Hi my girl is due to lay any day now and I have set up the incubator with vermiculite in dampened to check temps and humidity and it’s been holding steady for 3 weeks . My question is should I take it out clean and re apply new vermiculite fresh for the new eggs or shall I just leave it as it is ? Was just a bit worried that the water in the vermiculite my of gone a bit stale and be holding bacteria? .
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It should be fine as it is, I’ve had incubation cups pre-setup for months before use and they work fine. Bacteria shouldn’t affect the eggs, as long as it holds humidity, it should be fine.
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I’ve gone through this same dilemma.
My thought process was that since the eggs are often in there for 60+ days (depending on species/incubator/etc) without any issue then it would surely be fine. But since the medium is very cheap and easy to replace I just changed it out as a precaution.
I like to setup my egg boxes a week or so in advance to have them at optimal temperatures when I put the eggs in. The only time I threw out substrate was when it was in there for 30+ days when I was testing the incubator.
On another note I highly recommend a sensor, like sensorpush, to continuously monitor temperatures/humidity to ensure everything goes smooth during incubation.
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You can also open the lid and mix/add water if needed. I put my eggs on a diffuser anyway, so they don’t directly contact the substrate.
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Good idea I’ll prob add a little more water
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