Last of clutch finally hatched.

[joefarah]

Ok, so my second clutch of panther eggs was exactly 20 fertiles. All hatched.
The first hatched January 5th and the last one hatched yesterday.

That is 51 days between when the first and last eggs hatched! Wowzer!

 

[Brad Ramsey]

Congratulations Joe!
How did you incubate them?

-Brad

 

[CammieNLeno]

Dang, missed it by 1 day! Great to hear it man. You went 20/22 right? Or was it a perfect 20/20?

 

[joefarah]

Congratulations Joe!
How did you incubate them?

-Brad

Thanks Brad!


First I bury them in slightly damp vermiculite inside clear plastic deli cups with only one little air hole. I place 8-10 per deli cup and space them approx .5 to .75 inches apart.

I start them in a dark cool closet that ranges between 68-71F for 3 months.

Then I take them out and place them in my homemade incubator at 75 degrees F for another 3 months. Then I place them on a shelf in my reptile room for the home stretch where the temps vary between 78-82 degrees during a 24 hour period. I use those digital thermometers with the long wire probes and I actually have the probe inside one of the delicups at all times. I'm neurotic about monitoring temps, but the moisture levels fluctuate quite a bit. When 8-9 months rolls around I boost the moisture levels inside the delicups to simulate spring rains and such.

It's really incredible how huge the eggs are at 8 months compared to when they are first laid!

 

[joefarah]

Dang, missed it by 1 day! Great to hear it man. You went 20/22 right? Or was it a perfect 20/20?

20 out of 20 on this clutch.

There was a small clutch of 3 fertiles that hatched before this one...