I had to throw together an incubator when I found eggs. I wanted to get recommendations on temperature for the eggs from the experts 
since google gives a range of 85-90°. It took me a couple of days to get them consistently at 88° (making small adjustments to a fish tank heater submerged in water inside a cooler) and during that time they fluctuated from 85-90°. Is 88° ok or do I need to adjust it?
Do you all think they will be ok despite the fluctuation?
I’m really hoping they make it. She laid 7 perfect eggs. They seem on the small size (2-3in), but she isnt a big girl. My only size reference is seeing YouTube videos lol.
Thank you in advance for any advice!
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88 is good, and you won’t have any problems from the fluctuation.
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Ok thank you. I’m a majorly nervous newbie 
I had no idea my girl was even gravid. Her body shape never changed 
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She laid them almost a week ago and they still look good. I candled for veins and all had veins. I was afraid to separate them.
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Gonna follow this post to see where it goes 
Those eggs look very nice and healthy though! May I ask who the mother is?
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Happy first eggs day 
Surprise eggs and the first are always the best
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Great job on scrambling and getting an incubator together!
What is she and what did you pair her with?
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Mom is a spider calico. Dad is a banana pastel. I really didnt think she took. Clearly I’m no expert but I got 1 lock April 12th for a couple of days. Dad is only 550g. She was 2100. She never showed an ovulation. Her weight stayed the same despite going off food in December and only eating twice right after they locked.
I had a styrofoam cooler from my mom shipping me Omaha Steaks at Christmas and had a fish tank heater from my kids having fish prior to getting into reptiles. I put a left over landscaping stone in the bottom that was just sitting in my back yard and had a shoebox plastic container with a lid and holes drilled in it from my previous attempt at breeding my own mealworms for my leopard geckos I bought vermiculite and followed youtube videos to try to get things right. It will be a miracle if they make it. I’m so scared y’all! I dont want to mess this up. I keep in touch with the breeder of my banana pastel male on instagram (he was our first ball python after me wanting one for decades) and she has been a BIG help. Its basic, but the eggs seem good and temperatures are fine per my laser temp gun 
I asked the breeder if she knew anyone local to me that had a legit incubator I could rent space in, but she never got back to me with anyone volunteering help. Thats ok though. I think I managed to MacGyver it.
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Also, I gave mom a thorough bath and cleaned her enclosure well. She was drinking in the bath and poor thing looks like a deflated balloon. I’m proud to say I got her back on food already. I just want my animals to be healthy and thriving. Shes such a sweet girl. My toddler said “snake” as his first word while petting her. I was really hoping she would reabsorb and just get back on food when I paired her 
I wasnt confident she had the weight to be fertile. Hence the surprise
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Sounds like you’ve got it handled. Way to go on putting that incubator together so quick and definitely creative.
You should get some gorgeous babies from that pairing.
This fall will be my first season pairing my BP’s.
Two females are up to weight.
One is a Bumblebee (Spider Pastel) the male if he gets a little more weight on him is a OD Fire Yellowbelly.
The second female is an Enchi Blade 66% het Clown to my Lesser 100% het Clown…
I’ll be getting my incubator finished up just after Christmas.
Good luck with your first clutch!
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OMG how exciting! I love OD and clown. You have some great pairings planned. Wishing you all the best of luck
I’m growing up a 1.0 Bamboo Lesser (BEL) and a 0.1 Mystic right now. Maybe some day I’ll make BEL’s
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88 is perfect. the fluctuation shouldn’t matter.
you want it to stay as steady as possible, but a little cooler is better than hotter! if it goes a bit below 88, they may just take a few more days to hatch than usual.
best of luck!
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I’ve been raising several hatchlings up for the past few years. Next year my female Mojave will be 3 and the way she eats , she’ll be ready to pair with my Lesser. I definitely want to produce a BEL .
Eventually I want to get OD into my Clown projects. I’ve got a couple of routes to go with that but first need to prove out my het’s.
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And Banana Calico’s are AMAZING!!
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Thank you! Going to need allllll the luck I think
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The possibilities are really pretty. May the odds be in my favor I will likely keep all of them if they make it.
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Firstly that’s an awesome pairing, let us know what you get.
Dont worry about that, I have had big fluctuations and no problem.
In fact I often just use a rack with a gradient…
The figures we are given are for a specific hatch time and is set for fastest hatch time which is unnecessary and some people believe not the healthiest…
They aren’t as sensitive as most people would lead you to believe.
See the discussion below-
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Thank you! Ive been checking on them once or twice a day to be sure they arent dimpling, getting water drops on them, or getting too hot/cold. Ive noticed that they tend to be at 89 on one side and 88 on the other. Ive just been rotating them when i check them (lifting the box and turning it 180 degrees, not the actual eggs which i kept in the position mom laid them). They still look perfect. I had to add water to the bottom today. So far so good
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Just an update for everyone. Eggs are looking perfect still. I sprang a leak in the incubator somehow. Nothing duct tape and a trash bag inside the bottom couldnt fix but so far so good
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