Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm switching from vermiculite to perlite to incubate eggs this season. Any guidance on how much water to mix in would be appreciated. Thanks.

I have had good luck with 1:1 by weight of perlite to water. I am confident you could error on the water, and I would error toward dryer. Prior to weighing and mixing, I either bake in the oven or expose to the hot desert Sun the perlite, on the theory it kills some spores/fungi etc. and drys out the perlite. I don't think perlite actually holds much water within the individual granules, you will see tiny droplets in the interstices so you know there is some moisture available. Perlite has worked well for me, and I reuse it after exposing it to the Sun in a shallow steel pan. I often obsess over egg medium, but experience has shown me healthy colubrid eggs have a pretty broad tolerance. I hatched couperi eggs back in the '70's in dripping wet conditions, not suggesting it, just saying they were tough. Good luck, Vic

better question, how much 'water' is in the air surrounding the eggs. you could hatch reptile eggs on a rock or a coffee saucer if you want as long as other satisfactory ambient conditions are met. i have found that keeping it simple & eliminating as many variables as possible works best for me. some guys i know simply use enclosed plastic grids suspended over water very successfully. i myself, use pre-misted paper towels w/ a secure cup of water inside the box & put them on a shelve for the duration, checking in on them every so often. this also works quite well. shown below are 06 kankakee bulls hatching out using this exact method. imho, humidity is key, substrate is really a non factor.....

I have never used perlite, does it actually adsorb water or is it a medium for water to remain in between the particles?

daveb

I think the latter, but somebody with a sensitive scale perhaps could confirm.