Need advice on hatching quail eggs

[GottaHatchEmAll]

Hey everyone! I created my Backyard Chickens account around two months ago, but I am new here.

I am currently incubating a batch of quail eggs (42 to be exact) that are 16 days along. My grandmother was visiting for the past couple of weeks and she told me that you should not open the incubator at all whatsoever, even to candle the eggs. However, during the entire incubation period, I've kept the incubator open for a maximum total of 15 minutes. Will that harm the eggs? I also took the egg turners out earlier today.

There was a bit of water at the bottom of the incubator the other day as well. I think my sister may have poured a little too much water in the incubator, but it wasn't overflowing with water. I don't have a hygrometer yet, so I don't know how humid my incubator is, but I pour one or two cups of water every day into the water compartment in my incubator.

Am I doing anything wrong?

 

[Susan Skylark]

you can open the incubator, just don’t leave it open for twenty minutes at a time. A little humidity spike won’t hurt anything. What type of quail? Coturnix should be in lockdown if not hatching! Are you using an external thermometer or three to verify temp?

 

[GottaHatchEmAll]

Yes, I have a thermometer on my incubator. It's set at 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The eggs are coturnix eggs.