Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok first off i should be nominated for the worst mother award because i did not even notice milly laid her eggs, all i can say is that the girl is fast about everything. she must have gone in and out while i was at class
anyway i have a hovabator and i put it together which in itself is a miracle and now i am a little confused as to what i actually do with it. do i put water in the bottom of the trough like it says or is that only for the bird eggs and i just put it in the deli cups with damp vermiculite that came with the hova bator. i am assuming i plug it in and let the temps get adjusted before i stick the eggs in. i am going to read some old posts but if you see this post soon, please respond. thanks
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vonnie
***Marriage is a great institution, but I'm not ready for an institution yet. Mae West ***

Vonnie, some put water in the trough, some do not, I suppose it depends on how humid or dry your location is.

My bedroom, is a bit cool and dry, I add a small amount.
As far as the cups, yes, few inches of damp vermiculite, put little grooves with your finger, and place egg in each groove, to prevent it from rolling.

Let incubator heat , about 83 degrees is good, not to go below high 70's or above 90.

Hope they are fertile and you get some pretty lil youngins!
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Eve / PHEve

i am having trouble with the temperature. i am not sure how great this thermometer is as it is the one that came with the incubator, maybe i should get another one and see what it says because it said it was like 100 in there and when i stuck my hand in it did not feel that hot. don't worry the eggs are not in it. right now i have it unplugged and i have the little screwy thing screwed all the way down and it's "window" open so hopefully it will cool it off in there and i can try again. i think i will stick some water in there because it's pretty dry here in san diego. i am still trying to figure out what i am doing wrong with eggs. how often, if ever do you add water to the vermiculite once you dampened it? most of my eggs have died before i ever had to concider adding it but maybe these guys have a chance. they are my best looking eggs yet but i don't think i see any pink spots. they all are firm and have shells. anyway i will just have to keep an eye on them.
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vonnie
***Marriage is a great institution, but I'm not ready for an institution yet. Mae West ***

I ordered a digital one on ebay with the wire and probe thing. You put the probe in the incubator and it has a long wire, and the digital portion/clock stays on the outside so you can read it.

** Much more reliable.

Radio shack and many places carry them, about 12 bucks maybe 14.00 at the most.

Just feel the vermiculite sometimes, also if your eggs get wrinkly add water, if eggs start to get browish, its too damp.

NEVER add water ON or touching the eggs, use a syringe and kinda inject the water near them but not touching them.

Well just hang in there and wait it out,

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Eve / PHEve

how long should it take for eggs to hatch? Just asking because mine are on day 57 and they havent even indented yet.

40 - 60 days

longer I have learned for C. Vestigium and I believe C. dickersonae

So "providing" all is well, you should see some little heads soon,
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Eve / PHEve

ok so i have the eggs in there and the temps just keep getting really high off the two crappy thermometers i have in there so i just keep plugging and unplugging it accordingly.
this is an incubator with the little swivel thing andi have that turned all the way down. the way the picture looked, it was supposed to be in the middle of the top, right? it just throws me off because around another "hole" it has directions on which way to swivel it. also where did you stick the thermometer? on the bottom by the wire thingy or on top of the deli cup because in the pic it had it on top of the eggs so right now i have one on the lid and one on the ground and the temps are very different, the lid at 105 and the ground at 85. also is the heat always supposed to be on? like should it turn itself off and on? i just want to make sure there is nothing wrong with it sorry for all the questions
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vonnie
***Marriage is a great institution, but I'm not ready for an institution yet. Mae West ***

an the other for decreasing temps, it has the arrows for which way! The red light on top goes on while heating when it hits the desired temp it shut of, automatically.

You should not have to unplug and replug each time, geesh, why have the incubator, Hhehehhe LOL

Just like your home thermostat, if ya have it set for 69 degrees the heater stay on until that temp is reached and turns off. House cools heater comes back on.

The hovabator will do the same, continuously going on and off as needed.

I put the the little probe right in the container with eggs. Unless I have several containers in there at the same time I just leave it laying beside them, but INSIDE the incubator, yes.
The lid shuts right over the thin wire.

you will get used to it ! Took me a full day of playing with the turn screw to get the temp set approx 83ish

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Eve / PHEve

hmm i don't think mine turns off the heat which is part of the problem. that red light is always on. i took the windows off and that seems to be helping. i will just have to play with it more tomorrow and see if i can fix the problem
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vonnie
***Marriage is a great institution, but I'm not ready for an institution yet. Mae West ***

It does already have small air holes for ventilation. Sounds as though your hovabator is defected, or YOU are,

Kidding, but the red light should not remain on constantly.

Do you have it in a room that is cooler than the desired 83 ish temp? Maybe thats your problem, if it is that temp in your room or apt. or higher it will stay on.

Like I keep it in an air conditioned room where temp is left at 72 ( Hubby sets that, ) So it then forces the incubator to get to 83 degrees, ya know?

Just a thought, because I remember you saying your apt was hot????
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Eve / PHEve

well i removed the windows last night so that the little guys would not bake in there since both thermometers said it was relatively hot in there when the windows were on.
it is still a toss up on if i am defective or the incubator is.
the back part of my apartment is hot and that is where the lizards are but i have the incubator in the front with me where the air conditioner is. right now i have removed the eggs and i put the windows back on and one says 100 and one says 115.
so as for technical questions, how does this thing work? like the little screwy thing is not hooked up to anything so how does that control the temp and should i take any of those plastic things off the end of the wires. on a black box there is a button and if i push it the light goes off for a second. is that the thermostat? seriously how does it know what temp i want it from the screwy thing. i thought about that for hours last night. or is there a website i can look at to answer these things. oh why am i not scientifically inclined?
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vonnie
***Marriage is a great institution, but I'm not ready for an institution yet. Mae West ***

You're more likely to roast those eggs than have them freeze at room temp. I put mine up on top of my kitchen cabinets where my kids won't find them. It is not anywhere near 85 degrees up there...no where near 110 either Find a warm area in your house and put them there. Figure out the incubator, then put them back in it.

I try to get a temp reading where my eggs sit...I just found a thermometer I could poke down through a hole in the lid, and positioned it right over the lid. These devices take several hours to calibrate. Set the temp, then check it in 2 hours...don't be too eager to keep changing it. Give it time to adjust. When you are certain it is tweaked in, then put your eggs...Now is not the time to play with it.

John E.