Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Eggs incubated in the S.I.M. are surrounded top, bottom and sides by air. The steady humidity and (possibly) better Oxygen absorption in these containers allows neonates to develop faster
resulting in shortened incubation times. Clutches incubated in this container have all
hatched earlier than when buried in Perlite at same temperature. All neonates hatched fully developed without egg yolks.
The triangular bars that you see on top of the grid are the eggs stabilizer bars. The function of these bars is to keep eggs from rolling or being uprooted by clutch mates and they are fully
adjustable to fit just about any egg size. The S.I.M. incubation containers are crystal clear.This so the eggs can be visually monitored without having to guess.
The grid is designed to keep hatchlings from entering the substrate chamber.
For keepers who incubate over water, this feature ensures hatchlings are safe.
The lid is soft TPU that fits the container base without being difficult to remove and upset the contents.
We suggest venting the lid by adding a few small holes to avoid an air tight situation.
Squamata Concepts, LLC.
I thought this was pretty neat. Maybe in the future I will try one of these things.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

A light diffuser grating on top of the substrate will do the same thing.....Lots of breeders use the grating technique....
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John Lassiter
Poor planning and procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part...

Getting a grate with small enough grid seems sort of hard. I would be afraid the tiny baby hatchlings would go through the grid into the substrate and maybe get trapped. That is also a problem with the S.I.M.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

I have 10 SIMS that I use. I don't even use a substrate on them anymore, just pour water in bottom. Works fantastically without having to worry about any setup or measuring/weighing. If you start with a good egg, they hatch. I've hatched Gray-bands, Laticinctus, Hondurans, and Thayeri in them with far less worry and "tweaking" than I ever did using substrate. My whole point for replying though, is I can't imagine what snake species would be small enough to fit through the holes in the grate. I'm sure they're out there, but nothing I've ever had, including the ones mentioned, can even come close.

It's basically why I bought the SIMS instead of doing it myself, grate fits right on ledges, and I could find nothing even close to the small size of the holes.
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Brian Suter

www.serpenteer.com

Thanks for the information. I was worried that pyro babies cold get through the grate in the S.I.M.s but if thayeri and alterna can't get through then it is safe.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.

Bob,

I'll be using SIM for my Pyros this year. The grate will work fine for them.
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Brian Suter

www.serpenteer.com

I had a few emails about this, so I'm just going to copy and paste my reply...

I have had great success with the SIMs. The method isn't new, but the containers are just quick and simple to use.
At this point, I only use water in the bottom. I tried both Perlite and vermiculite mixed with water, and didn't like it as much, and it didn't seem necessary. Perlite just floated, and both just made the container feel heavy. Just putting water in the bottom, not all the way to the fill line, works well. I fill short of the fill line, because if I have to move the container for any reason, I don't like it being that close to splashing up on the eggs.

I had to put holes in them. But for a reason I wasn't expecting. My eggs were absorbing TOO much moisture. Didn't think that was possible without being in contact with a damp substrate, but it is. I actually had a clutch of Alterna with eggs that started to leak fluid from swelling so much. I had to doctor them up, but they hatched. So now I put 3 small holes in the lid, not the sides. I didn't actually drill them, I have always used a soldering iron for my container holes, it's pretty much the perfect size, and is TONS easier than drilling. And you can get them in the craft section of any store like Wal-Mart for about $6. Plug it in, when it's hot, it'll go right through the plastic.

At first, I kept some lids without holes, thinking that if you find the eggs a little late, it would be a good thing to have the container sealed for max moisture. They do seal better than most containers, so I did need to take the lid off from time to time for air flow. But, in the end, I put the holes in all of them (I use about 10 now) because if I want to close it completely, I just put tape over the holes. And I didn't need to worry about remembering to take the lids off in the ones with holes.

I used to watch my eggs like a hawk, constantly adjusting humidity, sometimes I'd get lucky and not have to mess with it. Occasional mold, fungus, and other problems with damp substrate. I've never had that happen yet with SIMs. There's really nowhere for that stuff to take hold, unless of course, you have a bad egg. I don't worry over the eggs nearly as much.

Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions I could help with. I'm going to post this same answer, I've had a couple people ask me about it.
Brian
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Brian Suter

www.serpenteer.com

Sorry to reply so late. I just came across this thread while scrolling the page.

I like the idea of nothing to give molds a chance to grow in. My home made incubator is working out fine this year. Maybe next year I will get some SIMs and try those.
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Bob
Pyromaniac AKA Greatballzofire
Keeping cats allows man to cohabitate with tigers. Keeping reptiles allows man to cohabitate with dinosaurs.