I am a bit confused as to where I put the humidity sensor, on top of the perlite, in the perlite or a few inches from it as obviously the perlite will be moister than the atmosphere. Also how deep do I bury the eggs? I have a herpnurseryII, any tips for sucessful hatching?
Well, I like things simple and care free. I very seldom have to mist a box once I set it up until hatching occurs. I don't just put them into the incubator. I put them into clear plastic lidded tubs with a 3 layer of vermiculite. Wet the vermiculite. Squeeze out all the excess water so you have a snowball in your fist. Open your hand and it should hold its shape. Touch it with a finger on the other hand and it should crumble/fall part easily. That's moist enough. Beginners usually make the mistake of keeping the hatching medium too moist. I used to put a small hole in the container top until I lost a few eggs to friggin #%#%#%#$% (censored) fruit fly maggots a few years ago. Now I don't vent the container or tops at all. I open them for a moment every 1-2 wk. to circulate fresh air (they aren't airtight to begin with and I'm not sure that's even necessary). I don't like to bother my eggs. I do as little as possible to them. I don't remove one unless it molds. I never bury an egg. I make a depression with my fingertip about 1/2 as deep as the egg is wide and place it into the depression, Sharpie mark up, then firm the medium snug to the egg, leaving 1/2 the egg exposed. I have two humidity meters in the box but these days, I never even look at them anymore. I can tell from placing a fingertip to the medium if it needs a bit more moisture. If you do need to add some, use a spray bottle and lightly mist the sides (not the eggs), to permit the water to drip down into the medium. It doesn't take much to bring the humidity back up. You don't want to see moisture built up and dripping from the lid - this can drown your embryos. If you feel better using the probe, then you'll want to sit it inside the container, barely seated into the medium long ways. I highly recommend using covered containers. Good luck, and enjoy your new babies.
atmosphere because the eggs are not burried in the perlite. so what you want is the humidity of the air.
a depth of 30cm is recommended the temp should be around 29 degrees C (84.2 degrees F) it should be set up 24 hours in advance for substrate you should use five parts vermiculite and four parts water the vermiculite should not be aloud dry out keep all the eggs the same way up do not turn the eggs the eggs should hatch between 50-70 days
