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

[ Hide Replies ]

• The great incubation Substrate debate - SteveinIL, Wed Mar 28 23:52:50 2012
• This Way Works For Me - FGS, Thu Mar 29 01:29:22 2012
• RE: The ever forgiving perlite - WillStill, Thu Mar 29 07:58:12 2012
• Revised SIM - mikebell, Thu Mar 29 09:37:42 2012
• RE: Revised SIM - WillStill, Thu Mar 29 13:09:08 2012
• RE: Revised SIM - coldthumb, Thu Mar 29 18:30:56 2012
• RE: Revised SIM - willstill, Thu Mar 29 19:10:51 2012
• RE: The great incubation Substrate debate - mikebell, Thu Mar 29 09:34:16 2012
• RE: The great incubation Substrate debate - willstill, Thu Mar 29 19:15:07 2012
• RE: The great incubation Substrate debate - mikebell, Fri Mar 30 09:02:23 2012
• The great incubation Substrate debate - JYohe, Thu Mar 29 15:50:11 2012
• RE: The great incubation Substrate debate - willstill, Thu Mar 29 19:20:01 2012
• Carpet Pythons hatch quickly - mikebell, Fri Mar 30 09:04:24 2012
• RE: The great incubation Substrate debate - ohernz, Thu Mar 29 16:50:16 2012
• Definitely Perlite - reidbeg, Thu Mar 29 19:18:14 2012
• RE: Definitely Perlite - lairofdragons, Thu Mar 29 20:50:02 2012
• A pile of Perlite is SIM - mikebell, Fri Mar 30 10:00:07 2012
• RE: A pile of Perlite is SIM - reidbeg, Sun Apr 1 15:58:28 2012
• Perlite won't absorb water - mikebell, Mon Apr 2 10:28:17 2012
• RE: The great incubation Substrate debate - jaymiller242, Fri Mar 30 23:16:46 2012
• RE: The great incubation Substrate debate - AGoldReptiles, Sat Mar 31 18:00:40 2012
• RE: Water - Holloway, Sat Mar 31 21:55:34 2012
• RE: Water - jaymiller242, Sun Apr 1 14:36:23 2012
• RE: Water - Holloway, Sun Apr 1 22:58:10 2012
• RE: Water - jaymiller242, Mon Apr 2 19:33:00 2012
• RE: The great incubation Substrate debate - SteveinIL, Wed Apr 4 02:47:43 2012