Obviously people have many different methods. Like the reply earlier, perlite is the way to go. It is the most forgiving, gives them better ventilation than vermiculite and you don't have to worry about the eggs drying out like you might with using no substate.

If you want to be exact, get yourself a kitchen scale. Weigh out your perlite, and then add the exact same amount of water (by weight) to the perlite. So, for example, 175 grams of perlite and 175 grams of water. Use an air tight container (I use the shoe-box size sterlite with the latching ends). About half full of the substrate.

Then, every week or so, I open them and air it out a bit. Towards the end of their incubation you will notice a lot of condensation on the container. At that point, I undo the latches and let a little more air in naturally.

The only eggs I've ever lost were ones that never had veins to start.

Oh, and you might consider wearing a mask when you are pouring and mixing the perlite. It can get really dusty, and cannot be good for the lungs.
-----
Reid Begnoche
http://www.tallgrassreptiles.com
tallgrassreptiles@gmail.com

[ Show Entire Thread ]