Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi all. just want to start off by asking everyone to please not rip on me if i sound stupid but i am a long time herp owner and a first time breeder. wednesday my honduran laid 6 fertile eggs without me even knowing she was gravid. i ordered an incubator the second i found them and it still hasnt arrived. in the mean time, i placed them in a deli cup over some damp moss i bought from home depot, sphagnant or something, and put them on the top shelf in my closed closet.ive also been sweating my butt off because ive been sleeping without the A/C on. Anyway, the real question is, when the incubator arrives will there be any chance tht they will survive or is it a lost cause and i should just for the next clutch? i dont have a temp of the closet but im guessing its about 80-90. Again, im sorry for sounding naive but its been a long time wish of mine to breed these guys and still, im totally unprepared. thanks for your time

I've incubated hundreds of eggs at "room temperature" in the summer in an unairconditioned house. So no, definately not a lost cause. It will take a day or two to set the incubator to a temperature in the low 80s (depending on what kind of incubator it is). Make sure that the temperature is stable for a few hours before placing the eggs in the incubator. Too many people put the eggs in the incubator and then try to get the temperature right - but you can overheat the eggs that way.

Tim

Third Eye

I think incubators are great if you can get it right.In nature snakes dont have incubators. So yes it can be done w/o them. I have my eggs in a deli cup with damp peat moss in the basement at 75 - 82 degrees. Before you put your eggs in that incubator monitor the temps in there for a day. I remember some guy cooking his snake eggs in one of those just a few weeks back. Its better to have them too cool then too hot.
I hope some of the incubator guys here respond to you as they know more about this stuff then I do.
Try these threads:
http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1546894,1546894

http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1543767,1543767

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Doug L

>>hi all. just want to start off by asking everyone to please not rip on me if i sound stupid but i am a long time herp owner and a first time breeder. wednesday my honduran laid 6 fertile eggs without me even knowing she was gravid. i ordered an incubator the second i found them and it still hasnt arrived. in the mean time, i placed them in a deli cup over some damp moss i bought from home depot, sphagnant or something, and put them on the top shelf in my closed closet.ive also been sweating my butt off because ive been sleeping without the A/C on. Anyway, the real question is, when the incubator arrives will there be any chance tht they will survive or is it a lost cause and i should just for the next clutch? i dont have a temp of the closet but im guessing its about 80-90. Again, im sorry for sounding naive but its been a long time wish of mine to breed these guys and still, im totally unprepared. thanks for your time>>

You don't need an incubator. You need to keep the eggs from overheating above all. If temperatures climb into the 90's or 100's, the eggs could be toast. One good setup is to use an aquarium with a underwater heater. Then put the eggs in a jar or plastic shoe box with vermiculite mixed with declorinated water. Keep an eye on the eggs daily to make sure they don't dry up. Put the jar or shoe box in the aquarium with only a few inches of water. Make sure the shoe box or jar is partially submerged but make sure water does not get into the shoe box or jar. The water can be warmed to around 80 degrees or slightly higher and the eggs will do fine. Since the aquarium heater is controlled thermostatically, you don't have to worry about overheating if you keep the setup in a relatively cool place such as a basement or garage. If you cannot do that, make sure the A/C automatically kicks in when temperature goes above 80 degrees. As others have said, overheating is more of a danger than not enough heat.