So I have a few eggs in my incubator and everything has been going great (they have been in there for 3 weeks) today when I got home from work I noticed one egg was starting to dimple on top. How common is it for eggs to dimple this early? All is good in the egg box, 89 degrees with humidity ranging between 100-99.2% and everything was measured with a sensor push that is currently still in the egg box. No condensation dripping on the eggs either. Any suggestions? When should I be concerned? It isn’t that terrible but was still shocking to see this early. All the others are nice and plump
My suggestion is leave them alone this isn’t anything out of the normal I’ve seen them look way worse after three weeks lol
I agree with @saleengrinch don’t bother them if you don’t have too. If your parameters are met they will do what they do.
I don’t see anything of concern in your photos but I do want to point out that I had a clutch (my first) get dehydrated. They all made it but by day 50 they were significantly shriveled up and it was concerning. This was with a sensor inside the egg box that read 100% humidity the entire time. It turned out that despite the humidity readings being on point there was some air flow in the tub from the incubator design and tubs I use. Since then I use press n’ seal every time and I haven’t had any issue since.
Some eggs just shrivel no matter what you do. And sometimes very significantly doesn’t mean anything is wrong with your setup just happens. At three weeks I wouldn’t make any changes personally, I think these eggs look great.
Yeah I agree the OP’s eggs look great and no need to change anything. In my case the eggs were definitely significantly more dehydrated than all subsequent clutches with press n’ seal so I personally use and recommend it. I wont go another clutch without it. Although it might not make much difference in other setups, incubators with less airflow and/or tighter sealing tubs.
At what point should I be concerned though? I guess if I’ve provided perfect conditions and the egg still fails then there’s nothing else I could’ve done
I use press and seal, the blurred out portion above the eggs is actually excess press and seal hanging off the egg box
This☝️ You have to trust in the process you would be surprised how terrible a egg can look sometimes and still hatch a viable hatchling. I operate hands off I have had worse luck messing with them lol.
I tend to be hands off as well, I’ve been told messing with eggs to much can cause serious issues. I just peek through the glass every now and then to make sure they are all good. The egg in question is more sunk in today but still not horrible
All of the above agreed with
I would only suggest that as you have stated they all have the same humidity conditions in incubation,
it is possible that that one egg did not have the same initial humidity as the others before you moved them.
Possible reasons could be due to position and duration in its position before you found the eggs.
How long were they laid before moved? More importantly, Was it thrown out, or separate, or on top of the others when collected?
I don’t think she was on them for more than 4 hours. I’m not sure where that egg was at, none were thrown out
I will be using a C Serpent incubator which has a fan and Sterilite tubs. Do you think I should use the press n’ seal?
I would! The job of the incubator/thermostat is to keep the contents at a specific temperature and the job of the tubs is to keep the contents humid. I use perlite and load the tub up with lots of water so there’s no possible way it can dry out throughout the incubation period. Press n’ seal ensures that regardless of how much air flow is in the incubator they will never dry out and the eggs will stay consistently humid throughout the tub. The only potential down side I can think of using press n’ seal is if it sags down on top of the eggs and pools water. This can be alleviated by using tubs that are tall enough and avoiding piling up too much substrate.
I do want to try the press and seal. Someone suggested either with a lid or press n seal to put something under one end it would help it drip on the side versus in the middle on the eggs.
I’ve never had any issues with it dripping onto the eggs. It will build up with condensation over time but as long as it isn’t touching the eggs it stays on the press n seal. When I open the tub, which I dont do unless I’m pulling out a bad egg or something, it can drip on the eggs. In that case I just use a soft paper towel to gently dab up any water that dripped, put a fresh strip of press n seal on and they’re good to go. I think press n seal makes sense because it eliminates a potentially detrimental variable (moisture loss / humidity drop) with no downside.
Everything had pretty much been said above, the eggs look fine and will naturally dimple over the incubation especially as you get closer to hatch date.
My 2 cents would be to double the amount of medium(looks like vermiculite) you’re using. That will help ensure humidity levels stay high and give more room for evaporation. Also try dropping temps to 87.5. Most incubation problems occur w too high temps. It may take a few days longer to pip but will reduce chance of deformities and give a bit of flexibility in case of spikes.
Goodluck
BTW what’s the pairing?
Since I don’t think anyone has said it yet- you should take that sensorpush out of the egg box and just leave it in the incubator itself. They are not made to withstand high humidity and it will be fried after a couple clutches.
They redesigned the sensorpush about a year ago with better seals and higher resistance to humidity. They’re a little more expensive and use a different battery. I’m on clutch 3 with it with no malfunctions. The last clutch it even got completely covered in egg goo. I like knowing the exact temperature of my eggs vs temps in the incubator. I’ve also seen numerous others using them inside the egg box and haven’t heard of one malfunctioning. Might be an issue with the first version but I sincerely doubt it with the new ones.