Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Turbo, my ornate, laid two eggs last week. I have them in just dirt now in the styrofoam incubator LisaOKC described. I looked last Saturday in 3 different places for vermiculite and nobody had it. The lady at Home Depot told me that they took it off the market because it was a cancer-causing agent!! Wow. Just wanted to warn everyone - I don't know how dangerous vermiculite is, but please be careful and don't breathe the dust, OK?

Whoa! I wouldn't panic over what one person at Home Depot said. I just did some checking......apparantly a warning was issued by the EPA in may regarding vermiculite based INSULATION, like you would find in your attic. I don't think this would be found in newer homes (but I could be wrong).
Vermiculite does not naturally contain asbestos, but much of the vermiculite used in attic insulation came from one mine in Montana where there was also "veins" of naturally occurring asbestos. This mine has been closed since 1990. There was no mention of any other types of vermiculite (such as that used for horticulture) in this report.

I did just find a mention of horticulture vermiculite at this link:
http://cis.nci.nih.gov/fact/3_21.htm where it says:

In August 2000, the EPA recommended that consumers reduce possible asbestos exposure from vermiculite-containing garden products by limiting the amount of dust produced during use. The EPA suggested that consumers use vermiculite outdoors or in a well-ventilated area; keep vermiculite damp while using it; avoid bringing dust from vermiculite use into the home on clothing; and use premixed potting soil, which is less likely to generate dust.

So this isn't new information....did you ask about vermiculite in the garden section of home depot? It possible that they don't carry the attic insulation and that may have influenced them not to carry vermiculite for horticulture uses.
I know that I saw Shultz vermiculite at a nursery/gardening store about a week ago, and my google search didn't indicate that its use had been banned.
I will continue to use it because I'm only exposed to it maybe 4 times a year, I don't remember it making any dust when I poured it into my containers and its not going to be dusty when its damp. I'll probably follow the above suggestion and pour it into my containers outside. I've heard of people using pearlite to incubate eggs, but I've never tried it and hate to vary from something that has worked well for me.
I'd be nervous about using soil, but you'll probably be best to stick with it at this point. Just make sure it doesn't get too dry or too wet. I do know that it has worked fine for others.

It is good to know about this potential hazard but I think its important to keep it in perspective. I am somewhat worried now because the house we lived in for the first 11 years of our marriage had vermiculite insulation and I spent alot of time in that attic because it was a small house built in the 1940s and I used the attic to store things, even lifted up wooded pallets up there to create more storage space. Now this has me worried, cause I KNOW it was dusty up there.
EPA vermiculite insulation alert

Yeah, it was in the garden department in Home Depot that the lady told me that. I also went to ACE hardware & Kmart garden departments. I've heard that Lowe's took it off the shelves as well. As you said, it might not be all that bad, but the stores are covering their posteriors from liability. I saw Perlite - do you think it would be better than soil? It seems awfully light, crumbly, and dusty. How about cypress mulch? I don't want the eggs to get moldy. Your setup is working well, tho!

soil works just fine. The thing that's nice about pearlite or vermiculite is that they are very unlikely to contain things that will grow mold. If you use sterile soil, you should do okay, if mold shows up, transfer eggs to another container of soil, wiping each one with a wet paper towel while transferring.

If you live near RR tracks, collect some of the crushed coal that lines the sides. It does not support mold etc, and makes excellent incubation medium. It also remains very light compared to regular soil. I've been using it for many years. it can be microwaved or boiled for sterility

Thanks!