First thanks for thinking of me, except my intention is for you to think of the snakes and you did.



Did you check field temps? So how would you know.



82F appears to be an average temps folks can "understand" as in, it works with the goofy ways people incubate eggs. And yes, I too incubate them goofy.



Goofy is compared to nature. Incubation is even farther from nature then how the vast majority nest them.



For instance the question above, whats the most common nesting material, coco stuff or sphagnum stuff. The answer, neither, sandy soil is about 99.999999% more common, its what they do in nature. We would use it in captivity, but its heavy and we would strain our tiny little arms and stuff.



In nature, surface temps in the sun average(summer day on the hog site) 145F to 155F. That temp radiates down, causing a wave to heat to penetrate into the ground until it hits an average mass temp(about 3 feet deep here) then radiates cooler temps back up. The hottest mass temps are late into the night. The coolest mass temps are mid day. The mass slows the temps radiation.



So in reality, the temps in nature do flucuate. So they are both cooler and hotter then 82F. In nature, they are dry and humid.



Moisture wicks up from the mass when its dry out, and radiates down, when it rains.



At the time the eggs are laid, on all nearby hognose sites, there will be no rain until halfway thru incubation.



What happens in the midwest must be very very different.



Back to 82F its a little on the warm side, but it "works". Best wishes



ps. a lot of things work, just pick one, any one.

[ Show Entire Thread ]