Humidity precentage in the incubator

[Manhattan Herps]

i know it has to be in the 80's, but what is the accurate precentage? i read somewhere that is should be 83%-85%
i'm expecting one of my females to drop her eggs in the next week, my first 7 eggs died 4 of them whgere fertile and died 40days into incubation, so i've gotten a new incubator, humidity gauge,digital thermometer with probe and a digital scale(to go with Albey's method)

its been at 83% for about 6 hours now, if it should be higher than 83 please let me know

Dan

 

[KelliH]

Dan-

I do not measure the humidity in my incubator. The more important thing is that the incubation inside whatever container you are incubating in is good. I do not use a humidity gauge to measure this. I use vermiculite as an incubation medium and incubate in deli cups. I know how much vermiculite and water to add to make just damp but not too wet (very important!). I believe it is a ratio of 2:1 vermiculite to water by weight, but I stopped measuring it long ago.

Sorry I don't use perlite as Albey does so I am not sure about mixing it but I am sure it is similar. It is just as bad (maybe worse actually) to incubate reptile eggs too wet, and many make that mistake their first few goes at it. Good luck.

 

[riverjop]

Kelli, do you make a few small pin hole in the deli cup or do you keep it sealed tight?
I use perlite and punch one very small pin hole in each corner of a rubbermaid sandwich container. It seams like the perlite drys out, so everyonce in a while I mist a small amount of water along the sides (not directly on the eggs). I keep a open sandwitch container half filled with water in the incubator, and have noted that the humidity stays around 50%. I haven't had any mold except once on a infertal egg that had a small hole in it. I discard all the perlite after the eggs hatch and start with new. But I was wondering about the pin holes and know that you hatch out alot of eggs and was just wondering??????

 

[Manhattan Herps]

the search for vermiculite...

I hate using Perlite but right now it's my only choice, i've searched EVERYWHERE for vermiculite and have'nt found it yet, theres a flower "nursery" here that i was sure would have it...but no, lol theres nothing here...no Home depot..no Lowes..nothing

I'm setting the thermostat to 88 this time to get males, hopefully the eggs will be fertile and all will go good, i've already lost 7 eggs...dont want that to ever happen again..i'll keep looking for vermiculite..probably with no luck

i have an incubator here for AFT eggs and the medium is 50% Bed-a-beast 50%perlite, i had a friend use this for his fattie eggs and all hatched..maybe this would be good for leo eggs as well?

i dampen the perlite just enough so that it SLIGHTLY clumps, same with the bed a beast/perlite mixture, it seems like im following albeys method, i just hope is correct...

 

[Snakebyt]

Since alot of places quit carrying vermeculite, i decided to get a big bag so i wouldnt run out this year.

 

[riverjop]

hmmmm
interesting!....so it does come in different size granulars.
I must have large?

 

[KelliH]

LOl Terry, we get those same bags!

Kelli, do you make a few small pin hole in the deli cup or do you keep it sealed tight?

I use the prepunched deli cups and cover all but 1 or 2 of the holes. Works just great and I rarely have to add water.

 

[Snakebyt]

i know there are different grades of the stuff, this is just what they happened to have on hand when i went

 

[diablohogs]

Kelli, do you make a few small pin hole in the deli cup or do you keep it sealed tight?

well im not kelli but i figured i throw in my method real quick.

i use rubbermaid/tupperware containers and i dont use holes at all. completely sealed containers. i believe this keeps the moisture level where it needs to be. i check on my eggs often and allow fresh air into the containers. i have yet to change my vermiculite since NEO hatched and have had a 100% success rate with my eggs, so far (knock on wood). i use a 1:1 ratio of vermiculite to water but i also make sure using the "stick together method" that the ratio is correct.

one thing ive noticed is that hatchlings born in containers with transparent lids tend to be alot less afraid when you discover them while ones born with opaque lids are usually firghtened at first encounter with me. i think it has to do with breaking out of an egg and ending up in another dark place vs. finding yourself in something you can see out of.

 

[riverjop]

I could see by the picture ^ that that vermiculite was way smaller, so I guess I'll have to get some & thanks for the info!
As for my gecko that just hatched, she was unafraid of me & I use clear.

 

[KelliH]

i use rubbermaid/tupperware containers and i dont use holes at all. completely sealed containers.

I have heard of breeders finding dead baby geckos that had hatched but were left in the incubator for a day or two, they suffocated due to lack of airholes! Just be careful, I have too many eggs to use that method but as long as you check them twice a day should be fine.

 

[diablohogs]

most of my eggs (incubated at 88-90) hatch at about 40 days... i usually start checking them about 300 times a day at about day 32. another good thing about transparent lids (and the little windows on my hova-bator).

thanks for the input kelli.

 

[p_i_r_sales]

Hello,

New to all this. I'm looking to breed high end bearded dragons in the near future and have been doing lots of research on them. I currently have a breeding pair so I need to get all my ducks in a row before I let them do their thing.
I've been searching for products to build a Incubator out of a fridge/Freezer. I've found nearly everything I will need but 1. question still remains.
What type of Humidity Gauge should I use? Should I put the gauge in the cup in the center as the eggs would sit or would I keep it in the center of the incubator next to the temp. gauge?

I've seached everywhere on fauna but haven't seen anything on this topic so far.

Thanks!