Humidity Issues with Homemade Incubator

[yellowbrickfarm]

I created an incubator using one of those styrofoam coolers, a lightbulb, and a dish of water. I have my first set of hatching eggs (quail) coming today in the mail and I can't seem to get my humidity up to where it needs to be. The whole bottom of the incubator is water surface area and I have sponges in both the dishes but I still can't manage to get it above 25-35% humidity according to my digital thermometer.

So I have a couple questions. Number one, how important is that humidity number? Should I be worrying so much? And if it is important, do you have any tips on how I can increase the humidity? I know the main thing is adding more surface area but the bottom is practically all water already so I'm not sure what to do

 

[Ridgerunner]

It sounds like you may have it vented too well. You need some air exchange but from what you describe that moisture is getting away from you. Can you close some vents?

 

[yellowbrickfarm]

I can close vents but then the temp goes up. I'm using a 25W lightbulb so maybe if I drop down to a 13W it won't change that much. Unless you have other suggestions to keep the temp down while closing openings?

 

[Ridgerunner]

The general way to manage temperature is to have it on a thermostat. When the temperature cools off, the light bulb is turned on. When it warms up enough the bulb is turned off. This is usually the trickiest part of setting up an incubator, getting the temperature right. Placing the thermostat fairly close to the heat source is a trick to help keep the incubator temperature fairly stable but it often takes trial and error.

Good luck!