Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Looking for suggestions to increase graybanded hatching success. With the pair of graybandeds I am breeding the results have been dismal(a few nice hatchlings here and there. Maybe it's just this pair. I hibernate adults for 3 months at approx. 55 degrees. All the usual stuff. Usually most of the eggs look ok for a while then most of them have gone bad by hatch time. I use a 1:1 vermiculite:water ratio in a plastic shoebox at 78-80 degrees. Is it too wet? Should I sprinkle calcium on female's food. Any other tricks? Any suggestions or thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks. William

One to one ratio? Thats way to wet. I always use 9 to 1 and then wring out the vermiculite. The last few times I've used perlite because its courser and allows more oxygen under the eggs. A keeper at the Dallas zoo told me to use 9 to 1 twenty years ago as thats what they used wih good results. Of course that won't make unfertile eggs be fertile. Were all your eggs fertile when laid? Did you candle them and see blood vessels?
Just my 2 cents. Alterna are crazy. Collecting them can be addictive and rewarding and be quite depressing some times. Perfectly healthy snakes die sometimes, pairs breed then don't lay. Or they lay perfectly healthy eggs that go full term then don't hatch or they hatch then are difficult to get to start feeding. Lots of drama, some great some horrible. Not unlike a girlfriend/wife!!! IMO. Good luck. BA

one to one vs nine to one

Are those ratios by weight or volume?

I'm assuming the 1-1 is by weight and the 9-1 is by volume.

Thanks for the input. I'll definitely try drier next year. My 1:1 ratio was by weight. Good question on volume versus weight.

Yes, the 9 to 1 is volume. Never even considered weight. Sorry for any misunderstanding. BA