Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well since, Morgana may lay eggs soon I have a few questions concerning incubating them.

I went to FroggieB's website and read about incubation, so I got the jist of the setup, temp's, humidity etc.

I am wondering though what is the substrate she/you use for putting the eggs on? I noticed she said 'vermiculite' but then I noticed from the pictures that two different types of substrate were used. One looked almost like styrofoam, and the other looked like small rocks/pebbles. Also, will Morgana get defensive over her eggs? Should I move her to another cage, or will I be able to retrieve them with her inside of it?

Cheers,
Derek

if she's anything like igor, she'll be zonked out and you'll have no problem getting the eggs out of there.

about the substrate, I asked that when Igor had her eggs. I guess vermiculite was very popular, but some people have stopped using it. I'm sure someone else can explain that better because I really don't know.
-s

http://www.froggieb.com/MHDCaresheet.html#incubate
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Elizabeth (ecb)

Make this world a better and more beautiful place that You have been in it
*Edward W Bok*

I have used vermiculite. It looks sort of like brown & gray mica chips that have been puffed up. It used to be a very popular incubation but some has been found to contain asbestos so a lot of people have rejected it. It can even be hard to find because of these concerns. I have also used perlite, the stuff that looks like styrofoam bits. It is white and crunchy. I don't like to leave the eggs in it once they pip because the perlite can absorb a lot of moisture and can kill the baby by dehydrating any external yolk sac. However, it is an excellant incubation substrate. It wicks the moisture really well so that the eggs stay moist but not soggy. If you add too much water the surplus sits in the bottom so your eggs don't drown. To avoid any problems for new hatchlings I simply move each egg as it pips and place it on damp paper towels so the baby is never in contact with the substrate.

Hope this helps clear things up.
Good luck,
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Marcia - FroggieB Dragons
www.froggieb.com/MHDHome.html