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My eggs keep drying out

No1snotsucker

No1snotsucker

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Okay folks I have little to no expierence really with incubation. I had a total of about 14 eggs last year and only hatched 2. Now they all would seem to be doing really good but then towards the end they would start to collapse and then mold over. I used the urban gecko method of incuation with a havabator. Well this year I used the albys method. And it worked real well for 2 eggs. they both hatched. 2 weeks after I put the first two in there I put in two more in. Well they have collapsed in the past couple of days and are pretty much done. I didn't really add any water until they were dimpling because they seemed to be kicking but.

My Question really is whats worse to little water or to much water. Because I'm really refraining from adding water because I've been scared by a few local people that I'll drown the egg and I should have it a little dry then wet. Plus I'm a bad judge when comes down to miosture.

Thanks you very much for taking the time to answer a dumb question.

Morgan
 
I tried using Albey's method, but I ALWAYS have to add more water. I think my basement (where the temperature is more stable) has drier air, so it tends to dry the eggs out very quickly. I would add extra. I always dump in a lot, then flip it over, strain out the water and squish out any extra water. This has worked well for me. Also, do you have a humidity gauge? You may want to consider one to help monitor just how humid it is.
 
picking up a humitidy gauge is on my to do list tonight. But if I go that way would would be the ideal humidity level?

sorry for the question I'm just very frustrated.

Thanks again
 
I have used Ableys method for some time now and have not had a single problem..... Never even had to rehydrate..... The only thing I do different from Albey is, I use 1 part water to 1 part perlite instead of the 1.8 ratio.... Have never had a problem with fungus or eggs sinking..... Maybe you are finding your eggs too late in the lay box???
 
I use a closed container with .8 to one parts 1 substrate. I found that perlite works better than vermiculite because it is denser and therefore will have a higher water to volume ratio. Although the container is closed I air it out once a week or even more frequently when I keep adding eggs. Every couple weeks or so I spray a couple of sprays of water in the corner away from the eggs.

When the eggs start to collapse you may want to put a moist paper towel over them. I found that spraying a paper towel lightly with water and placing it over the dehdrated eggs can help stop the dehydration or reverse it. If your eggs are constantly drying out you may want to check every other day to make sure they are ok. NEVER add water directly to the eggs.

Chris
 
You should also check the shipping aisle of your local office stores. They sell digital scales used for weighing packages for pretty cheap too.

Regarding incubation, I've had trouble with Albey's method being too wet when I try to incubate for male, so I add less water. I think it's better to keep it a little dry so you can always add a little water, whereas if it were too wet, you would have to dump the whole thing out and remeasure everything.
 
I agree with Olivia that too much water is worse than haveing the eggs slightly on the dry side. I use Albey's method with the 1:0.8 ratio. With this method it's very important to use a closed cantainer. Just open it once a eek for air exchange.

-Alice
 
Thanks everyone for your responces. I'll try to see if I can't have a more succesful season from her on out.

Again thank you for your time.
 
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