Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm expecting eggs soon and would like to know what would be better to use as an incubation medium vermiculite/perilite mix or Hatchrite, and how much of each is used in the ratio.
Thanks
Stevebp

Never used Hatch-Rite. I think it's a new product. But I might have to. In that case, it's ready to go right out of the bag. Don't even have to add water. With vermiculite (and perlite) it's 1 part perlite per 4 or 5 parts vermiculite. I used that ratio 2 years ago and my eggs were great. I went to Wal Mart last night though, and they won't have any in for another few weeks for spring sales. Guess I'm gonna have to go on a search or else use Hatch-Rite totally blind cause nobody seems to know anything about it. Does anybody know anything about it?

At Daytona this past year they gave out free samples to some of the vendors at the end of the show. I ended up with a bag but havent used it yet. I did open it, it looks like it would work really well.It is already moistened but not saturated. I will probally try a bag this season. If you have a lot of clutches i could find it becoming very expensive though. One bag looks like it will fill a small sterilite bin maybe 2 depending on how far you fill it up and the clutch size, and im not sure how much it is per bag. I buy a huge bag or perlite and Vermiculite at a plant store near our house every season, it costs me 120 for 4 bags (2 perlite 2 verm) and they normally last me for 1 season, roughly around 100 clutches. If you dont have alot of clutches i think hatch-rite will work very well, i dont know thier exact site but i have seen a bunch of banners on KS latley for them. Hope this helps a little, sorry i couldnt be more specific about actually using it..lol...
Good luck

If you decide that you want to order verm or perlite here is the website for the store i get mine from. www.wormsway.com under search type in vermiculite or perlite and it will bring up the big bags, i dont know how shipping works i normally just drive to the store its only a half hour from us. I think its 30 a bag for perlite and 32 for vermiculite or close to.

Kim
N.A.R.C

Kim,
It sounds like they are charging a lot for the vermiculite and perlite. Unless the bags are very big. I get vermiculite in 4 cu ft bags for $9, and perlite in 4 cu ft bags for $14. The company is Pro Source One, the invoice also shows the names Agriliance and Agro Distribution.

I use the "no substrate" method now, so I won't need near as much of either.
Mike

I used the hatch-rite we got in Daytona on a surprise clutch...I had to add water during the incubation...the container the eggs were in,was air tight so evaporation wasn't a factor...abx