Reptile & Amphibian Forums

1) No substrate method-how many people use it for spilota species (especially IJ's and JCP's)? The only eggs I have incubated have been ball python eggs, and I used vermiculite. Can anyone who has used both these methods with spilota species give some pros and cons in comparing these two methods? I have read up on this topic a bit on other forums, but am intrested to hear what people here think.

2) I am also intrested to hear what weights and ages people are breeding their spilota species (once again especially IJ's and JCP's), and also what kind of egg yeild people are getting. Any info on this would be great.

Thanks,
Ben

Well, I'm using a modified no sub method with my IJ eggs that are due to hatch any day. I put a very wet (dripping wet) layer of perlite in the bottom of an egg container, with a platic grate on top. The eggs sit directly on the grate and do not touch the perlite. The humidity has stayed at near 100%, I've not had to add any water, and the eggs only recently began to collapse (at about day 45 or so, as expected). I've got only three good eggs cooking, but I'm hopeful that they'll all hatch. I lost several of these eggs because they arrived quite unexpectedly and sat in a cage in far less than ideal conditions for a couple of days. Anyway, I'll let everyone know how things develop as hatching time arrives. If they hatch I'll have pictures here. As far as other incubation methods goe, I've always used vermiculite. Quite frankly, vermiculite scares the hell out of me. I'm always wondering if its too dry, or too wet, or too something. I invariably give in to the urge to muck around in the egg box, and we all know that's not the best idea. I lost two beautiful and healthy eggs last year at about 6 weeks, and I'm convinced it was because I felt the need to add a little moisture to my egg box. I'm pretty happy with my no sub method and I plan to use it for all of my ball clutches this year as well. Hope this input helps. Again, after trying both methods, right now I'm sold on no substrate. Have fun this year y'all!

Joe Pociask Pythons

I found this website to be very helpful in regards too the no substrate method. It has very detailed info regarding the breeding of carpets and incubation methods used. After clicking the link click on articles on the right.

http://www.morelia.ca/

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Jaremy Douglas

Sorry, after clicking on the link you need to click on articles to the LEFT!
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Jaremy Douglas

other people have tried both, and if they feel the same as he does. As he says in the article, he has hated vermiculite since he first used it. I only have one clutch of eggs of experience, but I felt that the vermiculite did great and am a little hesitant to try something else. So any other experiences from anyone else would be appreciated. If many other people feel the same as he does, then I would imagine I will switch to no-substrate as well, but I will need some more evidence before I will make the switch.

Thanks again,
Ben

Hatched 100% on each. Doesn't matter. I switched everything to the no substrate method 5 years ago to eliminate mistakes. With the no substrate, you use 100% RH (relative humidity) and dry or "no" substrate. There is no guess-work. There is no adding water to the system. There is no adding dry vermiculite to the system because the eggs are drowning. It maintains itself. Excess water condenses on the sides and runs down, out of harms way. Plus you heat the water, which heats the air. Its a bigger buffer, so instead of heating the air directly, you have little or no fluctuations (spikes or dips) in temperatures.

I would never go back.

So do you ever end up opening your egg container for anything during incubation? Is the only thing you check for is if they are turning weird colors, or if they are dimpling too early? Do you have a hygrometer (sp?) measuring humidity, or do you not even have to worry about that? I really like the idea of having the water to help buffer the temperature, I had a real hard time keeping the temp stable last year. We'll see, I just might have to try no-substrate out. Thanks again for the info.

Ben

I open the incubator lots during the incubation period. To add new eggs, to take out clutches that are hatching, to check on things, to add some fresh air, etc etc etc. Each Rubbermaid container that houses the eggs within the incubator however, has a glass sheet on top. This way I can view the eggs without cold dry air rushing in from my basement. Changes in air pressure like that can kill eggs. Not usually, but I don't take any chances.

I've never had a fertile egg go bad. Not from any species except for a monitor. But monitor eggs are a WHOLE other ball of wax. Like a GTP egg x 10!! Yikes.

I don't have a hygrometer because the humidity, like stated before, is 100%. Ha ha, no sense measuring what I already know! LOL!

Just remember to get the incubator set up at LEAST 2 weeks ahead of time, preferrably sooner.

Best of luck! I hope it works! And don't hesitate to ask questions!!

I really appreciate the info. I will let you know if I have any other questions. All I might have this year are ball python eggs, and I don't even know for sure yet if I'll have them. Our male just started breeding with the girls this last couple of weeks. But if I do end up incubating any eggs at my place I may give it a try, and I think when I do get some IJCP eggs here in the next year or two I will for sure try it then.

Thanks again,
Ben

Works great for Ball eggs as well!

I wish you the best of luck then. Just feed the female Balls as much as they will eat, and the rest will take care of itself!

Cheers,

Jeff F.

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Sounds good! I'll let you know how it goes. What all are you expecting to get this season? It seems like you have quite a diverse collection! Pretty exciting! Good luck with it all.

Ben

Some Boas, some Rainbows, some Jungles, some Balls, a few dwarf monitors, some Hondos, and hopefully some Hogs and Dums. Should be a busy year. Last year had about 150 offspring, and this year should be about double. Yikes!

Cheers man, and let us know if you decide to build a new incubator! Pics are a must! heh heh...

>>1) No substrate method-how many people use it for spilota species (especially IJ's and JCP's)? The only eggs I have incubated have

I have only used the no substrate method on IJ eggs. With 90-100% humidity at 30.5 C I had perfect results, 11 eggs, 12 babies.
I'll be doing the same for the GTP eggs I expect soon.
Ron