Quick Question- It's absolutely confusing me!

[Sam1988]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum, so thank you for having me and hopefully you can spread some advice.

On Sunday 5th April, 11am, I turned my incubator on and set it to 37.5C (99.5F). I noted that the temperature probe hung neatly from the ceiling of the incubator, effectively meaning the temperature was being read from about 3cm or so above where the eggs lay. Its a new incubator.

I placed the eggs in neatly after marking them and set the humidity to around 50-55%. I am turning them every 5 hours or so. 24 hours later I figured to go purchase a second digital thermometer. Purchased from a reptile shop and was told they are very accurate. I placed the probe on top of the eggs and ran the wire out the incubator to the screen for reading. The lid still shuts tightly, so no air is escaping

Here is the dilemma! The temp where the eggs are laying reads a whopping 2 degrees lower than what the incubator is telling me! I'm now having to run the incubator on 39.5Deg (102.9F) to achieve 37.5Deg (99.5F) at the egg. I then went and purchased another different digital thermometer to test accuracy again- this thermometer matches within decimals of the 2nd reptile thermometer. The incubator seems to be the anomaly, perhaps because the probe is sitting 3cm above the eggs and not directly on top.

So who and what to trust and what to do? Have I failed my first hatch if they sat at 36Deg (97F) for the first 24-36 hours? am I doing the right thing now?

Note- I am running the eggs currently at 39.5Deg (102.9F) which is achieving 37.5Deg (99.5F) at the egg.

Thanks everyone

 

[K0k0shka]

The recommendation is to measure temperature at the top of the egg. It can vary a lot vertically, especially in a still air incubator. Incubator thermometers are very often inaccurate. Have you calibrated the reptile thermometers? Test them with ice water. Then leave them at the top of the eggs and trust that over the incubator's thermometer.

 

[Sam1988]

The recommendation is to measure temperature at the top of the egg. It can vary a lot vertically, especially in a still air incubator. Incubator thermometers are very often inaccurate. Have you calibrated the reptile thermometers? Test them with ice water. Then leave them at the top of the eggs and trust that over the incubator's thermometer.

Thankyou Kokoshka. I will do the ice test. This is a fan-forced incubator. Do you think the first 36 hrs of the eggs being at a colder temp would void the batch?

 

[K0k0shka]

Thankyou Kokoshka. I will do the ice test. This is a fan-forced incubator. Do you think the first 36 hrs of the eggs being at a colder temp would void the batch?

Probably not - it was very early on and for a relatively short time. It probably just delayed their development. There's only one way to find out - wait a few days and candle Good luck!