2 small holes, no more than about 1 or 2 mm diameter, do not hole the lid at all, and if the lid has holes, its no good.
Take your vermiculite that has been soaking, squeeze out the immeadiate water, dont go too mad. Once done, place inside the tupperware box.
Now make something for the box to sit on, i cut up 2 kitchen roll tubes to equal lengths and sat the box on these.
Empty your current incubator setup, get rid of the heat mat on the lid, its pointless.
Make sure your heatmat is secured down, and place the bits of kitchen roll on them spaced out so the box will sit nicely on them.
Now, its your choice where the thermometer and thermostat go, you can either put them in the tub with the eggs, or leave them ontop of the tupperware box, not on the heatmat though, as you want ambient temps not direct contact temps. They will eventually even out, but when you open the box then heatmat will work hard to get the temps back up again with the probe in the air, if its on the mat, it will take a long time.
Now, either make a small hole, or a groove for your wires to go into the poly box, again, the choice is yours, its 6 one half dozen the other.
Put your eggs into the damp vermiculite, partially buried. Put the tupperware tub on the kitchen rolls, and close the lid.
you may check on them once a week, maybe give them a small misting. No more than that though.
THe temperature should be 27.5, or thereabouts.
If you dont have a theremostat, get one. no questions, thats a must.
You must also have a digital thermometer, you cannot rely on the temp settings on the stat, they are not accurate.
If i was you, i would do this at the earliest opportunity, although the eggs are really tough little sods, if something isnt quite right, then you could lose the lot, let alone 50 %
The facts you were given, are wrong, you should get as close to 100% hatch rate as possible, its rare that under good incubation, that eggs are lost.
Babies are little terrors, they suffer small person syndrome and can be very aggressive, this is normal, after all they are a little person just coming into a big world and everything is big and scary!
You can get babies known as Hot Babies, where the incubation temperature has been high, 29+, the babies have a severe attitude, and this can stay forever. They are also likely to be deformed, kinked spines, no stomaches, etc. It can also do funky things with the pattern, but with all the downsides, its not recommended at all!
If you incubate at 27.5 degrees, you will be near as dammit to 55 days incubation.
I will be surprised if you lose any babies or eggs.
Good Luck, let me know if you have any questions, my number is in my profile. |
Location : Worthing, West Sussex
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n/a
deleted
40 Posts |
Posted - 08/05/2010 : 15:45:10
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Hi
Thanks for the info was a great help I changed the incubator was i discovered was:- 1 heat mat at top none on the bottom so what I have done in take out the verm from the bottom put the heat mat on the bottom, put the tub with eggs are in has been placed on 2 small tubs so the air can flow under and around.
1 thing that worried me was the guy who set up the incubator for me had been breeding and selling for 10 years, he is a reptile professional so I wonder why the info and the set up was so wrong.
But everything has been changed so lets hope for the best.
One thing I need to know is with the verm out from the bottom of the incubator and only in the tub with the heat remain the same? Now im thinking the hunidity will decrease with the heat and the heat will mat and stat will burn out trying to keep the heat up? |
Edited by - n/a on 08/05/2010 15:53:04 |
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1st time eggs
