Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So who's trying it out this season? Anyone?? Pros/Cons? or is everyone sticking with vermiculite and/or perlite?
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Jon F

LOVE the no-sub method. Nearly 100% hatch rate over the past few seasons....much higher than before. It takes all guess work out of..."is my substrate too wet....is it too dry....should I add water....etc". I'd strongly recommend it...
Joe Pociask

Where can I find detailed info on the set up for no substrate incubation?

Thanks,
-Andrew

Here's what I do....

1) use an egg box that will sit inside of the incubator with a snug, but not completely air tight lid. Rubbermade or sterlite type containers work great. Egg box should be large enough to hold a large clutch of eggs, but not too large.

2) add a layer of perlite in the bottom of the egg box...about 2 inches is fine.

3) add water to the perlite until it is sopping soggy wet. Just passed the point where no more water can be absorbed. Although some folks do it without the perlite, I think it helps with thermal stability, and I hate the idea of having just plain standing water in an incubator for two months at 90 degrees.

4) put plastic grating over wet perlite. You can get the stuff at home improvement stores (Lowes, Home depot) in the lighting section. Its actually called a "lens" for flourescent fixtures.

5) get the whole thing up to temps (I put the probe and sensor in the egg box.

6) eggies sit on top of the grate. Keeping the lid on insures near 100% humidity, but the eggs stay completely dry...this is the perfect incubation condition.

7) I open the egg box BREIFLY once every week to 10 days at first, to inspect the eggs and change the air. During the last 2 to 3 weeks, I open the egg box BREIFLY every 3 to 5 days.

Any other questions, just ask........JP

Thanks. I might try it with one or two of my clutches this year.

-Andrew

JP,

What is the advantage of using perlite vs vermiculite with this method of incubation? I'm asking because I have a huge bag of vermiculite and I hate to waste it. Thanks for the info in advance.
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Louis Kirkland
Game Balls
The Morph Factory

I think vermiculite would probably work. It just seems rather messy when very wet....kinda like mud. Also, I don't know how it would hold up over time at that level of moisture. The perlite stays clean.

Again, some folks go without and put the plastic grate directly over an inch or two of water, so I imagine there is more than one way to skin that cat. Give the vermic a try,...if it starts to worry you, you can always set up another egg box with perlite and switch boxes after the temps stabilize....

I took Joes advice last year(with my first eggs),and all of them hatched out fine.(eleven eggs/two clutches)

Since the perlite is floating on the water in a clear tub...it is simple to see if they have enough or not at a glance.
It was really nice to not have that worry(dehydration etc)alongside the temp flux paranoia. ;p

(yes,i was impatient)

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Charles Glaspie

Tanstaafl:
"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch".
An acronym created by my favorite author Robert A. Heinlein.