# Let's start



## don956 (Nov 18, 2015)

So I just bought myself an incubator at the bay along with 20 seramas hatching eggs. I'm new to this hobby anything else I should know besides controlling the temp and humidity? Any tips are appreciated.


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## Alaskan (Aug 22, 2015)

Humm... I wonder if there is a hatching guide in the article section, of this website... Not sure.

Anyway, everyone has their own incubating guidelines, it is definitely both a science and an art.

I think for your first hatch you might want to go with the method where you weigh the tray of eggs every day... If you have a good enough scale.

If you don't have a good enough scale, then you can use a strong flashlight to watch the size of the air cell.

Newbie mistakes are usually too much humidity in the first part if incubation, never turning eggs, and not realizing that eggs need oxygen (so keep vents open).


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## jn4 (Jun 21, 2012)

make sure its equipped with an auto "egg turner" Add food coloring to the water reservoir to alert you when the water dries out......food color makes it easier to see


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## seminole wind (Aug 22, 2015)

Congrats on the new incubator! It's a lot of fun. I use 2 thermometers. I keep my temp as close to 100 degrees as possible, I usually end up between 100 and 100.5. 

Humidity I use about 30% the first eighteen days, then above 65 for the last three days.
I use 2 hygrometer as well, including the one you can set.

If you feel that your temps are unsteady, put a piece of bubble wrap loosely over the incubator. That's how I do mine.

I hard a bit of a problem with my last hatch. The humidity was 40 percent outside the incubator, so impossible to get down to 30 percent.


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