Adding a Water Wiggler to a still air incubator. What temp?

[kidsmaw]

Looking for some advice and reassurance...

I was getting a little TOO obsessive with my first two attempts at hatching, trying to keep the air temp at 102 at the top of the eggs in my Little Giant

. So, for my next hatch (setting them this week) I am going to add a home made water wiggler.

My hope is that I won't have to "react" to as many temperature fluctuations (without the wiggler I could have the reading fluctuate 1/2 a degree one way or the other within minutes). My question is what temp do I shoot for in the water wiggler with this being a still air? Do I go for 99.5? I need reassurance since I am used to incubating at 102 at the top of the eggs.

Thank you!


Edited to add the work "to" since I prefer proofreading after I post.

 

[Akane]

Not sure but if your incubator is fluctuating a lot it needs a more stable location. 1/2 degree is nothing to worry about. Eggs will incubate from 96F up to 103F for at least a day (longer for the lower temps) without anything bad happening so you don't have to be exact. Once you get the temp to around 101-102F just leave it alone. I've incubated with tilted cartons in a still air which means the high of the carton and low of the carton can be many degrees different. The eggs near the high side will be at 103 and the eggs near the lower side will be at 99 and switch places every time I turn them. I still had every egg hatch on time because I kept it even how long they were at the high or low temperature. When using a still air or styrofoam bator and especially when the 2 are combined you just aren't going to get the temperature to be the same all over the incubator or exactly what you want it to be every time you look in. I gurantee you if you fill that still air the eggs on the edge aren't going to be the same temp as the eggs in the middle so no matter how accurate you measure the temp they'll either hatch a half day off from each other or you'll have to rotate them through different areas of the bator to get them to hatch all together. Obsessing over the temp is only going to give you a headache and make you more likely to mess it up.

 

[walkswithdog]

Akane is right. That air temp variation is normal. Cool air has to come into the incubator. That's called air exchange - it's necessary.

Variation outside the egg does not make for a huge variation inside the egg. If you add a wiggler you'll note it's temps vary far less than the air does.

Using a carton as akane mentioned works well to keep all eggs better and more equally cycled in a still air.