Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My ball had just recently layed 6 eggs. I currently have them laying in vermiculite inside my little giant incubator. I can not seem to get the humidity up past 70%. I have water on the bottom along with moist substrate and even tried placing a damp washcloth in there too but still cant get it to raise. I have a stable temperature of 89*. My eggs are dimpling bad and i am in dier need of how to maintain the right humidity

Thank you
Lisa

you might want to check out ballpython.com The Suthlerlands have a very good section on incubation.

...place the eggs in a rubbermaid/sterilite/phillips shoe box in lightly wetted vermiculite (enough to hold together when you squeeze a clump BUT NO WATER DRIPS OUT), place lid on, a few holes at each end of box (say 3-4 1/8" holes), and place THIS EGG BOX in the incubator. You will do fine if the eggs are fertile. Did you candle the eggs to check for fertility?
Good luck!
Scott J. Michaels DVM
Serpent City

...but rather about 1/2 way or so (see misty's post several posts below)!!

Scott,

Why not? I normally cover my eggs from 1/2 - 3/4 and have had no problems to date. I'm always open to information.
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Jay A. Martin

...if your media is too wet. Also it's nice to see more of the eggs for ongoing evaluation, and less media gets all over the neonates at hatching time.

It sounds to me like you don't have a good seal, so the ambient air is circulating with incubator air, so all the water is escaping from your incubator into your room. Also don't use a fan in the incubator as this dries them out too--as well as promoting more air to escape the incubator, as it is now blowing the air "out" of any cracks in the incubator. Developing eggs need very little fresh air. In fact, I put as many as 80 cornsnake eggs in a small plastic box that couldn't possible hold a clutch of ball eggs. A clutch of ball eggs in a much larger box surely doesn't need supplemental air, since that box has a larger lid with more area for more air to "leak" in. I put mine in plastic shoe boxes with NO airholes, and check them about once ever one to two weeks.--until they get close to hatching, then I check more often because I can't help it! Taking the lid off once every two weeks doesn't hurt them at all, and the air that "leaks" in past the top is plenty of oxygen for them.

Another problem I often see is people using bottom heat. I don't know what your incubator is like--I've seen some very poory designed home made units. But bottom heat will cause this problem as well. (kind of like slowly boiling all the water out of a pot that sits on the stove.) While this will temporarily raise the humidity of the air, it will dry out the medium and the eggs as well.

Rodney

I am looking for a good and reliable incubator larger than a small hovabator to hold 20-100 ball python eggs. Can you recommend a good one? I'm looking to spend $500-$1000. Thanks!

i think alan hall of jungle habitats is making incubators now.
i 've never used them but they appear to be well built and in your price range. you might want to check out his website.
hope this may help

thanks

vaughn

Once you get the humidity up it will still take a while for them to un-dimple - maybe as much as a week and that is totally fine. If you see a gradual change going in the right direction you are doing good. Don't soak them thinking they are going to inflate right away, it does not work that way. Watch for the dimpling to cease and then slowly over a few days or a week the eggs will refill.

Christy