Just out of curiosity, breeders, what is the ratio you have had of momma chondros incubating their eggs vs. using an artificial incubator. Also, say the female lays her eggs in the nesting box when you are at work and decides not to incubate them. Will the eggs be okay until you get home to put them in the incubator??
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Artificial vs Maternal
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 angelicarboreals |
Artificial vs Maternal |
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Posts: 117 (06/17/05 08:45:43) |
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 Marcial |
Re: Artificial vs Maternal | ||
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Posts: 1000 (06/17/05 14:16:09) |
I have always done artificial and personally would not recommend maternal... with some relatively inexpensive equipment (around $200), and all of the information that's out there, it is just too easy to go artificial.
I have found eggs on the floor of a cage after being away for 3 days... no telling how long they sat there... most of the viable eggs from that clutch hatched anyway. Marcial Mendez
marcialmendez@hotmail.com Chondrolicious |
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RCulver |
Re: Artificial vs Maternal | ||
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Posts: 1187 (06/17/05 16:36:24) Registered User |
I like to give my girls a break and as a result, my vote and opinion is "artificial". Marcial makes a solid point that with some research and limitations on standards, the over cost investment can be minimal for home constructed incubators that have proven themselves with a number of different breeders.
Rich Culver |
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geckos70 |
Re: Artificial vs Maternal | ||
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Posts: 103 (06/18/05 07:13:13) |
I personally feel that artificial is the way to go. Maternal incubation is extremely stressful on female's body as a whole and can eat up her already low bodyfat reserves. This could potentially weaken her immune system, which would make her more susceptible to infections. In my opinion, there is no need to take unnecessary risks with my animals.
I did have an interesting observation this year in both females that produced eggs. After removing the females from their clutches, they were placed in a new enclosures. They continued to shiver for about a week afterwords. I have always associated this behavior as an instinct but this kinda suggests that it is more of a physiological response to egg production; it is probably better stated that what is consider instinctual or voluntary is probably more physiological basis or involuntary. If anyone else has any comments on this behavior I would love to hear about them. |
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googo151 |
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Posts: 1513 (07/01/05 10:56:04) |
Hey,
Most definitely artificial inc., is the way to go as the female can be super taxed by the process of gestation and also, egg laying. Any additional stress to her system can spell doom in some cases. I have a female that layed 17 eggs and she was and still is pretty skinny after laying, and had I chosen to allow her to maternally incubate her egg's there is no telling whether she would have been able to safely complete the task without some risk to her health. -Angel Chondros are next to godliness!!
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Robert Hill |
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Posts: 1215 (07/02/05 10:33:36) |
While I say that artificial is the better way to go, maternal is probably something really cool to see.
I have toyed with the idea of going maternal with every clutch I've had, but always end up popping the eggs in the trusty old cooler incubator. As Marcial stated, with a relatively small cash investment and perusing all of the info on the web right now, artificial is the way to go. Incubators are easy to build(if I can do it, anyone can) and with the many years under the chondro community's belt, artificial incubation is no longer the scary task it once was. Plus, the benefit to the females of being able to start back eating and regaining weight about two months earlier is hard to knock. |
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