Heya,
The problems you seem to be having could have several causes:
1. the eggs weren't fertile
2. you have changed the position of the the eggs while moving them into the incubator
3. wrong humidity
4. no ventilation
If you follow the instructions below, it should help with the survival rate of your eggs.
You will know when your female is ready to lay, because she will stop eating about 3 days before. This is just due to the fact there isn't much room left in her tummy for the food. You will also be able to see the eggs clearly through the skin on her tummy.
It is advised you place a laying box into the viv a week beforethe female is due. This can be a simple laying container with al lid cut out for the female to get in. The best thing to fill them in is vermiculate (which you can get from most reptile shops).
Some females won't lay in any kind of substrate. Mine wouldn't in vermiculate, but was completly happy with moss. Also make sure that the laying box is moist or the female wont lay in it. In extreme cases they have been known to lay it in the water dish (which will kill the eggs).
Once the female has laid the egss make sure that under no circumstances you change the position of the eggs in
any way. Remove the verimiculate or moss really carefully, and then mark the eggs, so you know which side is up. The easiest way to do this is with an eye liner or mascara.
You should have your incubator ready and set up about a week before the eggs are laid.
You can build your own very simple incubator. This shouldn't cost you more than £25. You basically need a polystyrene box, a heat mat, thermostat, thermometer and some vermiculate.
You put the heat mat at the bottom of the box, then cover is with either gravel or stones, then you put something in there to hold the laying box in it's place (the laying box should be around the middle of the hight of the polystyrene box). It's really cheap and easy to make.
For the actual box you are going to use for laying the eggs i recommend a simple cricket cox (like the ones you get your locusts or crickets in and has air holes on the side), filled with moist vermiculate. You can also use any other plastic container.
The hatching box should be approx half full of moist vermiculate. The easiest was to measure how moist it should be is to mix the vermiculate with water, then squeeze it tightly, so it forms sort of a "snow ball". You should squeeze it until the water stops dripping from it. This will fall apart easely, once prodded.
Leave the box in the incubator for at least 12 hours, before you move the eggs in.
When the eggs arrive, use your thumb to make a shape into the moist vermiculate (this will hold the egg in place, so it doesn't move around) then careffuly remove the eggs from where ever they have been laid. Make sure that you put them into the incubator in the
same position you found them. Any shift in the position will resolve in the babies drowning in their own egg.
You can determinte the sex of the babies by incubating them at a certain temperature:
- Incubating at 85 degrees Fahrenheit will give you a good balance of male to female hatchlings.
- Incubating at around 82 degrees Fahrenheit will give you mostly females
- Incubating at 88 degrees Fahrenheit will give you mostly males.
If the temperature goes above 88 Fahrenheit, then you will get "hot females" which are agressive females, that won't mate.
After you have done all of this, close the incubator and wait about 50 days or so.
Once the eggs are in there, make sure you open the lid of your hatching box carefully once a week for a few seconds to let some fresh air in. Make sure you do not disturb the eggs in any way.
Also do not squirt any additional water on the eggs, if you feel that the substrate is not moist enough anymore. Also make sure that the moisture build-up on the lid of the container does not drip on the eggs, when you open the lid. If you got the substrate moist enough to begin with, then it should be ok. Additional water on the already laid eggs can damage them. They can actually go moldy and you will lose the eggs.
Also, if you don't have holes in the laying box, open the box for a few seconds once a week to get some fresh air in.
One last thing: once the first baby hatches, it might disturb the other eggs. Make sure you re-position the egg into its original position as soon as possible with as little disruption as possible. The markings on the eggs will help you determine which way is up.
Hope it helps
