Issues incubating gongylus ooth - rotten embryos

[PlayingMantis]

My mated Gongylus has been laying ooths for a while and her latest ooth, laid over two months ago, never hatched, so I cut it open and I found dead embryos that were fully developed (with eyes, body segments, and legs). And yes, they were definitely dead - they were black/rotten, wet (black liquid if squeezed) and exuded a funny odor.

I assume something went wrong with incubation. I've been incubating them at 82 deg and 60% humidity, no spraying. I know ideally the temp should be higher and the humidity lower, but I'm not sure what I can do to lower the humidity in my room. In hindsight, I probably should've used a heating pad to increase the temperature though.

I have a couple more (more recent) ooths that are showing eyes and development via candling. I don't want the same thing to happen to them.

What do you think went wrong? What's the ideal temp/humidity? Any tips?

 

[idologrl]

Ask Ian Hunter on fb. Hes specializes in gongys and I'll bet he could tell you what went wrong and also give advise on how to incubate.

 

[PlayingMantis]

Sure, will do, thanks! I checked another one of her ooths, popped open an egg, and guess what? Rotten again. I can't help but feel disappointed, because I was so close - raised them, got them mated, and ended up with fertilized ooths. Looks like something went badly wrong during incubation.

 

[Jon]

Does it have good air flow?