If I do see a small amount of mildew, yes I do wipe it off the egg very gently with a cotton ball/gauze and the dilute mixture.



Another way of doing the vermiculite/perilite if you feel it is not moist enough by weight is to mix the medium with a some water and then pick up handfuls of it, squeeze it as far as it will possibly squeeze to get the excess water and then put that directly in the incubating tub. You do not want excessively moist medium as it will attract mildew. With a lid on and two air holes it should retain the same amount of moisture in the medium throughout incubation so I normally do not add any more water. On the occasion it does happen to dry out too much, you can take a misting water bottle and just mist the medium around the eggs. Also, I always have a glass jar of water in the incubator to retain humidity.



The reason I warn against the condensation dripping off is not so much that it might drown the eggs, but that the direct wetting of the egg may induce mildew growth.



As far as the actual eggs are concerned, if they are viable they will have become bright white within the first week of being laid. If not and have retained the pink hue they are not viable and I discard them so as not to attract mold to the viable eggs. In a non-viable egg the pink hue will actually become a little darker pink often with some yellowish hues coming in.



Hope this helps

-JG

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