Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a fresh bag of vermiculite for my forthcoming eggs but I have read that many breeders mix this with perlite or peat. Any preferences out there?? Also, is perlite readily available at garden centers or do I need to order it off the net? Any retailer suggestions? Thanks.

I use vermiculite and have had great success with it. Just be sure that the substrate doesn't get to wet because this will cause the eggs to grow mold and rot. Also be sure not to press the vermiculite down and dont pack it in. Let it be loose that way the eggs can breath. Other than that you should find it very effective. Hope this helped,
Nick

The majority of Garden Centres stock Pearlite. I have been using just Pearlite for a couple of years now, but will use both Vermiculite and Pearlite this year; this mix keeps the substrate more 'open' for air to circulate around the eggs and prevents them from getting too wet. I have also used Vermiculite and Pearlite in seperate layers; moist vermiculite as the bottom layer, covered with about half an inch of moist perlite. Both methods work well.

I also have been using only perlite for many years now. It's always worked great for me. When I used to use vermiculite I occasionally would get it too wet and cause the death of some eggs though overall it worked pretty well. perlite is much more forgiving, it's a lot harder to get it too wet. I have not tried mixing the two, don't think I will since I've always had such good luck with just the perlite.

Mark

>>I have a fresh bag of vermiculite for my forthcoming eggs but I have read that many breeders mix this with perlite or peat. Any preferences out there?? Also, is perlite readily available at garden centers or do I need to order it off the net? Any retailer suggestions? Thanks.

I prefer no substrate.

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Ahhhh, that makes much more sense.... Thanks for reposting.

Do you feel that the egg crate plastic barrier makes that much difference? I can see where it would be kind of a safety valve in case you get too much water in your perlite. I've been thinking about giving that method a try. But like I said, I've always had such good luck with just the perlite that I'm hesitant to try it out.

Mark

It doesn't matter what you use under the plastic grate. I've used perlite, vermiculite, both, neither, water, a towel, air, nothing, etc etc etc, all with the same results. The air is saturated at 100% RH, and the eggs are suspended on this plastic gratin. Its the whole concept behind the "no substrate" method. Unless I had a "room incubator", I wouldn't use anything else.

Looks like a peat moss substrate to me there Jeff.

Granted, just because the eggs aren't sitting directly on it, technically you could say that you don't use a 'SUB' strate. But you still need SOMETHING to hold the moisture. preferably something that has a large surface area thereby increasing evaporation so that the eggs are constantly in a high humidity environment without actually being in contact with liquid water.

Mark