# INCUBATOR HUMIDITY LEVELS



## ALDABRAMAN

*Does or has anyone kept the humidity level in the 90's during the entire incubation term? Results and opinions please?*


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## Tom

I have. Worked great. I basically have them in a closed shoe box with 4 quarter inch holes for ventilation. I also keep the water channels full in the bottom of the incubators. I don't have an accurate, scientific grade gauge either.


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## kbaker

I have with my Sulcatas. The gauge said 98% most of the time. I don't think it can display any higher. I wanted to try it a little dryer and the last couple of clutches were at about 78%. Some differences between the two humidities are - at the lower humidity I saw signs of drying; the 'gel' from the inside of the egg was gooyer and the egg shell was sticking to the tortoise's shell.

At the same time, I also lowered temps from 89F to 87F. The incubation periods where close to the same. With the lower temps and humidity, I have not had any abnormal scutes.

Here is another piece of info...the infertile eggs at higher humidity stayed 'fresh' during the incubation period. The dryer eggs got 'sticky'.

And the twins were incubated at the lower humidity...not saying it has anything to do with it.


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## Tom

Good insight K. I forgot to mention that mine were sulcatas as well.


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## kbaker

kbaker said:


> I have with my Sulcatas. The gauge said 98% most of the time. I don't think it can display any higher. I wanted to try it a little dryer and the last couple of clutches were at about 78%. Some differences between the two humidities are - at the lower humidity I saw signs of drying; the 'gel' from the inside of the egg was gooyer and the egg shell was sticking to the tortoise's shell.
> 
> At the same time, I also lowered temps from 89F to 87F. The incubation periods where close to the same. With the lower temps and humidity, I have not had any abnormal scutes.
> 
> Here is another piece of info...the infertile eggs at higher humidity stayed 'fresh' during the incubation period. The dryer eggs got 'sticky'.
> 
> And the twins were incubated at the lower humidity...not saying it has anything to do with it.



Correction:
The dryer eggs got '_stinky_'.

Another thing I would like to mention...
At higher humidity, some eggs would have condensation for a large part of the incubation period. At the beginning, on the top and bottom. By the end, just on the bottom of the egg. I always heard this was bad. At lower humidity, there was no condensation.


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## Shelly

Does it matter what species you are incubating?


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## Yvonne G

I don't use any gauges, I just go by sight and feel. I have noticed that box turtle eggs will swell too big if there is too much moisture in the incubator.


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## ALDABRAMAN

Great info, I recently visited another aldabra tortoise breeder. He has had some fertility success, however his incubation methods were similar and differed some also. We both experience the same issues in general. The big issue I see is the humidity levels were way different, however we have both experienced similar results. More than ever the thoughts are that , 90+ humidity is needed and prefered for aldabra eggs, I always kept it in the 70 to 80"s. My concern is what kbaker is saying, the higher humidity keeps things real damp. Did/Do you think less humidity had any influence on the hatching out process, other than a little gooier?




Tom said:


> I have. Worked great. I basically have them in a closed shoe box with 4 quarter inch holes for ventilation. I also keep the water channels full in the bottom of the incubators. I don't have an accurate, scientific grade gauge either.


*Tom can you post a picture of your incubator and its setup. Thank you, Greg.*





kbaker said:


> I have with my Sulcatas. The gauge said 98% most of the time. I don't think it can display any higher. I wanted to try it a little dryer and the last couple of clutches were at about 78%. Some differences between the two humidities are - at the lower humidity I saw signs of drying; the 'gel' from the inside of the egg was gooyer and the egg shell was sticking to the tortoise's shell.
> 
> At the same time, I also lowered temps from 89F to 87F. The incubation periods where close to the same. With the lower temps and humidity, I have not had any abnormal scutes.
> 
> Here is another piece of info...the infertile eggs at higher humidity stayed 'fresh' during the incubation period. The dryer eggs got 'sticky'.
> 
> And the twins were incubated at the lower humidity...not saying it has anything to do with it.



What kind of incubator do you use and would you mind if possible to post a picture, Thank you, Greg.


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## kbaker

"_Did/Do you think less humidity had any influence on the hatching out process, other than a little gooier_?"
I am not sure if I am thinking about the same things as you, Greg. My concerns about the actual 'hatching' is the dryness and the yolk sac sticking in the egg shell. I don't think they started any sooner or had anymore difficulty exiting the egg. Once they are 'basically' out, I clean them off with a short soak/rinse and put them in a nursery box. They are harder to clean off when they are incubated with low humidity. At this point, I don't see any valid reason that I would try to incubate at a lower humidity.

"_What kind of incubator do you use and would you mind if possible to post a picture_,..."
Mine is a homemade cage converted into an incubator. I will try to get some new pictures for you.

Another point I like to make is that when I incubated at higher humidity, I added water to the incubation media and kept the lid on the container with holes. When I incubated at the lower humidity, the eggs were in bone-dry media. I added water in the container and incubator; and kept the lid off the container.


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## ALDABRAMAN

Thank you kbaker, nice set up. I would need ten of those. How sir do you maintain fresh air within the incubator? And a guess as to how much water in needed for your incubator to achieve the higher levels? Thanks again, Greg.


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## kbaker

ALDABRAMAN said:


> Thank you kbaker, nice set up. I would need ten of those. How sir do you maintain fresh air within the incubator? And a guess as to how much water in needed for your incubator to achieve the higher levels? Thanks again, Greg.



I open the incubator enough that I never worry about 'fresh air'.

Just inside the door and the first shelve are four plastic containers that I keep full of water. I also add water to the extra spots in the green containers. How I was doing it before kept it at 98% and what I am doing now keeps it at 78%. It's just were it's at. I don't think I can adjust it much. That white box in with the eggs is a remote senser for temps and humidity.

The green containers are not that effiecent with space, but they are a good heigth and I save on the incubation media. I used other containers before, but they were too tall to fit on the bottom. If I find the right sized containers, I could fit about 120+ eggs in there. I've not come close to having that many at one time. How many have you had at one time?

If your really have a lot of eggs and you want good control over the eggs, I suggest converting a small room into an incubator. A large mass of temp/humidity should give you good results.


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## onarock

I keep them at 70%-75% humidity and you've seen my incubator and know all about my setup Greg.


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## jackrat

I'm using reptobator incubators now.More interior room than the Little Giants.The temprature stays locked on regardless of room temp.I'm incubating in about 3" of moist vermiculite,in plastic "shoeboxes",with the lid closed.(10) 1/4"air holes in box.The humidity stays 84-87%.


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## ALDABRAMAN

Thanks all, interesting. I have begun to research several incubators that would be very self regulating with temperature and humidity. Lyon, Grumbach, Shelton, and Kemps are some that really look good. I still struggle to get humidity past the 80"s with what I am doing now. After my visit and discussions with the only other aldabra breeder, I need to make a few changes. Anyone have any experience with any of these name brands?










kbaker said:


> ALDABRAMAN said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you kbaker, nice set up. I would need ten of those. How sir do you maintain fresh air within the incubator? And a guess as to how much water in needed for your incubator to achieve the higher levels? Thanks again, Greg.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I open the incubator enough that I never worry about 'fresh air'.
> 
> Just inside the door and the first shelve are four plastic containers that I keep full of water. I also add water to the extra spots in the green containers. How I was doing it before kept it at 98% and what I am doing now keeps it at 78%. It's just were it's at. I don't think I can adjust it much. That white box in with the eggs is a remote senser for temps and humidity.
> 
> The green containers are not that effiecent with space, but they are a good heigth and I save on the incubation media. I used other containers before, but they were too tall to fit on the bottom. If I find the right sized containers, I could fit about 120+ eggs in there. I've not come close to having that many at one time. How many have you had at one time?
> 
> If your really have a lot of eggs and you want good control over the eggs, I suggest converting a small room into an incubator. A large mass of temp/humidity should give you good results.
Click to expand...


I have thought of that, we have over 100+ eggs going at once sometimes. A room dedicated to the purpose would be nice!


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## jackrat

Some freinds of mine were in the commercial turtle farming business for years.They actually had a 12 x 16 building for an incubator.It worked well.They always had very good hatch rates.


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## ALDABRAMAN

jackrat said:


> Some freinds of mine were in the commercial turtle farming business for years.They actually had a 12 x 16 building for an incubator.It worked well.They always had very good hatch rates.



Reptile Industries has that, just top notch and hight tech.


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## Tccarolina

kbaker said:


> I have with my Sulcatas. The gauge said 98% most of the time. I don't think it can display any higher. I wanted to try it a little dryer and the last couple of clutches were at about 78%. Some differences between the two humidities are - at the lower humidity I saw signs of drying; the 'gel' from the inside of the egg was gooyer and the egg shell was sticking to the tortoise's shell.
> 
> At the same time, I also lowered temps from 89F to 87F. The incubation periods where close to the same. With the lower temps and humidity, I have not had any abnormal scutes.
> 
> Here is another piece of info...the infertile eggs at higher humidity stayed 'fresh' during the incubation period. The dryer eggs got 'sticky'.
> 
> And the twins were incubated at the lower humidity...not saying it has anything to do with it.



Do you mean you have not had any abnormal scutes, period? Or no abnormal scutes since lowering temps and humidity?


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## kbaker

supremelysteve said:


> kbaker said:
> 
> 
> 
> I have with my Sulcatas. The gauge said 98% most of the time. I don't think it can display any higher. I wanted to try it a little dryer and the last couple of clutches were at about 78%. Some differences between the two humidities are - at the lower humidity I saw signs of drying; the 'gel' from the inside of the egg was gooyer and the egg shell was sticking to the tortoise's shell.
> 
> At the same time, I also lowered temps from 89F to 87F. The incubation periods where close to the same. With the lower temps and humidity, I have not had any abnormal scutes.
> 
> Here is another piece of info...the infertile eggs at higher humidity stayed 'fresh' during the incubation period. The dryer eggs got 'sticky'.
> 
> And the twins were incubated at the lower humidity...not saying it has anything to do with it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Do you mean you have not had any abnormal scutes, period? Or no abnormal scutes since lowering temps and humidity?
Click to expand...


No abnormal scutes since lowering temps and humidity?


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