Lockdown in a dry climate

[debilorrah]

Quote:
OMG I am SUCH an idiot!!!!!!

I was looking for a completely different hole!!!!!

 

[DanEP]

Let us know how the hatch turns out. Maybe I just got lucky with my fisrt hatch but the eco sure was steady on the temp fo me I think I''m going to like it maybe to much I sure could get in trouble.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I've got a 1588. I don't know how big the vent hole is on the Eco. I can take some of those plastic drinking straws that have the joint in them so they can bend, cut one so it is mostly that bend, trim a couple more so the bends are near the ends, and put them together, one inside the other. I can bend them to reach most of the water reservoirs, just push part of the straw contraption in past the first joint and bend it how you want it. Then push it in to the next joint and bend again if you need to. Then use a syringe to add water where you want to. I got the syringe at Tractor Supply.

The vent on my 1588 is big enough that I can even put tape around the straws where I join them and still get it through. By splitting the end of the straw so I can fit it in the other straw, I don't think I even need the tape.

Good luck!

 

[lightfoot]

Quote:
X2

 

[ranchhand]

Same principle, but I use airline tubing from the fish dept. anywhere, and a syringe the vet gave me.

Good luck on the hatch!

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
Why do you want to keep it at 70%???? That's way too high.
You can put it in a closed room with a humidifier or vaporizer.

 

[knjinnm]

Quote:
Hi,
Where do you live?
Joe

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
Hi,
Where do you live?
Joe

The high desert region of SoCal.

My Eco TEMP holds perfectly. And during 18 days I have no humidity troubles, and today is day two of lockdown and the humidity is still steady...... odd.

 

[knjinnm]

Quote:
Hi,
Where do you live?
Joe

The high desert region of SoCal.
My Eco TEMP holds perfectly. And during 18 days I have no humidity troubles, and today is day two of lockdown and the humidity is still steady...... odd.

Hi,
I live in the mountains east of ABQ, elevation is 7000 ft and the current indoor humidity is 24%. Do you have a small room you could close up and raise the humidity for lockdown? A laundry room or spare bath room would work.

Joe

 

[BlacksheepCardigans]

The Eco has two holes - the ventilation hole and a very small hole with two water droplets embossed on the plastic. That one, which I believe is the designated watering hole, is on the other side of the "bump" from the vent hole, sort of in the corner where the cord plugs in. You could easily get some narrow tubing through that one, or could temporarily do it through the vent hole.

Remember that eggs have to breathe. DO NOT try to compensate for low RH by closing that vent hole! It MUST stay at about half, and don't block it with tubing for more than a few seconds. Even in waterfowl, avoiding high CO2 (in other words, suffocating the chicks) trumps humidity.

Brinsea wants hatching at 65% OR HIGHER. So I agree, you need to get it up there, especially given that your extremely dry entry air (the stuff coming into the vent hole and being swirled around the eggs) is so extreme.

There are a couple of things that I would personally do (and, to let you know that I do have some experience, I have an Eco in lockdown right now and when I was getting my biology degree I was in charge of the embryology labs and had to get not just eggs but shell-less eggs all the way to hatching in our scientific incubators): My top choice would be to thread some tubing in and add water a few times a day. My second choice would be to just open the dang thing when the RH is starting to fall, pull out the sock, soak it in hot water and put it back in. Yes, you'll lose RH for maybe twenty minutes but a micro-dip is going to do less damage than hours or a day with too-low RH.

There are ways to set up permanent warm humidifiers that will blow water-saturated fresh air over them on a continual basis, but they require some equipment. Since right now I think you are looking to just solve the one problem, you may not want to invest the time or effort. But if there's one HUGE mistake you can make, it's closing or blocking the vent hole (and this goes for the styrofoam ones as well - never never raise the RH by closing the plugs). That should be avoided at all costs.