Reptile & Amphibian Forums

OK, I would like to get everyone's opinions on the subject of incubation substrates.

I have read many books, blogs and articles on incubation but haven't heard of anyone doing an actual comparison.

I'd be interested in hearing from people who have tried more than one.

No substrate works just fine.

where do you get the grid? Is that vermiculite below the grid?

You can get the grates at home depot or lowes and most electrical supply houses this is how I incubate my eggs as well 100 percent so far no problems used this for 16 years

Used them all...and I would have to say hands down...Hatchrite
Dont have to mix water...dont have to worry too much water...not enough...just dump in and add eggs.
Travis
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LAIR OF DRAGONS

To
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JEMreptiles@gmail.com from sunny AZ.

Lots of cool Ball Pythons along with
0.0.1 Vietnamese Blue Beauty and some great Bull snakes.
1.1 Argentinian Black and White Tegus
1.0 Gotti Pitbull (Tank)
2.0 Beautiful Bengals (Stryker and Cynbad)
12 Tarantulas
Last but most Important 2.2 Children

I agree with Mr Mike, I have been raising and breeding Ball for about 4 or 5 yrs now and I tried to use the Vermiculite and that kind of thing the first year. To wet, to dry. I sure didnt have the hang of it and seemed to ruin several eggs that first hatch. Well, Im a pretty quick learner so I decided to do exactly the same setup that Mike has posted the picture of. Only difference is that I use a seperate 6 qt egg box for each clutch. If you are not sure and are questioning how to use the Verm, Hatchrite, Perlite kind of thing I think you would be very pleased with the results of it. After you have things set up like he does all you need to do is make sure to keep whatever you use under the light grating wet. Just dont put in to much water where it will come up and touch the eggs... That is a great way to incubate and other than a bad egg or two that would have spoiled no matter how you incubated them I have not lost a single egg. Try it, You'll like it. Jay

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JEMreptiles@gmail.com from sunny AZ.

Lots of cool Ball Pythons along with
0.0.1 Vietnamese Blue Beauty and some great Bull snakes.
1.1 Argentinian Black and White Tegus
1.0 Gotti Pitbull (Tank)
2.0 Beautiful Bengals (Stryker and Cynbad)
12 Tarantulas
Last but most Important 2.2 Children

Vermiculite ....used it for 20 years....it doesn't rot....it's a rock....use it for years....over the months it is unused the bacteria will eat up any fluids that leak during hatching....

perlite....doesn't hold water actually...another rock...I used it mixed with vermic...but alone...it will not hold water...it is used to hold eggs above the water....the water line is below the top of the perlite....it's also rough and has sharp edges...

Hatchrite....bet it costs more...it's made special....special price then...

go to a Greenhouse supply type store...find a 40 pound big bag of vermic....use it for the next decade....cheap enough...good stuff.....

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........JY

I tried the "no substrate" method for the first time a few years ago. No issue's the first year but the second season I had a few problems. On two different occasions I had snakes drown because they either got under the grate or got their head stuck in the grate trying to burrow down. I have since gone back to using a vermiculite/pearlite mix and placing the egg's directly on the medium. I would suggest that if you use the grate above the medium that you wrap the grate in some type of plastic or nylon mesh so the hatchlings can't get under it or buy some rubberized dish drainer cloth and cut it to size and place it under the grate... Good luck

Like I stated before...why mess with the mess and worry..."do I have enough water mixed in..or do I have enough"...
Hatch-rite...just dump it in the egg tub and add eggs...no mixing...no worries...
Travis
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LAIR OF DRAGONS

Not always true I tryed hatch right last year right out of the bag and it sucked the water right out of the eggs.If I am going to have to add water I will just stick with Vermiculite. Its very easy 1 to 1 by weight. 300 grams Vermiculite to 300 grams water.
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Jason Amos

Ball Pythons
6.40
Dogs
1.1 Staffordshire Bull Terriers

Plastic needlepoint canvas. We use 5 mesh. Buy at your local craft shop. Cut to fit and lay on TOP of your grid. Reusable, works great.
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Louis Kirkland
Cornerstone Reptiles

When using vermiculite or the no substrate method, I have always removed the eggs before pipping. I didn't like them crawling in the vermiculite and getting it in all the heat pits etc. With the no substrate method, there is the danger of them getting trapped. Also with the no substrate method, I re use the box and all without needing to change it if they don't pip in the box and get egg goo in it. I also put several clutches in one box, I mark the clutch # on every egg, but they still need to be removed before hatching. When I remove them they go in to a shoe box with wet paper to pip and hatch.

I agree 100% with JY. I've used vermiculite for 20 years with no problems. When you buy the BIG bag at a nursery/plant & supply business, it is inexpensive and it lasts for years!
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Susan Sentman
SSNAKES Reptiles
susan@ssnakes.com

Vermiculite was the first medium that we used when we started breeding 10 years ago and it's worked great for us. We tried perlite and a perlite/vermiculite mix one season with mixed results. We ended up going back to the vermiculite - why fix what isn't broken?

If it's done wrong (too wet or dry) it can obviously cause problems, but it's just too easy to get done right! You can always weigh it and do an exact 1 to 1 mix, but it's very easy to get a feel for it. The squeeze method that's posted on just about every forum and in tons of videos works! We've been doing it by feel for years now and we hatch out every fertile egg. Vermiculite is readily available and super cheap! As was already said that big bag from your local plant nursery will last quite awhile.

Most of our clutches hatch out in their egg container and crawl through the vermiculite. I'm not a fan of how sticky it is on them, but I've NEVER lost a snake due to this. I generally do a quick rinse to remove the vermiculite from the little ones and press on. It comes right off. I like to remove snakes quickly but I don't fret if I don't get there quickly to do it. It's a safe, secure container with nothing inside to really hurt the newborn snakes, so if I don't get them out that day, no big deal.

Anyway, for us vermiculite is fantastic. I highly recommend it.
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Jason Royer
Royer Reptiles

Royer Reptiles on Facebook
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signature edited by forum admin. 3/29/07