great feedback, thanks Andre, DG, Jonel...

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Posted by Jim Demirjian on September 05, 2001 at 08:47:52:

In Reply to: Re: Egg incubation...who tried new techniques this year? *pic posted by Jonel on September 04, 2001 at 21:43:44:

I loved reading the above shared info, thanks again. I actually don't use an incubator either, and defend fully the snake room temps, but I try not to allow such drastic fluctuation in temps. Covering egg containers with a thick fabric helps. DG's comments concerning kinking are thoughts I agree fully on. I believe kinking has much to do with breeding stock, although incubation probably does play a role as well.
Thanks again people, others experience gratly appreciated as well.
Jim

: hi Jim

: i did 2 things differently this year. First is that i went with a dryer medium(vermiculite) going 1:2 water by weight ratio instead of the old 1:1 method. the medium really didnt loose any moisture as long as you had a small container of water inside the incubator. i also didnt have to add water after i set it up since the humidity inside the incubator pretty much kept it optimal. not so wet not so dry. there's actually a study being conducted right now by Steve Hammack of HISS about this matter and he mentions this during the kingsnake.com radio interview.

: second i incubated the eggs at a lower temperature than what i usually use which was ~82-84. this year i set the incubator @ 80 degrees F (+/- 1 degree). it was suggested to me by Walt Deptula on a conversation and i thought i'd give it a try. the eggs hatched out ~80 days and the hatchlings absorbed all of the yolk(the inside of the eggs were literally dry). the babies were much bigger than what i've seen them hatch in previous years. i believe that the lower/lomger incubation period allowed the hatchlings to fully develop and be healthier. this is specially good if you are working with alterna, mexicana, mountain kings, and other potentially problematic feeders because they can survive longer on their reserves. i will most likely repeat the same process from now on.

: hope it helped

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: : I loved reading the above shared info, thanks again. I actually don't use an incubator either, and defend fully the snake room temps, but I try not to allow such drastic fluctuation in temps. Covering egg containers with a thick fabric helps. DG's comments concerning kinking are thoughts I agree fully on. I believe kinking has much to do with breeding stock, although incubation probably does play a role as well. : Thanks again people, others experience gratly appreciated as well. : Jim : : hi Jim : : i did 2 things differently this year. First is that i went with a dryer medium(vermiculite) going 1:2 water by weight ratio instead of the old 1:1 method. the medium really didnt loose any moisture as long as you had a small container of water inside the incubator. i also didnt have to add water after i set it up since the humidity inside the incubator pretty much kept it optimal. not so wet not so dry. there's actually a study being conducted right now by Steve Hammack of HISS about this matter and he mentions this during the kingsnake.com radio interview. : : second i incubated the eggs at a lower temperature than what i usually use which was ~82-84. this year i set the incubator @ 80 degrees F (+/- 1 degree). it was suggested to me by Walt Deptula on a conversation and i thought i'd give it a try. the eggs hatched out ~80 days and the hatchlings absorbed all of the yolk(the inside of the eggs were literally dry). the babies were much bigger than what i've seen them hatch in previous years. i believe that the lower/lomger incubation period allowed the hatchlings to fully develop and be healthier. this is specially good if you are working with alterna, mexicana, mountain kings, and other potentially problematic feeders because they can survive longer on their reserves. i will most likely repeat the same process from now on. : : hope it helped

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