Can anyone give me a good online source to purchse vermiculite? My local dealer says they will no oger carry it do to the problems with mining it. Thanks in advance.
My reptile research and collection
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Good trustworthy source for vermiculite
jasonw
May 15, 2005 12:26 PM
Replies (4)
jono
May 16, 2005 11:26 AM
Hey,
LLLReptile sells it in both 4 quart and 8 quart quantities for around 4 and 8 bucks respectively. If you don't live in the San Diego area it can be shipped. They have good, clean vermiculite...I've used it for all my incubation needs and arachnids without ANY issues.
www.lllreptile.com
jasonw
May 16, 2005 08:02 PM
Thank you for the response. Is Vermiculite really necessary or is there another good substrate I can use for incubation?
My reptile research and collection
jono
May 16, 2005 09:32 PM
That depends on what type of eggs you have, how you are incubating them, and who you ask. I have always used vermiculite, and have done so succesfully for many types of eggs (beardeds, leopard geckos, sulcatas, crested geckos, mali uros, carpet pythons, ball pythons...) Basically, I have found it to be a very acceptable incubation medium. I especially like it because it is quite clean, and naturaly inhibits teh growth of mold, bacteria, and pest insects. It is also nice because it can be left relitivley dry, or it can hold a tremedous amount of water (depending again on the species and method of incubation.) If you use it, make sure it is asbestos-free (most is nowadays, but not always).
Alternatives are sterile potting soil, sphagnum moss, peat moss, perlite, and sand. Like I said, everbody is entitled to their opinion, but good old verm has yet to let me down
jasonw
May 17, 2005 02:33 PM
Perlite? My local Wal-Mart carries a million pounds of that stuff. I never thought It would work. Dose anyone have a list of the pluses and minuses of using Perlite over Vermiculite? Thanks a million for the help thus far. I am not sure what the specific requirements are for incubation for my species of interest but they are all wild caught locally and around here it is pretty dry "Amador County California" My main species of interest are Sceloporus Occidentalis and Elgaria multicarinata.
My reptile research and collection
