BackwaterReptiles
Avid Member
Just a quick update on the Yellow-lip eggs:
ActionJackson, thank you for the links--great reading.
Garrett has been tremendously forthcoming with advice and has provided incredibly lucid instructions relating to every aspect of the incubation process.
I went ahead and purchased the same incubator that Garrett used, it's a Tritech Research DigiTherm heating/cooling incubator with circadian temperature ramping (temps slowly vary within a preset range throughout each 24 hour period).
I've never used incubators before because I just don't trust them (I hatch insect eggs in an Exo Terra incubator and the temperature is all over the map, never stays on what you set it to), but this one was medical grade and very expensive, and it's been used successfully by Garrett.
I will be following Garrett's method, and utilizing the 3-month dry/wet/dry/wet plan he described on a forum post here, and has elaborated upon via PMs with me. My plan is to get the temps down to 12c-14c over the next 2-3 weeks, dropping a half degree celsius per day.
I'm also going to do my part to "experiment" a bit--I'm incubating nine of the eggs in slightly damp sphagnum moss. My thought process is two-fold: sphagnum moss naturally inhibits bacterial growth, and why does it inhibit bacteria? Because of its acidity. Some folks have struggled with fully developed Parson's embryos that just couldn't break through the thick shell. One breeder mists vinegar onto his eggs part-way through incubation to help break-down the shell. So, I thought, perhaps the natural acidity of sphagnum will slowly do the same thing, and prohibit bacterial growth at the same time. We'll see...
Here are are few concerns that nothing can be done about, but nonetheless are still concerns of mine:
1.) It took around 12 days to get the incubator delivered, which means the eggs were experiencing temperatures of 68F to 73F each day, rather than getting cooled immediately. So, I'm not sure if the time between laying and actually being put into the cooling incubator (around 19 days) will somehow throw the eggs off their natural cycle.
2.) Garrett's original forum post instructions included a note of "assuming the eggs are laid in the northern hemisphere Winter," but my eggs were laid in April here in California, so I asked if I should still cool them down as the first step. There's no way to know really, so I decided to stick with his original method and cool them as the first step.
3.) Rantotro's Parson's posts were great, although I read something that concerned me a bit--he said he only touches the eggs with sterile tweezers to avoid bacteria. I always just use my fingers, and in this case, I touched the eggs to put them into the temporary incubation media, and then again to put them into smaller bins so they fit inside incubator. Argh.
4.) Covering the eggs with vermiculite makes me nervous, although I understand why Garrett covers them (to prevent mold), and I did the same thing. I like to be able to visually check on the eggs.
All in all, I will do my best with them--that's all I can do. If I fail, I'll of course post everything I learned--even in failure you can learn a lot. But, fingers crossed for a successful hatch.
Thanks,
Sam
ActionJackson, thank you for the links--great reading.
Garrett has been tremendously forthcoming with advice and has provided incredibly lucid instructions relating to every aspect of the incubation process.
I went ahead and purchased the same incubator that Garrett used, it's a Tritech Research DigiTherm heating/cooling incubator with circadian temperature ramping (temps slowly vary within a preset range throughout each 24 hour period).
I've never used incubators before because I just don't trust them (I hatch insect eggs in an Exo Terra incubator and the temperature is all over the map, never stays on what you set it to), but this one was medical grade and very expensive, and it's been used successfully by Garrett.
I will be following Garrett's method, and utilizing the 3-month dry/wet/dry/wet plan he described on a forum post here, and has elaborated upon via PMs with me. My plan is to get the temps down to 12c-14c over the next 2-3 weeks, dropping a half degree celsius per day.
I'm also going to do my part to "experiment" a bit--I'm incubating nine of the eggs in slightly damp sphagnum moss. My thought process is two-fold: sphagnum moss naturally inhibits bacterial growth, and why does it inhibit bacteria? Because of its acidity. Some folks have struggled with fully developed Parson's embryos that just couldn't break through the thick shell. One breeder mists vinegar onto his eggs part-way through incubation to help break-down the shell. So, I thought, perhaps the natural acidity of sphagnum will slowly do the same thing, and prohibit bacterial growth at the same time. We'll see...
Here are are few concerns that nothing can be done about, but nonetheless are still concerns of mine:
1.) It took around 12 days to get the incubator delivered, which means the eggs were experiencing temperatures of 68F to 73F each day, rather than getting cooled immediately. So, I'm not sure if the time between laying and actually being put into the cooling incubator (around 19 days) will somehow throw the eggs off their natural cycle.
2.) Garrett's original forum post instructions included a note of "assuming the eggs are laid in the northern hemisphere Winter," but my eggs were laid in April here in California, so I asked if I should still cool them down as the first step. There's no way to know really, so I decided to stick with his original method and cool them as the first step.
3.) Rantotro's Parson's posts were great, although I read something that concerned me a bit--he said he only touches the eggs with sterile tweezers to avoid bacteria. I always just use my fingers, and in this case, I touched the eggs to put them into the temporary incubation media, and then again to put them into smaller bins so they fit inside incubator. Argh.
4.) Covering the eggs with vermiculite makes me nervous, although I understand why Garrett covers them (to prevent mold), and I did the same thing. I like to be able to visually check on the eggs.
All in all, I will do my best with them--that's all I can do. If I fail, I'll of course post everything I learned--even in failure you can learn a lot. But, fingers crossed for a successful hatch.
Thanks,
Sam
