I have used my garage as an incubator for the last four years. During that time I have over a 95% hatch rate for viable eggs.
There is a strip therm on the side of one of the viv's that registers up to 90 degrees.Many times the temp is high enough that it doesn't register.I would say the average AIR temp is between 86 and 93 degrees in the garage.
My first year, I put a clutch in an ice chest on the garage floor (because I thought conventional wisdom said my garage temp would be to high and kill the eggs.)
Much to my shagrin one afternoon the air temp "in" the ice chest was over 90 degrees-I thought I had killed the eggs...
a few weeks later they all hatched.
For the past three years I have put the clutches in a plastic shoe box away from any light- covered them well with moss checked the moisture once a week and for the most part did not worry about the temp.This method has worked well for me although according to some it shouldn't have... which leads me to these questions
Because water is a natural coolant if I "insulate" the clutch with moist moss (without an artificial heat source) does the 82 degree benchmark need revision upward for the eggs to hatch on schedule?
Could the longer hatch times for some folks be explained by a variable amount of "insulation" and therefore humidity even though they maintain a constant air temp of 82 degrees?
Anyone else use this "natural" method with success or failure?
There is a strip therm on the side of one of the viv's that registers up to 90 degrees.Many times the temp is high enough that it doesn't register.I would say the average AIR temp is between 86 and 93 degrees in the garage.
My first year, I put a clutch in an ice chest on the garage floor (because I thought conventional wisdom said my garage temp would be to high and kill the eggs.)
Much to my shagrin one afternoon the air temp "in" the ice chest was over 90 degrees-I thought I had killed the eggs...
a few weeks later they all hatched.
For the past three years I have put the clutches in a plastic shoe box away from any light- covered them well with moss checked the moisture once a week and for the most part did not worry about the temp.This method has worked well for me although according to some it shouldn't have... which leads me to these questions
Because water is a natural coolant if I "insulate" the clutch with moist moss (without an artificial heat source) does the 82 degree benchmark need revision upward for the eggs to hatch on schedule?
Could the longer hatch times for some folks be explained by a variable amount of "insulation" and therefore humidity even though they maintain a constant air temp of 82 degrees?
Anyone else use this "natural" method with success or failure?
