Baby Time!

I dropped home at lunch today and checked on the incubator as I have been doing with increasing frequency as my expected date for the first clutch of Lolly and Beau's eggs to hatch approached.  Today my quick check came with a nice surprise.  Hatching eggs 2 days early!  2 days ahead of my calculated date at least.  Not too bad for a novice I guess.

Here are some pictures that I quickly snapped.  As of tonight there are about half a dozen that are completely out of their shells.  4 of which I have put into a separate open container on the shelves that I have set up for them.  I will leave them in there without any substrate just to dry out and lose any of the vermiculite that has clung to them.  Vermiculite is the medium I use that the eggs sit on while they incubate.  It is the grey, pebbly looking stuff in these photos.  The babies come out covered in fluid and the vermiculite tends to stick to them.  So a day in an empty tub to dry out and clean up is in order.

After a day, they will go into the 120 litre tubs that I have set up with light, heat and UV ready for them.  I have 2 tubs set up for the moment with plans for up to another 3.  Bruce is in the sixth tub at the moment while I build his new enclosure.  That leaves 5 tubs for the clutches that Lolly and Beau produce this season.  Dividing the babies up will mean the loss of less toes and tails between the siblings.  I plan to keep each clutch for around a month to make sure that when I move them on they are healthy and also to see if there are any little gems in amongst them.

For now it's time to enjoy the new arrivals!

DIY Enclosure Series - Part 2

As stated in the first post in this series, the aluminium box framing for the enclosure that I am building arrived a couple of weeks ago.  I have not progressed too much since then for one reason or another.  I am please to report however, that things should pick up from here.

Here is a picture of the bottom enclosure loosely assembled.  You can see the framework goes together nicely with the combination of different joints and profiles of metal going together rather like a jigsaw.  The only bit that takes any time is making sure that you have the right piece in the right place.  Again, much like a jigsaw, they only go one way if everything is to come together correctly.  If you enlarge the photo, you can see the pieces of dark black PVC beading that will secure the glass panels when they arrive.

Speaking of glass panels, they should arrive this week.  After a bit of too a fro with different suppliers, a friend of mine who works for a window manufacturer has come through with the goods as it were.  As far as construction materials go, they form the last big pieces.  I will have to get hold of a little more fly screen building materials, but, they are just consumables as I have all the tools that I need and will be quick to lay hands on.

This second picture here is of all the framework loosely assembled, just to see if I had all the pieces and that everything was in order.  Good thing I went through this process as I not only found out how careful you need to be putting the right pieces in the right places, but, also that there were some components missing from my shipment.  An email or two sorted that and I received the required materials in a second postal delivery.

So now what I need is a little time to start the construction elements of the project.  I have cut one of the base pieces for the enclosures out of MDF that I had in the garage for another purpose that is no longer required.  Due to the nature of the profile of the tube that takes the MDF, it is the only material for the panels of the enclosures that must be in place prior to knocking everything together.  Once I have all the pieces I can firmly fit everything and then mount the glass and fly screen panels later.

I was very happy with the first base piece that I cut and it fit well.  The second one I managed to cut a little narrow and I will have to redo it.  Fortunately I have enough material on hand to be able to do that without having to purchase more.

Overall, the process is progressing.  Just slowly.  I hope to pick up the pace now.  So stay tuned!