Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have always used spagnum or vermiculite. These have given me a nearly 100 percent hatch success for many years. I was curious about perlite so I figured I would try one clutch on it this year.

The female cali laid 7 eggs and all looked great. I candled them after a few days and all were fertile and growing. After about a month a few of the eggs had begun to get windows and bluish spots. Then they turned brown and sticky. Mold quickly took over, but I'm pretty sure they were already gone by then.

Now the only good egg is the egg thats on top of the pile and not touching any perlite. It should hatch any day. I have never had a whole fertile clutch go bad like this and since its my first time with this medium I am not impressed. I also found that it was deificult to keep the perlite moist.

Are there dif types of perlite or anything. I just grabbed a bag at my home depot.

I know sometimes eggs just go bad. but I'd like to hear if others use this with success.

Cheers

I have hatched turtles, torts, lizards, monitors, pythons, and colubrids of many kinds, on perlite.

I have had some monitors go 59 weeks of incubation. In order to do that, you need a very stable substrate, perlite fits the bill.

In your case, did you grab a small bag? How did you wet it? A problem with both perlite and vermic is, sometimes they already are wet from the bag. You should make sure they are bone dry before you add water. Cheers

I've used perlite and moss. Never vermiculate.
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Mike
KingPin Reptiles Inc.
www.freewebs.com/mikesnake
www.captivebredforum.com

The benefit of perlite is that lets the eggs incubate on a dry surface while still providing them with adequate humidity. The perlite itself shouldn't feel moist since the water sinks to the bottom. The only con is that it sticks to freshly hatched babies.

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www.BugChick.com

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