After I thought that my first breeding expedition had failed, suddenly success comes.
16 May 06 my motley sunglow laid two eggs, one a slug (1), the other possibly fertile (2), but she laid it in her water dish.
I was depressed, so I put the fertile egg in a substrate and went to bed. Room temperature is between 80 and 87 degrees.
17 May 06 I check my female, and to my surprise, she has thirteen more eggs in her hide box. they are not all attached, but she is protecting them, and I am happy.
I put the fourteen eggs (minus the original slug) in a ziploc caserole dish (3) filled with a 12 to 1 mixture of sphagnum moss and water (4) Then I take a styrofoam cooler (5) and cover the bottom six inches of it with a 4 to one mixture of sphagnum moss and water (6)
I put the ziploc container on top of the cooler's substrate (7), and take a wireless thermometer (8) and place it in the cooler with the eggs. (9) Finally, I cover the cooler with the styrofoam lid and store it in my snake room.
I can now moniter the temperature of the room AND the temperature of the incubator without disturbing the eggs.
Questions:
1. Is this an acceptable incubator for corn snakes?
With the exception of a heat source, this is not much
different than a hovabator incubation, and far less
expensive.
2. Is it true that as long as I check the eggs once a week,
there would be enough oxygen exchange so that I don't need
air holes in it until almost time for the eggs to hatch?
3. How long will the eggs incubate before they hatch?
4. Is sphagnum moss an acceptable substrate?
I would have used vermiculite, but the store was out, and
I remember reading on the site that sphagnum was a decent
substitute.
I have Keeping and Breeding Corn Snakes by Michael McEachern, and I have ordered The Comprehensive Owner's Manual by Kathy Love and Bill love, but I am still new to the breeding world, and I want to make sure that I do it right the first time.
All help/advice is needed and appreciated.
Stephen
