What I did differently in 2001....

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Posted by dg on September 04, 2001 at 22:52:58:

In Reply to: Egg incubation...who tried new techniques this year? *pic posted by Jim Demirjian on September 04, 2001 at 21:03:04:

First of all, I ditched my incubator. Last year I experienced very poor hatch ratios due to excessive moisture, mold growth, etc. This year I incubated all eggs at "snake room" temperatures, on a shelf in my snake room. The incubation medium was fine vermiculite, with enough water added for it to "clump." Temperatures ranged from highs in the low 90's (on one or two occasions) down to the mid 70's for the entire incubation duration. On average, daytime temps were 85-88 and nighttime temps were in the mid 70's. All eggs were incubated in separate containers with lids, with no air holes whatsoever. No water was added after the initial set up of each clutch of eggs, no exceptions.

The end result? Although I haven't tallied up the exact #'s, I estimate hatch percentage to be in the 90%+ range this year, compared to 40% at best for last year. ALL of the hatchlings emerged much larger and hardier than ever. Most of my clutches took about 65-70 days to hatch. Based on this year's results, I will never use an incubator again.

The only problems experienced this year were a few clutches that contained kinked hatchlings. I had always heard that kinks were caused by excessive temperatures or moisture, but this does not seem to be the case at all based on my results this year. I had a clutch of yellow rats and black rats that were laid at approximately the same dates, and hatched on nearly the same days. They were exposed to the same temperatures, yet one clutch (the yellows) contained kinked hatchlings, the other clutch did not. I believe that kinks can also be attributed to the condition of the breeding stock. The yellow rat parents were young and unproven breeders, I think their physical condition had an impact on the resulting offspring. Just my personal observations though.

In conclusion, I think a combination of the more natural daytime/nighttime drop in temperature and proper moisture levels in the incubation medium made the difference.

Hope this was of interest,
dg

Elaphe obsoleta

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: First of all, I ditched my incubator. Last year I experienced very poor hatch ratios due to excessive moisture, mold growth, etc. This year I incubated all eggs at "snake room" temperatures, on a shelf in my snake room. The incubation medium was fine vermiculite, with enough water added for it to "clump." Temperatures ranged from highs in the low 90's (on one or two occasions) down to the mid 70's for the entire incubation duration. On average, daytime temps were 85-88 and nighttime temps were in the mid 70's. All eggs were incubated in separate containers with lids, with no air holes whatsoever. No water was added after the initial set up of each clutch of eggs, no exceptions. : The end result? Although I haven't tallied up the exact #'s, I estimate hatch percentage to be in the 90%+ range this year, compared to 40% at best for last year. ALL of the hatchlings emerged much larger and hardier than ever. Most of my clutches took about 65-70 days to hatch. Based on this year's results, I will never use an incubator again. : The only problems experienced this year were a few clutches that contained kinked hatchlings. I had always heard that kinks were caused by excessive temperatures or moisture, but this does not seem to be the case at all based on my results this year. I had a clutch of yellow rats and black rats that were laid at approximately the same dates, and hatched on nearly the same days. They were exposed to the same temperatures, yet one clutch (the yellows) contained kinked hatchlings, the other clutch did not. I believe that kinks can also be attributed to the condition of the breeding stock. The yellow rat parents were young and unproven breeders, I think their physical condition had an impact on the resulting offspring. Just my personal observations though. : In conclusion, I think a combination of the more natural daytime/nighttime drop in temperature and proper moisture levels in the incubation medium made the difference. : Hope this was of interest, : dg

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