Incubating beardie eggs in water...

[Miss B]

I think I need a bit of clarification on the water method for egg incubation.

We're planning to breed our beardies in about six weeks time. We would do it earlier, but we're going to be out of the country for the last two weeks in August and for obvious reasons, would prefer to wait until we get home.

I'd like to incubate the eggs using the water method. We've got a spare fish tank and aquarium heater. I've tested the aquarium heater and it seems to be accurate to within 1.5 degrees Celcius. I was going to put the eggs in the usual tub of moist vermiculite and then suspend the tub in the water (with a lid of flymesh so hatchies can't get out and drown if they make an appearance while I'm not at home).

Any advice for a first-timer? These are the things I'm not 100% sure about:

[] How far into the vermiculite should I place the eggs?
[] How far apart should the eggs be spaced?
[] What temperature should I set the aquarium heater to?
[] And is there anything special I need to do regarding humidity? Should the vermiculite tub or fishtank have a lid? Or should I just leave everything open and mist the eggs if they look dry?
[] One last thing: I have heard that when removing the eggs from wherever mummy beardie has laid them, it is extremely important to keep them facing the same way up that they were laid?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, I don't want our first attempt at breeding to end up a disaster

[Miss B]

Oh yeah and I was looking at this site: http://members.aol.com/TheWyvernsLair/incubator.html

The critter cage idea looks rather clever, with the sponge in the top to prevent condensation dripping onto the eggs.

[Twiggz]

I to am preparing to breed for the first time this year, not intending to incubate under this method....though i would be interested in the discussion.
I can answer one of your queries Miss B:
The reason you need to keep the egg still and facing the same position as when laid is because the embryo attaches itself to the wall of the egg when laid and movement could result in it detaching itself and consequently drowning the embryo.

[JasonL]

For those that are new to incubating, I would recommend the vericulite / Standard incubator method first before you decide to think outside the circle or. ....oval.

[Miss B]

Is the water method really that difficult?

The other option is just buy a Hovabator.

[JasonL]

Oh no don't do that, Beardie eggs are easy to hatch, very easy. No need to spend much money on a incubator, just use a esky, heat cord and a thermostat. You could just incubate them in an enclosure at a push, if you have one heated 24/7.

[Kirby]

you can get cheap incubators at this site.. much cheaper than ive seen anywere else http://turtletownsydney.tripod.com/incubators.htm

[Miss B]

Originally Posted by JasonL

Oh no don't do that, Beardie eggs are easy to hatch, very easy. No need to spend much money on a incubator, just use a esky, heat cord and a thermostat. You could just incubate them in an enclosure at a push, if you have one heated 24/7.

Any type of esky? And would a heat mat work just as well as a heat cord?

I do have a spare enclosure that *could* be heated 24/7 - it's 900 x 600 x 600 (melamine all round with sliding glass doors and a vent in the back wall).

What would you recommend?

[Aslan]

I think heat cord is better as you can spread the heat more evenly around the incubator by taping the cord to the walls - in order to heat the top of an esky with a heat mat the bottom will need to get far too hot...

[JasonL]

As long as you can keep the enclosure between 27 - 33 they will hatch, Still I'd do the esky, use a plastic one, mat will be ok, but cords are cheaper and can be strung around as not to create any hot spots. The main thing you have to get right is the water content in your vermiculite. Beardie eggs will hatch in a warm room.

[Miss B]

Originally Posted by Aslan

I think heat cord is better as you can spread the heat more evenly around the incubator by taping the cord to the walls - in order to heat the top of an esky with a heat mat the bottom will need to get far too hot...

Ohhh I see. Hmm I don't know what to do

[Miss B]

Originally Posted by JasonL

As long as you can keep the enclosure between 27 - 33 they will hatch, Still I'd do the esky, use a plastic one, mat will be ok, but cords are cheaper and can be strung around as not to create any hot spots. The main thing you have to get right is the water content in your vermiculite. Beardie eggs will hatch in a warm room.

Ok, well let's say I make an incubator using an esky, heatcord and a thermostat. Bung the eggs in there and set it to 31 degrees (? I think I read that somewhere). Do I need to check them every day and what do I look for? Can the eggs get too moist or too dry? Will they spoil if condensation drips onto them?

As far as vermiculite goes, what is it - wet enough to form a ball but not so wet that water can be squeezed out?

[JasonL]

spend $25 on a heat cord, $50 on a esky, $150 on a thermo. 25 beardie eggs at $40each =$1000. x 3 clutches and I think you'll find it's worthwhile

[Miss B]

Yeah it's not the money I'm concerned about, I'd be quite happy to fork out for a Hovabator to be honest. I just wanna make sure I do everything right so as not to spoil any eggs unneccessarily.

[JasonL]

You will end up finding it to be too small, most start with a bar fridge, but an esky will get you out of trouble with a couple of clutches. Your beardie will lay a second clutch before the first one hatches if all goes well, so you need to think about incubating up to sixty eggs at once. If you end up getting another female in a year or two you will of already outgrown the Hovabator.