Testing Incubator

[Bearded_Lady]

Ok so I have set up my incubator (homemade esky incubator ) and am gonna see how the thing runs etc. Was wondering, should I put the container with the vermiculite (am gonna put the eggs in these) while I'm testing, or should I put that in when I actually put the eggs in? Another thing, will the moisture/ humidity in the vermiculite (1:1 verm/water ratio) dissipate/dry out? If so, how often should I top up/ spray the eggs? Or because it is insulated/airtight, will the humidity be maintained? What humidity should it be at? And on my therm/hydrometer, it has both inside and outside temps, in which the readings are different. What does this means and which setting should I use for the incubator. The outside one seems to fit with the thermostat reading...:? Thanks in advance guys

 

[Bearded_Lady]

Any help would be great. I realise its a lot of questions

 

[Bearded_Lady]

...please?

 

[gex01]

i wouldnt put the vermicuilte container in . mix the vermiculite and water by weight eg 3.5grams ver 3.5grams water this is when you find your eggs.After that put your eggs in the vermiculite without rolling them the same position they were layed and slightly mark the eggs with a texter so you will know if later on they roll or not because if you place the egg upsidedown to what it was layed you will drown the baby in the egg.Once you have done that weigh the vermiculite container to see how heavy the eggs are so during incubation if you think the vermiculite is drying a bit you deduct the weight of your eggs cause once their in the vermiculite you cant touch the eggs or wet them.if you need to add water to get it back to the same as the begining weigh the container duduct the weight off the eggs and just remember what the weight of the vermiculite was at the start and ajust the water again if need be by spraying a little water on the vermiculite around the contianer not on the eggs.