Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was at a local store and found this "seed starter" soil and was wondering if it would work for egg incubation. Here is the ingredients: Sphagnum peat, horticultural vermiculite, perlite, wetting agent and lime for ph balance. NO I am not using it, was wanting to know could you use it. It has more sphagnum peat in it than anything else. Just a question.

>>I was at a local store and found this "seed starter" soil and was wondering if it would work for egg incubation. Here is the ingredients: Sphagnum peat, horticultural vermiculite, perlite, wetting agent and lime for ph balance. NO I am not using it, was wanting to know could you use it. It has more sphagnum peat in it than anything else. Just a question.

probably would work but i'd be a little uneasy about the wetting agent. but why complicate things? plenty of us have had 100% success using JUST vermiculite, or JUST corded sphagnum moss (not peat).

I was just checking.... I have 13 goini eggs simmering now. No I didnt use the seed starter mix....lol I have had them underway since 6/13. Best wishes with everyone's projects.

What sre you using now? That seed mix doesn't sound Kosher to me, lol. The lime and wetting agent is just taking a risk. Pure Vermiculite or Perlit is the Breeders choice around here. Good luck with the eggs.
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra

....at one of my friend's set ups and media used for nest boxes and egg incubation.
Click around the site for pix.
Nice and clean!
:Mark
Link

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Surrender Dorothy!

crimsonking.piczo.com/

I personally began using a new product called Hatchrite. It is the best thing since sliced bread. I work with a variety of herps and have used it on all thier eggs with great success. The stuff looks like vermiculite but has some polymer coating that holds moisture. You never have to add water to it and you eggs remain plump for the duration of the incubation. The manufacturer suggests that you dont reuse it on a new batch of eggs but I have incubated 4 clutches of Beardie eggs with the same batch without ever adding water-awesome!!. I also work with chondros and as you may or may not know thier eggs are extremely difficult to manage because they are extremely sensitive to moisture. If they get a single drop of water on them it could kill them. Its very difficult keeping high humidity and dry eggs at the same time. I incubated 2 clutches of chondro eggs withthis stuff and never had a worry. They stayed dry and plump the whole time. The stuff is pretty cheap too considering the low to zero maintenece level of the product-just set it and forget it-hehe. I have 11 pyro eggs cooking right now in the stuff and they are looking great.
Good luck

I knew that stuff was used heavily by Python breeders but didn't know if anyone had used it for colubrids. Thanks for the info!
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King Snakes! Who can make a better mouse trap?
J Sierra