I tried the "no substrate" method for the first time a few years ago. No issue's the first year but the second season I had a few problems. On two different occasions I had snakes drown because they either got under the grate or got their head stuck in the grate trying to burrow down. I have since gone back to using a vermiculite/pearlite mix and placing the egg's directly on the medium. I would suggest that if you use the grate above the medium that you wrap the grate in some type of plastic or nylon mesh so the hatchlings can't get under it or buy some rubberized dish drainer cloth and cut it to size and place it under the grate... Good luck

[ Show Entire Thread ]