Posted by:
orangudan
at Fri Apr 18 00:06:24 2008 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by orangudan ]
I haven't hatched Uromastyx, but I've done alot of tortoises and a few lizards. I think that humidity (water vapor in the air) is not as big an issue as dampness (standing water or water in the substrate). Do you understand the difference? A method I have used to hatch Pancake tortoises may work for uros.
Use 3-4 parts vermiculite and 1 part water (by weight- if you don't have a good digital scale, go buy one). Put this mixture in a container with a tight lid(something like a deli cup or tupperware container would work)and poke a few holes in the lid. Take another smaller container that will fit in the container with the vermiculite and line the bottom of it with filter floss (sold at pet stores- it is used in fish filters and looks like a big wad of cotton). Put your egg about 1/2way inside of this filter floss so that the egg is cradled by the floss, and put it in the larger container and put the lid on it. The environment inside the container will maintain a proper humidity, but the egg will be out of the substrate and not in contact with standing water. Record the weight of each container, and put them in the incubator. Every couple days weigh the container and bring them up to the original weight with a little bit of water- oh yeah don't weigh them with the lids on because the lid is going to be off when you are adding water, right. Record the weight without the lid. And try and keep water of the egg- use a syringe or something to put the water in. I've always done the eggs in seperate containers but I don't see why doing them all in one big container wouldn't work either. If the eggs start to shrivel add more water to the substrate. You want to be losing some weight in the containers (that means air in circulating)- but not too much becuse they will dry out. My GUESS is that you want to be losing about 10% of the weight of the container a week or so. Add or cover the holes with tape in the lid of the container to regulate water loss.
I guess it goes without saying but do not turn the eggs- when you find them, mark the top with a pencil if you can, and keep them in that position (mark stays up).
It would be nice to hear from someone with uro egg experience.
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RE: Incubator setup - orangudan, Fri Apr 18 00:06:24 2008