Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Im getting ready to breed my cresties and was wondering how deep the egglaying substrate should be. Im using that coco bedding stuff. Also I dont have an incubator and I was wondering if anyone has had success without one.

I use those 99 cent tubwares from wal-mart filled with 4 inches of peat moss with a 3x2 entry hole cut in the top of the lid.

Derek

i use a small kritter keeper with about 4 inches of moist vermiculite, then i lay some plastic plants on top so she feels safe and it has worked great so far.
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RhacRoom.com An Online Rhacodactylus Community
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i found out the hard way. DO NOT put vermiculite in a place where adult or juvenile cresteds can come in direct contact with. i had my first female become impacted and die from ingesting the vermiculite. use bed-a-beast, eco earth, peat moss, soil... anything but vermiculite or perlite. they absorb moisture like a sponge which really isn't good for the stomache of a gecko. while laying the geckos dig, and may potentially ingest the substrate and it can definately be fatal. just thought i'd let you know before you too lose your gecko from something as simple and easy to change as the egg laying substrate.

Ill keep that in mind, thank you. The female that uses it has never buried herself, both times she has stayed about 85% above the substrate, but I will definitely look into switching, thank you for the advice.
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If you want more info on this there was a series of posts on it about 2 (? maybe?) months ago

Andrew Ellis

here you go

http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=718098,718098

I have read this thread and looked up the other one Andrew has mentioned and I have to put my 2 cents in here.

I have been breeding cresteds now for about 3.5 years and have a somewhat large colony of better then 60 breeding females. I also have been breeding reptiles in general for close to 14 years. Though now specialize in Cresteds.

I ALWAYS use vermiculite for the laying site and NEVER had an issue. I have heard of people having issues with bed-a-beast on more then a few occasions on this forum. I remember one specifically someone pleading for help because thier crested had a mouthful of bed-a-beast and it caked in its mouth and couldnt get it out. This you meantion to use but not vermiculite. Reading this post is the first time in 14 years I have ever heard of such a thing reguarding vermiculite or even perlite as questionable to use for any reason.

I would have to say based on my experience and the lack of tesimonials, that the issue with vermiculite is more an isolated case of bad luck then a serious risk to the reptiles.

As I said this is based on my experience and the lack of ever hearing this before in any way.

that doesn't make sense. perlite and vermiculite absorb water like a sponge. am i incorrect? seeing as how they do this, it would be a horrible thing for them to get any, let alone a mouthful of either of these things. atleast bed-a-beast and eco-earth are biodegradeable and consumeable. who cares if " someone" complained about a crested getting a mouthful of bed-a-beast. did it kill it? i highly doubt it. this topic is up there with people who complain about using sand for beardies and leopards. of course it's compactable, however these animals live with these things in the wild. cresteds, however do NOT live with vermiculite and perlite in their natural environment. ( and probably not eco earth as well, but atleast it's a lot closer to their native substrates)
my point, as i stated in both posts, vermiculite and perlite absorb great amounts of water which can kill, and cause compactions in crested geckos, and i have seen it, and am warning of what i've seen.

Do your geckos dig down the full four inches. My egglaying substrate is two inches deep.

i only keep mine about 2 inches deep. sometimes the eggs are on the bottom, sometimes the top, and sometimes right in the middle. i wouldn't worry about it too much.