HELP! Beardie laying, but faulty incubator??

[parsons]

My beardie has just started to lay and I went to check the incubator (reptapets) and the humidity is sitting on just 12....I have chinese containers with vermiculite sealed and a tub with water but I cant get the humidity up....please help with some ideas! Would I be better off leaving the eggs in the laying tub in the enclosure where its always warm and humid??

 

[Mrs I]

The humidity should be in the container with your eggs. Where are you measuring the humidity.

 

[parsons]

in the container now...how far apart should the eggs be and how deep?

 

[Mrs I]

Just place them on top dont turn them, need to keep them the same way they are layed, put them about 2 - 3 cms apart ...

 

[CodeRed]

make sure you bury them a little (say 1/3rd) in the vermiculite. Otherwise whenever you move the tub the eggs will roll.

 

[parsons]

Great...thanks so much....she is burying them in now!

 

[gregcranston]

Ah, I remember my first time, it's so exciting, but also a bit stressful. Carefully dig out the eggs, mark the top of them with a pencil, and place them in a small indentation in your vermiculite. If the vermiculite was make up 1:1 with water by weight, the humidity should be fine. The hygrometer might be faulty.
Seal the lid. I have found any temp range from about 27-30.5 is fine, humidity is the more important aspect, but if you keep the lid totally sealed for 2-3 weeks after they are layed, then maybe air them on a weekly basis, the humidity should stay fine, you may need to drop some more water on it at around day 40-50, or if some of the eggs start to dimple.
The rest is a waiting game. Make sure you fatten your female up with plenty of food, especially protein and calcium. As the eggs will have leached the calcium from her body. There is a pretty good chance she could lay another clutch or 2 back to back, even without mating again, so she needs to be in top condition.
Good luck mate!

 

[Morgan_dragon]

I used perlite for mine but hopefully this pic will help......

 

[Mrs I]

Some of them look ok, others not so good.

 

[gregcranston]

I used perlite for mine but hopefully this pic will help......

A few of em look a bit dimpled...

 

[parsons]

Here are some pics of her eggs...I dont think they look to good tho...it was a bit hard to put them in perfect (my first clutch) some have a bit of yellow and are soft....opinions??

 

[CodeRed]

give them a day to fill out before chucking any

I hope your temp isnt set to 23.6 deg

If you want to get rid of the excess sand (not that it matters) then a small paint brush works well at cleaning the eggs. Personally I try not to get any sand into my incubation tubs as it could harbor bacteria which will love the hot humid environment.

 

[gregcranston]

Some of them probably are infertile, but the rest don't look too bad, they will plump up after a few hours or so if the temps and humidity is right. You can try candling them now, or wait a couple of weeks. Don't throw any out unless they are rotting away.

 

[parsons]

I havent thrown any out...Temp is set at 30.2...I took that pic of the temp when I first put them in so it hadnt warmed up all they way yet. In total we got 27 eggs...so even if I only get 1 hatchling we'd be thrilled!

 

[CodeRed]

lol Id be aiming a little higher than 1 out of 27.

 

[parsons]

Should I have the fan on? And mum seems very tired and lethargic..is this normal? She had a bath and some roaches after the lay.

 

[gregcranston]

No need for a fan. Some mothers will be a bit knackered for the rest of the day. See how she is in the morning after a nice sleep, but like I said feed her heaps of food over next couple of weeks, especially lots of calcium!

 

[parsons]

Thanks

 

[jinin]

I have the same incubator...pretty good really.

 

[parsons]

The humidity levels constantly sits at 99....There is no condensation in the container at all, I have opened it and sprayed with water (covered eggs), the humidity climbed straight to 99 and never moves...is this normal?

Also, all of the eggs have filled out but are of a very light orangy colour...is this from the sand or are the eggs buggered?