Reptile Forum, Reptile Classifieds - CaptiveBred

[angel148]

Thanks Claire. No secrets, Fires with these eggs and the BEL is being mated to Fire females and a Pastel so more BELs and Fire Pastels fingers crossed. I aim for 89 then there is a degree or two either way to play with. If you set you own incubator up spend plenty of time with glass thermometers checking the temps EVERYWHERE. I use heat cable so I can move the cable to exactly where I want more heat. That and a powerful fan keeps about a 0.5 degree difference from top to bottom on a 6ft incubator. Make sure you use a mercury thermometer as they are the most accurate and my digital ones still show some difference when placed in the same spot.
Paul

[Dracowoman2]

Sounds like some nice babies expected at your end then, fire pastels should be stunning The other half is going for BELS next season, and apparently if we get eggs he's going to stand guard over the incubator or rig a motion sensor that will send him an SMS message when they start hatching so he can watch

I plan on building the bator with a sealed baffle down the one side with staggered shelves, one monster fan at the top to suck the air in down over the heat source and the other monster fan to push the warm air out of the bottom and up through the bator, so hopefully fingers cross there will be no 'hot spots' and I should be able to keep the temperature constant throughout. That's the plan anyway
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www.draco2.co.uk

"Life without animals isn't life, they give much and take little"

Claire

[woodage]

I incubate at 89, I cut a small slit at day 50. Thats a small slit not a gaping hole! I NEVER pull a snake out of its egg. It will come out when its yolk is absorbed. Python sexes are not effected by incubation temps.

[Dracowoman2]

I know pythons aren't TSD I just wondered if anyone had noticed any slight variance between ratios and temps, even if only a slight one
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www.draco2.co.uk

"Life without animals isn't life, they give much and take little"

Claire

[jamie_s]

i normally slit at day 55 but i did put tiny slits in at day 50 with my pog clutch because i couldnt wait any more
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www.jamieswordsreptiles.com

[PaulG]

[Dracowoman2]

@ Jamie I know all about the lack of patience, I have 2 bators full of gecko/dragon eggs and they are all refusing to put in an appearance! When we get Royal eggs I don't think I'm going to sleep until they hatch
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www.draco2.co.uk

"Life without animals isn't life, they give much and take little"

Claire

[peter]

think i cut every clutch i ever had , never had much patience really . as for the day always on day fifty. keep telling myself to leave alone which i did this time with my woma's . and lost more than a few.

[Dracowoman2]

That's very interesting Peter, I wonder if there is any correlation between the diet of the snakes diet and the thickness of the shell that would make it harder for them to get out. By this is mean in the wilds rodents probably dont get fed nice nutricious food with lots of vitamins, minerals and calcium, so it could be plausible that the egg shells of the wild snakes are slightly thinner thus making it easier for wild babies to emerge. Whereas here in the wilds of captivity the rodents are well fed to ensure that the snakes are well fed, thus possibly making for a fractionally thicker shell.

Just a theory that comes to mind, and could be totally wrong, but somethings are not outside the realms of possibility
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www.draco2.co.uk

"Life without animals isn't life, they give much and take little"

Claire

[The Medusan]

I always slit on day 52 and babies invariably hatch on day 55. I incubate at 88.5F - 89.5F consistently.

Hope this helps,

Cheers
Dave