Some egg questions?

[minameemanimnm]

So here we are three years later and I have my first three clutches of eggs!

-VPI Line Pastel 100% Het. Lavender Albino X VPI Line Pastel 100% Het. Lavender Albino
-Super Pastel 100% Het. Pied X Pied
-Super Pastel X Super Pastel

I have a Natures Spirit Incubator being controlled by a Vivarium Electronics VE-300 that is set at 89 degrees. I have set the eggs up in 6 QT Sterilite boxes with two inches of perilite and H2O, then light diffuser, then the eggs, then press and seal, and finally the lid, no air holes. There is no added humidity to the incubator. I have filled the void space in the incubator with water bottles, but not to the point of preventing any air flow from the fan.

Within three day of the eggs going in I had a storm and power outage. I have no clue how long it lasted, I was at work and when I got home it was already back on. I only know it was off due to the fact that all of the digital clocks in my house were flashing. The thermostat has a backup battery and had the incubator at temp. when I arrived. The power was out anywhere from 1 min. to 8hrs. Could this of had an adverse effect on the eggs? Is there a way to tell if it did?

With no air holes in the tub and press and seal over the top how often should I be opening the egg boxes for air exchange? If I open the boxes, is the temp. drop that occurs in doing so going to cause an adverse effect on the eggs?

Two of the tubs have beads of humidity all over the inside walls the other one has none is this normal? Is one right or one wrong?

All 15 eggs look just like they did the day I put them in, nice and plump and pearly white. I candled all 15 before they went in the incubator and they all had very nice veins. I am at day 15 and am one of the most patient people on this planet, but I can tell you these are some long days!

I appreciate everyone's answers and all the info everyone has posted on this site to get me to the point I am today!

Best Regards,
Nolan Mans

 

[chrisis697]

Hello nolan, sounds like some exciting clutches!!
Im not familiar with that incubator but they are usually insulated well & the water bottles help a great deal with the temps. It prolly dropped a couple degrees but i think they will be ok. I dont have a ton of experience but if you think about what can happen in nature, we do a pretty good job. I dont use press & seal, but i would say atleast once a week to get fresh air in there is good idea. Closer to hatching tho more often is better cause you will want more oxygen as they get ready to hatch. Little beads of water is ok, but you dont want it dripping on the eggs, thats no good. After that sit back & watch. I usually let one pip on its own, then cut the rest. Everyone is different & do what works best for you. Good luck & make sure you post picks, i wanna see a pastel lavendar

Chris

 

[minameemanimnm]

Thanks Chris, lol I want to see a pastel lavender also but the super pastel lavender would be better. Its only 1:16 which is a far cry better odds than the power ball ticket I buy every week!

 

[mgoblue347]

What Chris said, you definitely need to open the lid and peel back the plastic wrap at least once a week, more so when the hatch date nears. I do the same method except I use vermiculite. I also have one hole drilled in either end of the tub for air flow as well. My temps are a constant 88.5 and humidity 90% and not a single dimpled egg in in about 32 days. I would get a humidity gauge to check if I were you, but that is me. From what I understand (and I am no expert) eggs dimple because of humidity problems. If all of the eggs are nice and plump I would say you are doing it right and shouldn't worry. I also candled my eggs at day 20 and day 30 to check for movement, which I did see! Had the egg box out of the incubator for about 3-4 minutes and it is fine. I also had the power go out of me for about 3 hours while I was here and the temps only dropped maybe 2 degrees in three hours. With the water bottles in there and not opening the door you should be good to go. Could always candle them again too =]

 

[snakesRkewl]

If you are doing substrateless there's really no need for press n seal?

 

[Shadera]

If you are doing substrateless there's really no need for press n seal?

Bingo.

I used to do all that. Then I realized that as long as everything is set up right, I didn't need it. I use opening the tub to add 'bator temp water as an excuse to look eggs over quickly. My tubs now are substrateless method with a small hole drilled in opposite ends of the box for airflow. I'm adding water on average once every two weeks, but only because I'm topping it off, not because the boxes are dry. To each their own, and if it works for you and you're happy with it there's no reason to change things.

Condensation means there is a difference in temps between the air outside the box and the air inside. You can tweak your setup, or tip one corner of the box up just a tad so water rolls down the lid to a corner and doesn't drip on the eggs.

An outage shouldn't harm your eggs at all, unless the temp in the incubator spiked for a prolonged period when power came back on.

Fingers crossed for you. It IS always a very long 60 days.

 

[minameemanimnm]

I used the press and seal because I was following Bill Buchmans' "Substrateless Incubation method" outlined on World of Ball Pythons. I wasn't to worried about water dripping in the tubs that had droplets because I have the press and seal sloping to one end of the tub. I was just curious to know if the one with the droplets had more humidity and if the one that isn't like that should be. Its always fun to over guess things that we want really bad to be exactly right. I appreciate everyone's insight so far! Knowledge is power.