Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So the story is i have 1 male butter pastel that was being bred to two different females a spider and a normal. They locked up many times and i seen signs of building but i never seen an ovulation so i thought i had just missed out this year. However i just checked on my snakes and i open the cage to find my spider female wrapped around 5 fertile eggs they dont seem to be in the greatest shape though they are dimpled. My question is they might have been enduring unfavorable conditions for about 4 days( the last time i checked on my girl). Do you think they will be ok? I checked all of them and they have great veins. One more question i currently have my incubator set up and 3 different thermometers are all reading different temperatures. Ive dialed it in so they are all in a close range the coldest is 87 one is 88.5 and the other is around 89.5. Do you think this is ok? Any help would be greatly appreciated thank you

Temp is absolutely fine. If the eggs are already dimpled, it's very likely that the humidity in the Spider's tub was just low. Personally I have only ever used the no substrate method of incubating and feel that it is pretty fool proof. My guess is that once your eggs have been incubated with adequate humidity, you'll be fine.

ok thanks for the reply one more question its better for the temp to be lower than higher right? What would be a dangerous temp anything over 90 i assume?

Better to be lower than higher. I incubate right at 88-90 depending on which thermometer or probe that you believe. Lower just takes longer to hatch but is not detrimental at all. I'd say stay at 90 or below to be safe for the upper end.

ok thanks for your help last question i swear lol. Do you recommend any good thermometers that are precise or a temp gun?

They all will vary slightly. I have several of the Zoo Med probes, fairly cheap and a combo thermometer, hygrometer, fairly expensive. Just get a few and kind of get an average of the ones used. Best of luck to you.