Reptile & Amphibian Forums

They were laid on 4-13-03. Today is day 59. Temps have fluxed between 78.8F to 82.5F (I tried to keep it to the lower end, but caught it a couple times up to 82.5) Humidity has been between 92% to 98%. Last time I counted there appeared to be about 5 good eggs in this clutch. That was about a week ago. Today I brushed off enough of the peat moss to be able to see them more clearly, but didn't want to disturb them enough to pick them up and count how many good eggs there still are.

Day 59, the anticipation is killing me!!

With those low temperatures, the eggs might take as much as another ten days to hatch. Herpers need glacial patience. 8-)

Paul Hollander

Oh no, thats gonna kill me!! I did keep them a little lower temp on purpose cuz I heard I would get "Larger, stronger" hatchlings. I knew that might add a couple days, but 10!!

Oh well, I still would have incubated at the lower end to try and get strong hatchlings. But another 10 days is gonna kill me!

A few years ago I found a paper that compared hatchling size, weight, feeding response, balance, etc. in northern pine snakes incubated at different temperatures. AFAIR, the gaps were 1 degree C. The best babies were incubated at 82 F, but then they skipped up to 86 F, so the absolute optimum is still unknown. It might be 82, 83, or 84 F.

IMHO, you'd get bigger and stronger corns if you incubate at 82 F than at 78 F. But I do not pretend to know the optimum incubation temperature.

Paul Hollander

Rich Gassaway kept records in the 90's with his corns, gray-bands and knobs/pyros, etc... He found that cooler incubation temps with the gray-bands, knobs/pyros DID take longer to hatch and the babies were bigger. I believe he said that he did not notice any size difference with corns, although they took longer to hatch. I believe the 2 incubation temps were (82-84) and (75-79).

I incubate my colubrids between 78-82 with occasional (brief time) above 82 during the hottest part of the day to the upper 70's at night (4-5 hours a night) and mine always take more than 60 days to hatch. Are they bigger?? I don't know, I never compared. Next year (I always say that LOL) I need to split up some clutches and incubate half in the upper 70's and half of the same clutch in the low 80's and see.

I have also wondered if elevation (oxygen) has an affect? I might let Rich Gassaway who lives in Flagstaff (7,000 ft) incubate 1/3 of a clutch at 82 degrees, and a friend in Phoenix (1,000 ft) incubate 1/3 at 82 degrees, and then I'll incubate 1/3 (5,000 ft) of the same clutch at 82 degrees and see....???

Kerby...

Great line Paul...I keep telling my husband that reptiles are to teach me patience......Which is hysterically funny to him. Something about all the animals and me being ADD and he just thinks it is too funny to watch me turn inside out waiting!
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Sonya