Vermiculite was the first medium that we used when we started breeding 10 years ago and it's worked great for us. We tried perlite and a perlite/vermiculite mix one season with mixed results. We ended up going back to the vermiculite - why fix what isn't broken?



If it's done wrong (too wet or dry) it can obviously cause problems, but it's just too easy to get done right! You can always weigh it and do an exact 1 to 1 mix, but it's very easy to get a feel for it. The squeeze method that's posted on just about every forum and in tons of videos works! We've been doing it by feel for years now and we hatch out every fertile egg. Vermiculite is readily available and super cheap! As was already said that big bag from your local plant nursery will last quite awhile.



Most of our clutches hatch out in their egg container and crawl through the vermiculite. I'm not a fan of how sticky it is on them, but I've NEVER lost a snake due to this. I generally do a quick rinse to remove the vermiculite from the little ones and press on. It comes right off. I like to remove snakes quickly but I don't fret if I don't get there quickly to do it. It's a safe, secure container with nothing inside to really hurt the newborn snakes, so if I don't get them out that day, no big deal.



Anyway, for us vermiculite is fantastic. I highly recommend it.
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Jason Royer

Royer Reptiles



Royer Reptiles on Facebook

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signature edited by forum admin. 3/29/07

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