humidity problems

[busylizzie]

I have a new basic styrofoam bator which is fab at holding the temps - but even with 2 pots of warm water inside the humidity is only 28%......it is warmish and raining here so I would have thought even without the containers of water it would be higher than that......what can i do....spray the eggs?

 

[2txmedics]

What kind of bator is it??? do you have both red plugs open??? and on what day of bating are you on???

 

[busylizzie]

It is a forced air bator....very simply a styofoam box with tight fitting lid.....has a temperature gauge which switches light on and off to maintain the temp.....I have two thermometres inside - one with a humidity reading aswell.....there are two pots of water inside.....there are 5 small holes around the top and sides of the box to allow the air in and out (imagine pushing a pen in to make a hole....that size)

I am on day 8 with one batch and day 5 of another....luckily I only have 3 eggs in this bator current as an overspill measure and I have put the eggs that are not showing much sign of life as yet.....

I will try and get a photo for you.....

back in a minute

thanks for the help in advance.

 

[busylizzie]

Inside of bator....through little perspex window

My fancy mini bator for the eggs developing well so far.....

Any thoughts.....I have just added a damp sponge to see if that helps!

 

[busylizzie]

Well sponge has got it up to 38%.....lucky i don't need the space in there as it is now full of sponges, pots and thermometres!!

 

[Sweetfolly]

I have the opposite problem.

I live in a low, marshy area and we had torrential down-pouring rain twice last week that bumped the humidity in the house up to 69% PLUS the water I had in one of the troughs of my Brinsea Octagon 20 ECO. I sopped all the water out of the 'bator and got two dehumidifiers running in the house, but it took about four days to get the humidity back down to 55%.

Humidity has to be the single most difficult variable to control during incubation.

Just remember that to raise your humidity you want to increase the surface area, not the depth of the water. Large, shallow containers (or even cake pans) do the trick better than a cup or dish.

Good luck!

 

[ChanceRider]

Have you tried to check the hygrometer for accuracy? If not, I'd recommend it. I checked a couple of mine and found each of them to be off by different percentages.

Here's a cut and paste of how to check for accuracy:

To calibrate a Hydrometer

1/2 cup of salt
1/4 cup of water
Freezer Ziploc bag
Put cup of salt water on one side of the bag Hydrometer on the other.

Wait 8-12 hours Hydrometer should read 75%

If it reads lets say 80% humidity then that means its off by 5%.

Mix the salt and water well; use a large sized Ziploc bag to the cup of salt slurry and hygrometer are separated a bit.

 

[Katy]

I don't know what kind of containers you're using for the water, but remember that it is surface area, not volume that increases the humidity. 2 shallow wide opening containers will put off more moisture than 2 tall skinny containers.