# incubators and eggs



## Yvonne G (Nov 19, 2015)

My three incubators are just about 6' away from me in front of my computer. 




So I'm sitting here looking at the Forum this a.m. with Misty laying on the floor at my side when we hear a loud "POP!!!" She looks at me and I look at her and we both say, "What was that???"

I have two clutches of YF eggs in the incubators that have been cooking for 6 months or so, and I expect them to explode at any time, however, the pop sound didn't come from the direction of the YF incubator. So I get up and go to take a look.




Notice the wet-looking speckles on the upper left set of eggs. These eggs have only been cooking for 2 months. They usually don't explode that early.




These are South African leopard eggs. Phew! what a smell.


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## N2TORTS (Nov 19, 2015)

HA HA ....yuppers ...mine too are on the left in the office and PC ....and ....STINKYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY when the "POP"
I'm right there with ya ~

The Whole House REEKS!.........


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## dmmj (Nov 19, 2015)

bummer, remember not every egg hatches


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## N2TORTS (Nov 19, 2015)

dmmj said:


> bummer, remember not every egg hatches


I'd have to open a zoo or buy another house! .......Over 100 eggs in the cooker now!


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## ZEROPILOT (Nov 19, 2015)

I am very familiar with that smell. so sorry for you. So far, ALL of my hatching attempts have ended with pops and stinks.


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## Kapidolo Farms (Nov 19, 2015)

Wow, just think of an offal pit, and smell will not seem so bad. hahahha, bummer on the egg. @N2TORTS there are worse things that can happen than all your eggs hatching and you needing new digs.


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## dmmj (Nov 19, 2015)

there are definitely worse things than all your eggs hatching like me coming to visit for instance


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## Tom (Nov 19, 2015)

@Yvonne G ,
Did you cool them before incubating? Does it look like the others are developing?


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## Yvonne G (Nov 19, 2015)

Because this one popped at 2 months, I'm wondering if my cooling off period wasn't cool enough. Yes, I cooled them for about a month before incubating them.


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## pdrobber (Nov 19, 2015)

@Tom @Yvonne G What is the cooling period for?


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## wellington (Nov 19, 2015)

pdrobber said:


> @Tom @Yvonne G What is the cooling period for?


This I would like to know too. I thought leopards didn't need this? Also, what makes them explode?


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## wellington (Nov 19, 2015)

Also Yvonne, what kind of incubators are the white ones? Looks like the one I have, but I can only fit two low side shoe box size in mine. I did use the metal tray that came with it, I wonder if that's why you can fit more, hmmm


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## Yvonne G (Nov 19, 2015)

Because the female is a South African leopard tortoise, the eggs had to undergo a diapause period:

Diapause, when talking about hatching tortoise eggs, is a the delay in development in response to regularly and recurring periods of adverse environmental conditions. It's another mechanism - like hibernation/brumation is a mechanism - used as a means to survive predictable, unfavorable environmental conditions, such as temperature extremes, drought or reduced food availability. 

Not all species of tortoises have to undergo diapause, but the South African leopards do.

The white incubators are Little Giant Bird Brooders. I have the containers sitting right on the floor of the incubators, having removed all the interior workings.

They usually explode when gasses from decomposing material inside the egg build up to more than the shell can handle. It sometimes occurs when the embryo died and is decomposing or when the yolk starts to decompose, however, I have opened very old eggs where the yolk and albumen were totally dried out and hadn't decomposed at all.


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## dmmj (Nov 19, 2015)

too many big words hurt brain


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## Yvonne G (Nov 19, 2015)

dmmj said:


> too many big words hurt brain



I'm taking lessons from Will!


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## Tom (Nov 19, 2015)

pdrobber said:


> @Tom @Yvonne G What is the cooling period for?



South African Leopards live in an area with cold winters. They lay eggs in the fall, and then the eggs have to sit underground in the cold earth until Spring and warmer temps return. This is called diapause. After the eggs have gone through this cooler diapause period, they can begin incubating and developing once the warmer temps return in spring and summer. When we artificially incubate eggs we must "break" the diapause period by cooling the eggs for a while, _before_ we begin incubating at warmer temps.

In some species the eggs will not develop without a diapause.


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## dmmj (Nov 19, 2015)

Tom said:


> South African Leopards live in an area with cold winters. They lay eggs in the fall, and then the eggs have to sit underground in the cold earth until Spring and warmer temps return. This is called diapause. After the eggs have gone through this cooler diapause period, they can begin incubating and developing once the warmer temps return in spring and summer. When we artificially incubate eggs we must "break" the diapause period by cooling the eggs for a while, _before_ we begin incubating at warmer temps.
> 
> In some species the eggs will not develop without a diapause.


Arrrrrrrgh


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## Jacqui (Nov 20, 2015)

Yvonne G said:


> I'm taking lessons from Will!



It shows.


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