Egg incubation problems

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Has anyone ever tried moist coco-peat/kritters krumble as an incubation substrate?
Or is vermiculiite the only substrate people really use during incubation?
How's the eggs over water with no substrate method go?



Yeah but there's always some form of condensation in most incubation methods I've seen - so they are bound to have water drip on them at some point?
Plus how does that explain this... As soon as it rained the eggs would be toast. It was a crappy day as it was when I found them - One of the eggs had already fallen from the rest.
Only reason I brought them in was because I didn't believe they would last outside where they were.

Here's the four eggs. Note I left the two hatched eggs in place so I didn't disturb the others



And the two baby Geckos.


Properly set up incubators should never have condensation form droplets on the tub lids.
Iit is very well known that water drops damages/kills soft-shelled eggs by blocking the pores used to exchange moisture and/or gasses.

There are a number of incubation mediums available, the most common are: Perlite, Vermiculite, Sphagnum moss.
The over water technique seems to be really gaining popularity amongst experienced breeders, when done correctly it seems to be a very successful way to incubate reptile eggs.

The eggs pics you have posted are Christinus marmoratus, they lay hard-shelled eggs (only a handful of Aussie lizard genus's lay eggs like this) that do not react the same way as they do not absorb or loose moisture like soft-shelled eggs.
 
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Take them out of the vermiculite and incubate over a water bath Set temp around 31 inside the container
If it was too much humidity they would be very large as they take on extra fluid and drown
I would say you heat is not right Also try and fan the eggs a few times a week to aid in oxygen transfer
 
All are starting to look a lot better when I changed the median and bumped the temps
Thanks guys ps I'm also building a bar fridge for the next clutch due to arrive next week
 
Properly set up incubators should never have condensation form droplets on the tub lids.
Iit is very well known that water drops damages/kills soft-shelled eggs by blocking the pores used to exchange moisture and/or gasses.

There are a number of incubation mediums available, the most common are: Perlite, Vermiculite, Sphagnum moss.
The over water technique seems to be really gaining popularity amongst experienced breeders, when done correctly it seems to be a very successful way to incubate reptile eggs.

The eggs pics you have posted are Christinus marmoratus, they lay hard-shelled eggs (only a handful of Aussie lizard genus's lay eggs like this) that do not react the same way as they do not absorb or loose moisture like soft-shelled eggs.

Thanks for clearing that up Josh. I think the fundimental mistake I made was that the container had air holes in the lid. All be it tiny ones.
But would of been enough to create the condensation on the inside of the lid I'd say (air exchange and temp difference from outside and inside the container).
The container I used to hatch the Marbled Geckos in was air tight with no air holes. Never had condensation. Explains a lot.
 
Thanks for clearing that up Josh. I think the fundimental mistake I made was that the container had air holes in the lid. All be it tiny ones.
But would of been enough to create the condensation on the inside of the lid I'd say (air exchange and temp difference from outside and inside the container).
The container I used to hatch the Marbled Geckos in was air tight with no air holes. Never had condensation. Explains a lot.

Next time just use a dry incubation medium. Marbled Gecko eggs are hard-shelled and do not need to be kept moist.
 
Apologies for a slight hijacking of the thread but soon I will be in a situation (first time breeder) with my Central Netted eggs. With regards to the temperature probe where exactly with regards to the incubator does this need to sit.

Inside the container? Next to the heat cord probe? Do I need two thermometers?

Many thanks.
 
You are best positioning the temperature probe in with the eggs and the thermostat probe in a centralized location (in regards to temperature gradient).
 
How do people actually set up the "over water" method? I see people say it all the time, but haven't come across a clear diagram of how to set it up. Can you use a water heater in a broccoli box, to do it?

My friend recently had a surprise clutch of bearded dragon eggs from her young beardy, and they were laid into dry sand and spent about 6 hours in the dry sand. I had just got a cheap deal on a new Exoterra incubator ($250) that I planned to use for frilly eggs if I got any, and said she could bring her eggs over. When they arrived they had been transferred into damp sand, and she was careful to keep them the right way up, but they were quite dimpled. I put them in a sealed container with 1:1 water and vermiculite by weight, and set the temperature so that it stayed at 31 in the egg box. I put a large container of warm water in the incubator to help buffer the temperature as it was fluctuating a little in the beginning (29-31). The eggs got more dimply, so I added in the corner, not touching any eggs, some scrunched up damp paper towel. Most of the eggs turned yellow overnight and started to smell. There are a few left that look normal and aren't dimply any more, but they have yellow on them. I am not sure if it what I did, or if they were destined to fail from the get go. This was my first experience with eggs and now I am scared for any more to come! :(

I would like to set up a more reliable incubator for python eggs, when the time comes, using the over water method. I may need some assistance though on how to do it.
 
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Ingie I will post a link to a thread which had some awesome contributions re: water over. I will find it then edit this post with the info.

@Ingie and others curious about the water over method click on this link......some very informative information from respected forum members.

If you scroll down to post #12 by Slimebo this is the method I will be utilising for my Central Netted's. Looks the goods.

http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/general-reptile-discussion-42/water-incubation-method-145685/



 
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Thanks very much :) I wish all the pictures were there, but I think I can work something out. Does anyone ever use a water heater in the water, as the heater?
 
The over water technique seems to be really gaining popularity amongst experienced breeders, when done correctly it seems to be a very successful way to incubate reptile eggs.

I use the tried and true method vermic or perlite and have very good hatch rates as do most of the other old school guys that I know.For me if it aint broke don't fix it.
 
Ingie, im not sure if people do use water heaters but it should work, however I would think that there would be a bit of temp variation with them. But worth a trial I suppose.
Most people just use a normal incubator.
Essentially the incubating tubs are set up with a tub, some form of spacer and egg crate/mesh. The spacers are placed on the bottom of the tub and the egg grate/mesh is placed on the spacers to suspend the eggs above 20-30mm water.
I use a plastic cutlery drawer divider thing from bunnings cut to fit the tub as my spacer but I put egg crate over the top of the cutlery drawer as its holes are small and the humidity tends to form droplets that bridge across the small holes. Hard to explain but pic says a thousand words
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No space to slip down the sides and drown. I doubt they would drown though, they could easily climb back up.

Hope this helps,
Aaron
 
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I use the tried and true method vermic or perlite and have very good hatch rates as do most of the other old school guys that I know.For me if it aint broke don't fix it.
When people say 50/50 it's by weight is it not? Tho seems not a lot of water?... I was planning the over water in case I got the % wrong
 
I've tried vermiculite, perlite and over water with good success in all methods. However for ease I use perlite, its very forgiving and I generally have great success with hatch rates. 50/50 by weight, it will always seem quiet dry as well however works fine.
 
I have just set up my incubator (converted bar fridge) so that I can give it a test run before the Netted drops, IMO within the next week. I have gone with Slimebo's method. I have a 4 drawer container with 10mm vermiculite (dry form) in each compartment sitting inside the Sistema outer tub which has a vermiculite/water mix. The 4 drawer container is sitting about 10-20mm off the dampened vermiculite. I have the Habistat Pulse Proportional set up. The temp probe inside the sistema reads around 30-31c, however the humidity on the gauge is sitting around 20%.

Could someone explain why so low? Does it take "x" amount of hours for the humidity to build up or????

Cheers.
 
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I have just set up my incubator (converted bar fridge) so that I can give it a test run before the Netted drops, IMO within the next week. I have gone with Slimebo's method. I have a 4 drawer container with 10mm vermiculite (dry form) in each compartment sitting inside the Sistema outer tub which has a vermiculite/water mix. The 4 drawer container is sitting about 10-20mm off the dampened vermiculite. I have the Habistat Pulse Proportional set up. The temp probe inside the sistema reads around 30-31c, however the humidity on the gauge is sitting around 20%.

Could someone explain why so low? Does it take "x" amount of hours for the humidity to build up or????

Cheers.

Your gauge is very likely broken. 20% is far less than Melbourne ambient humidity. A sealed container with moisture and heat would be a lot higher than that as you would expect.
 
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