I am not saying my method is the best, I just know it works for me. The whole reason why people use the light diffusers is because they are concerned they don't have the right amount of water... too much or too little mixed with the substrate.

Simply weigh it out, and you dont need to bother with diffusers, or worry about keeping the eggs off the substrate. The difference between using just water and perlite is, the perlite obsorbes the water and holds the moister. Why do you think they use it in potting soil?? If you have too much water in the container, condensation forms, and starts dripping on your eggs. Which could cause problems.

The reason why I weigh it out, is because I know the ratio of 1 to 1 (perlite to water) gets me through the entire incubation cycle. I don't need to add water or worry about the humidity levels (assuming you have a somewhat air tight container). The only reason why I open the container from time to time is to let some fresh air in... not sure if this is really required or not, but I am a little OCD about it.

Hatchrite is quite expensive. You could pay for a kitchen scale with one bag... And they both accomplish the same thing... take the guessing out of it.

Good luck!
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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