DIY incubator

[pythoninfinite]

Decisions decisions... So much great advice from you all - thank you!!! I'm thinking I will set up my incubator and play it by ear. If she lays and looks to be managing well and there are no visible issues with the eggs then she can potentially incubate them herself. Otherwise, I'll remove them and keep a good eye.

This might be a silly question, but if say I am out one day and the room heats too much would it be at all possible for her to move them if she thinks the area they are in is too warm? Or is that simply a killer and she won't be able to do anything about it. I know she can vibrate to warm them up, but she can't really do anything to cool them down if she can't move them. Maybe shimmy them over smidge?

If you're incubating eggs, or allowing the female to do it, it won't be a particular hot spot that is a problem because you shouldn't have any hotspots, it will be that the ambient temperature of the enclosure or the incubator where they are located is too hot, so she won't be able to move them anywhere cooler. You need to ensure that the entire environment is at an appropriate temperature, so there are no hot spots. As I have mentioned to you, Diamonds are late layers, so if your house gets very hot during heatwaves in late summer, you need to place the incubator or the enclosure with the female in a part of the house that stays coolest, often the bathroom or the floor somewhere. Excessive heat for too long will kill the developing embryos, so it is essential that you keep the incubation chamber cooler than around 31 -31.5C at all times. I have managed mine to keep the temps at around 28-29C so the female only has a couple of degrees to make up, so uses less energy. Incubating females in the wild would of course encounter temperatures far lower than this on occasions during the two month incubation period in the wild, but I'm sure would generally choose a very well insulated place to incubate to reduce excesses of heat and cold.

If you are out during heatwave conditions, you can drape the enclosure with wet towels before you leave to keep them cool.

Jamie

 

[Richard Biffin]

@Richard Biffin what monitors do you breed?

Apologies, for the late reply, Jessica, these are Heath monitors (V. Rosenbergi), but I also dabble in Lacies.