Bad incubators? Bad eggs from closet?

[Warrix642]

Has anyone had an incubator malfunction and ruin your eggs? What are the chances of having an incubator mess up since it will be on for 6-10 months?Has anyone had a clutch go bad in there room/closet? What are the low temps/high temps and egg can handle? What will the consequences of having a big daily fluctuation in the temps(if I use my closet)? On average which has a higher success rate? What are some more pros/cons?

EDIT: These are ambilobe panther eggs. The power goes out quite a bit here(sometimes for days).

Thanks,
Dustin

 

[Dez]

I have hatched all my clutched in the closet. it stays between 71 and 79 degrees in there.

I have eggs in separate plastic containers in a medium (i use hatchrite.. but vermiculite is fine) The containers have lids with a few holes poked on top.

Then all the containers are in a larger bin with a loose fitting lid... The larger bin has a little water in it to keep the humidity up a bit...

All my eggs have hatched between 6 and a half and 8 months

 

[jojackson]

Please use standard black text, your post is unreadable without highlighting.

That will depend on the quality of your incubator and the likelyhood of power failure for a prolonged period where you live (bad weather etc).
It will equally depend on your initial preparation of your eggboxs and/or maintanence of humidity. Likewise the species you are incubating, some may be more tempremental than others.

That said, you can build your own incubator and include emergency temp control (too high), ensure good insulation, neither of which you can do with a closet (if you want it to still be a closet that is )

 

[Warrix642]

Has anyone ever had a clutch of panther eggs go bad?

 

[kinyonga]

Yes...the very first batch of panther eggs I incubated many years ago literally burst because I had the substrate too moist. The babies were fully formed but the eggs burst at the sides of the eggs. Of course, all the babies were dead. Broke my heart. I felt terrible about it.

 

[Warrix642]

Yes...the very first batch of panther eggs I incubated many years ago literally burst because I had the substrate too moist. The babies were fully formed but the eggs burst at the sides of the eggs. Of course, all the babies were dead. Broke my heart. I felt terrible about it.

Ok dont use too much water any other first time mistakes? I dont want to overlook any problems...

 

[sandrachameleon]

I use shoe boxes. The first batch of eggs I ever looked after werent treated right at all, as I lacked correct info and didnt have central heating in that house. The temperature fluctuated significantly day to night, and was quite cold at night (55F) on more than one occassion. Yet Eggs all hatched fine at month 13. Panther eggs seem fairly resiliant in terms of temp. I still use plastic containers inside shoe boxes, though temps are a bit more controled as the room they are in now is heated. With better temp control, the incubation time can be better controlled. If you have an incubator, you are more likely to have better control over timing and temp. You only have to really worry/work at it when the power is off. If you cant decide which way to go, do both. half in the closet, half in the incubator.

 

[ColorCham427]

Dez, your closet temps sometimes reach 79? Thats really hot for a house temp!!!

Well then again... I am a big beeaach because I complain if it's above 69 in the house I'm in!