Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello there, for years I have been using moistened Vermiculite as the medium to incubate hondo eggs but have always been concerned about the warning labels (of how it can be harmful to humans if you inadvertently breathe in some of it)...so I've always put on a surgical type face mask to cover my nose when I prepare the eggs for incubation. So far, this method has been very successful for me as far as hatching goes.

Recently, a couple of people suggested that I use moistened Perlite instead of Vermiculite.... as Perlite is non-toxic or harmful to humans, at least from what I understood. For those of you, especially experienced breeders who are using Perlite or have switched from using Vermiculite to Perlite, could you share you opinion, success rate or misfortunes, does it hold moisture better or too much compared to Vermiculite? Any opinions would really be appreciated !!!

Thanks !
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RAY

On the flip side some people say that vermiculite can contain asbestos. I buy mine from Big Apple Herp, which is asbestos free. However it is not cheap so I mix it with perlite.What I like to do is put a half inch to and inch of just perlite on the bottom and flood it til I see water at the top. Then I add a mix of the 2 mediums and try to have mostly vermiculite at the top. I will always be paranoid about the precious eggs resting on either, but have used both in the past and like the mix of the 2 best. Tom Stevens
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TomsSnakes.com

i have found that (even with correct amounts of water,1 to 1 by weight) vermiculite is too moist and perilite is too dry,so after experminating i've setteled on 1 part vermiculite to 2 parts perilite with equal weight of water.if i'm going to error i would prefer to be too dry as it's less damaging and more fixable.have fun!

Since snakes do not seek out pulverized vermiculite in the wild to lay their eggs, I think too much is made of the medium used. I have hatched out eggs for well over 20 years using everything from damp paper towels to topsoil and mulch

well im a vermiculite guy always works great for me(aint broke,no need to fix), as far as the dust i beleive thats only when its in its dry form as soon as contact is made w/water its no longer airborne plus i beleive it hold/retains moisture longer than perlite. it also comes in differant grades(sizes) with the small grade being unfortunately the most common availible and being small its easier to take to the air in its dry form, if you can find large or medium grade its much better than the small grade for incubation of course a mixture of vermic&perlite works good to,and there is also Peat moss it works well but will require adding moisture as it drys out quickly compared to vermic or perlite. aside from staining the eggs peat works great as the alkaline inhibits mold growth as well as holding temp. and breathing well,
heres some baby l.g.nigra hatching out in some peat,
good luck with whatever you use,,,,,,thomas davis

Both vermiculite and perlite work. And, as another person who posted mentioned, so will paper towels and a variety of other substrates. For me the decision to switch to perlite was because it was more coarse than vermiculite. This added "coarseness" allows for better air circulation to eggs on the bottom of the pile, completely buried in the incubation medium.

I've talked with python breeders who suspend the eggs they're incubating in a stocking above water, allowing for more complete air circulation. They felt this method yielded a higher hatching rate for more difficult-to-incubate species. This was the main thing that triggered me to try perlite. It seems that zoos are using perlite quite a bit as well.

Tim

I asked my contacts at my local zoo here and they too use Perlite than vermiculite.

Also, thanks a lot for all of you guys responding to my initial thread. I know it will help a lot of people too reading the entire thread.

Happy herping !
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RAY