Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just a quick survey for the people in here who breed their balls. Do you use moistened vermiculite, or do you use another method (such as a piece of diffuser over soaking wet perlite)? Any particular reason why?

Just curious.

I use two parts vermiculite to one part perlite with a 1-5 ratio of water in a sweater box with no holes and a pane of glass on top.

I mix up one big box of the mix to place in the incubator to keep at my 89 degree temp in this amount:

20 cups of vermiculite
10 cups of perlite
6 cups of water
All is kneaded together to properly distribute the water into the substrate and moisten it appropriately. When needed, I use 8 cups into each sweater box for eggs to be placed in.

Susan
SSNAKES Reptiles

Link

I use a rubber mat "tool box drawer liner" over a light diffuser over sopping wet pearlite. Absolutely no mixing or wondering if your mixture is too moist or too dry. Very high humidity guaranteed without having the eggs in direct contact with moisture. Plus if you need to remove a bad egg or separate them they are always in plain view and not partially buried In substrate. The only negative is the hassle of cutting the diffuser and figuring out how to keep the diffuser from getting too close to the pearlite. I use cinch ties to attach PVC end caps to the bottom of the diffuser grid, which elevated the eggs nicely.

Scott Hager
Red Barn Reptiles

My pic under the "Woot" thread is what I do.
Wet perilite on top of Florescent light grating.
Worked fine for my first season, should work fine this season as well. Eggs don't touch substrate, but the water in the perilite keeps humidity up.
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"What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone,
men would die from great loneliness of spirit.
For what happens to the beasts,
soon happens to men.
All things are connected."

-Chief Seattle (Duwamish Tribe)

Does anyone have a quick pic they can take of one of these set ups?
Also is this method good for other species? I breed mostly kings and rats and am just no getting into balls. Thanks in advance for any info.

James

Look at the post under this one titled "woot" by kingofspades. I don't know if that method works for colubrid eggs or not, I've only seen it done with python eggs.

I don't see why it wouldn't work with any reptile eggs really.
It allows for humidity without worrying about over saturating the eggs.
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"What is man without the beasts?
If all the beasts were gone,
men would die from great loneliness of spirit.
For what happens to the beasts,
soon happens to men.
All things are connected."

-Chief Seattle (Duwamish Tribe)

i have always used vermiculite for years for ball pythons,corns,frilled dragons australian water dragons, green waterdragons, crested geckos and more the only thing i change is how much water was added this year i have added peralite to some om my cluches to try it so far it is working next im going to try the grate method but here is a pic of my first ball eggs of year 6 eggs mom a normal dad pastel (the other 2 eggs are in another box with another mixture im trying)

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reed&Sunny at www.ReedsDragons.com & www.KillerEnclosures.com