Reptile & Amphibian Forums

okay...yesterday I posted a message about my eggs and how they aren't looking that good. Here are some pictures of my set up and the eggs......
here are a few of my questions.......I know that the eggs should be at a very high tempurature. I have my incubator set at the lowest temp, we have no heat on in the apartment, the windows open (because we live in a cool area), and the incubator still reaches 85! Is there anything else I can be doing to keep the tempurature down? We live in an apartment and are on the top floor....so the downstairs neighbor can still be heating up our apartment.
Also.......we have been checking on our eggs every couple of days...opening up the container and all....is this bad? Could I be hurting the eggs?
Take a look at the pictures and let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions. The dented egg I know is dehydrated...so i added water to the vermiculite...not a lot...but a little. I also made sure not to spray the eggs.
Thanks to you all.

here is another picture...I don't know how to attach more than one picture!

I couldn't get the other two to upload....I will try again later. sorry.

If you hold the ctrl button you can choose up to 3 pics to post!

Don't know much about eggs, but wishing you luck any way!

Kris
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2.1 Black Labs Tucker, Raider and Lacey
1.0 Lepoard Gecko Kumar (Another lost pet RIP and party on with Harold!)
2.0 Horses Smoothie and Rocky
1.0 Husbands (he puts up with me)
1.2 Kids-Trevor (congrats c/o 2006), Logan and Rylie
1.1 Ferrets Tank and Ellie (The fun fuzzies)
1.1 Veiled Chams Squiggy and Pudge (may she RIP)
0.1 Snowflake Cornsnake Lucky

Its hard to tell from the pictures but the three eggs on the bottom look like they have mold growing on them. I would either toss those or move them to another container and dust them with some Dr.Scholl's or Tough Actin' Tinatin. I use 70 to 75% water to the weight of the vermiculite. You may have too much water in the vermiculite. If you don't have a digital scale you can sort of use a squeeze test on the vermiculite. Squeeze it and you should feel the moisture but no drops of water should come out. I would just change out your vermiculite completely and start with a fresh batch. I've saved lots of clutches by doing this. I don't know what to say about your incubator (except that it looks cool). I incubate all of my eggs in the top of the closet with a humidifier that runs just outside the closet. Even if the eggs reach and incubate at a temperature of 85 F they'll still hatch, it just takes longer. However, the longer the eggs incubate the more chances you have to lose them or have the neonates die. The eggs do best in complete darkness but it is okay to check them especially since you think they might be going bad. I don't know if any of this will help. I don't have the web site but there is a guy named "Albey" that breeds leopard geckos. On his site, maybe www.Albeys.com he has a good guide to incubating eggs. Chameleon eggs are just a bit different and I would always be sure to put some small holes in the container because Cham eggs are going to incubate for a lot longer. Good Luck.

Not knowing when the eggs were laid, I would put them in a cabinet or dark closet. Let them sit there for 2-3 months. Then depending on the temps in your home you can place them in a incubator for the remainder of the incubation process.
I never had temps near 85F. I always incubated at 75-78f the intire incubation time.
You also don't need to bother them everyday. You can check the moisture once a week. The more you open the container greater chances of causing a problem.
Simply put a few pin holes in the lid and humidity should be fine.
This is how I incubate. Incubation ideas vary and this has work for me. There are links above to sites with ideas so take a look and find what works for you.

I have successively hatch 2 clutches of eggs. had mine in the middle shelve of my closet. The temperature stayed a constant 74 to 75 degrees. I now have 52 babies and 3 more to hatch.. It was 3 days lacking 8 months when they hatched. The incubater stayed in the dark in my closet. I would check them onced a week until 7 months then>then I checked every day.One day I looked and there were 3 babies in the container. I used rubermaid shoe box size mixed with the vermiculite and perlite. I would not call myselve an expert because this is my first babies. They are eating good. I have to go now because the delivery is here for my baby crickets.But you do need to get the temparture down. All the books I read said to keep it at 74 to 78 degrees. If you keep it at the 74 to 75 degree range it makes healthier babies but it takes longer to hatch.

You said.."I know that the eggs should be at a very high tempurature"...some species require that the eggs be incubated at a high temperature and others are incubated in the mid to low 70's. My C. chamaeleon eggs (I would think would be similar to dilepis) were incubated in the mid to low 70's F. My veileds are incubated at 78F and they all hatch. What do you mean by "very high"?

You said..."I have my incubator set at the lowest temp, we have no heat on in the apartment, the windows open (because we live in a cool area), and the incubator still reaches 85! Is there anything else I can be doing to keep the tempurature down? We live in an apartment and are on the top floor....so the downstairs neighbor can still be heating up our apartment"....
you don't need to use an incubator if the temperature in your room stays within the temperature range that the eggs can be incubated at. I use a people's heating pad with a screen-covered wooden frame that fits over it. I can raise/lower the frame by adding or taking away shims from the sides of it or set the heating pad on a different setting until I get the right temperature in the container that I incubate the eggs in. I do incubate all my eggs in the dark though.

You said..."we have been checking on our eggs every couple of days...opening up the container and all....is this bad? Could I be hurting the eggs?"....I check my eggs every couple of days...just until I'm sure incubation is going well. I rarely have to add water to the eggs...but I don't leave the lid off for more than a second or two.

You said..." The dented egg I know is dehydrated...so i added water to the vermiculite...not a lot...but a little. I also made sure not to spray the eggs"...thats fine. Just don't pour water on the eggs because they are supposed to be protected with an antibacterial coating when they are laid.

The mold looks like it might be coming from the substrate...putting them on a new batch of substrate might help. Just be careful moving them that you don't rotate the eggs and that you warm the substrate/container to the incubation temperature first. How did you move the eggs from where she buried them?

Can you post a picture that shows the eggs closer up please? It might help us to see what is going on.

Still wish I could be more help.

Any changes?