Yesterday I got my Hova Bator incubator. I am expecting my Bearded Dragon to lay her second clutch of eggs in a couple weeks. Her first clutch didn't make it as I was not prepared with an incubator. My question is; how should I set up the incubator. It cam with a liner for the bottom that you are supposed to put water in the "A" resevoir. Within 3 days of hatching, u fill resevoir B with water. Problem is this is the reccomendations for bird eggs. For the Bearded Dragon eggs, do I not use the liner and just use vermulite? How thick should the layer of vermulite be? It also came with a metal screen that goes over the liner for the eggs, do I not use this if I am not supposed to use the liner?

Thanks for any help

__________________
Critters Owned

2 Bearded Dragons (1 Male/1 Female) (Il Duce & Guenevere)
6 Fire Belly Toads
Several Tropical Fish
3 Cats (2 males/1 Female) (Garfield, Tiger, & Avalon)
1 Cockatiel (Female ) (Hinky)

Critters Wanted

2 Horned Lizards (Horny Toads) (1 Male/1 Female)

I'm not sure but I put my water dragon eggs in my hova bator this week )my first time using it, but I did make my own incubator so I set it up similarly). I have water in the A reservoir. This keeps the humidity up. I have the eggs in a shallow tray of vermiculite and sand, deep enough to half submerge the eggs without them touching the bottom of the container. The tray is on the wire mesh to leave room for drainage from the tray in case it gets to wet.

set it up today to get the right temp (it might take some adjusting) for your eggs and then you can just turn it on when she shows signs of laying.

Good luck,
DQ

I never use the plastic res that comes in the hovabator. I leave it in there, I just never add water to it. I also use the screen, which is what I rest my egg containers on. I use my own separate container for the water which will help keep the humidity up. It is tall so the critters can't typically get into it after they hatch.

I also use vermiculite as my medium and keep that properly hydrated.

Typically you want to have the incubator already setup and running when the eggs are laid. This way you can toss them in immediately and know the temps and humidity are already regulated. I normally start my incubator 2 weeks after I place my leopard geckos together. (I only bred the dragons once, I breed the Leopard Geckos annually.) This gives me a solid 2+ weeks to get the incubator squared away before any eggs are tossed in. It works well for me.

__________________

That is why I am asking now. Wanna get it running as soon as she starts digging. So, then I should just leave the plastic liner and wire screen in there. Instead of lying vermiculite in the whole thing, I should take some Styrofoam (sp?) cups/containers and fill it deep enough with vermiculite. Should I keep those little containers covered or uncovered? Also, should I put the eggs about half deep in vermiculite?

__________________
Critters Owned

2 Bearded Dragons (1 Male/1 Female) (Il Duce & Guenevere)
6 Fire Belly Toads
Several Tropical Fish
3 Cats (2 males/1 Female) (Garfield, Tiger, & Avalon)
1 Cockatiel (Female ) (Hinky)

Critters Wanted

2 Horned Lizards (Horny Toads) (1 Male/1 Female)

If the humidity is dropping, you will want to partially cover the egg container(s). Never close it completely as there will be no air flow and the eggs could suffocate or mold.

I cover the eggs about 1/2 - 2/3 of the way in moist vermiculite and use plastic Tupperware or sterilite containers as the egg boxes.

__________________

Thanks much. If I take the egg boxes and the lids have a few breathe holes in them, is that good or should I do something like cut the lid so that there is only 2/3 remaining and put that on?

__________________
Critters Owned

2 Bearded Dragons (1 Male/1 Female) (Il Duce & Guenevere)
6 Fire Belly Toads
Several Tropical Fish
3 Cats (2 males/1 Female) (Garfield, Tiger, & Avalon)
1 Cockatiel (Female ) (Hinky)

Critters Wanted

2 Horned Lizards (Horny Toads) (1 Male/1 Female)

You don't have to cut anything. Simply lay the cover on top of the container and then slightly offset it so that the of the "corners" of the box are actually exposing the substrate below.

__________________

Ohh, okay. Thank you much.

__________________
Critters Owned

2 Bearded Dragons (1 Male/1 Female) (Il Duce & Guenevere)
6 Fire Belly Toads
Several Tropical Fish
3 Cats (2 males/1 Female) (Garfield, Tiger, & Avalon)
1 Cockatiel (Female ) (Hinky)

Critters Wanted

2 Horned Lizards (Horny Toads) (1 Male/1 Female)