Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just snapped some cool pics. All are about out. Each has some type of difference with it. Just thought I'd share.

thanks
mgl

Have you used vermiculite for incubation? And if so how would you compare it to the sphagnum moss it looks like you're using now?

Regards
John

vermiculite, perlite, and sphagnum moss. The coxi pics actually have perlite on the under side and moss on top. I'm changing some of my incubation strategies this year due to the excessive humidity last year, being in MD, and having to dry out an incubation box. So I'm using a combination to give me more control. If it gets a bit dry I spray around the edges since the moss drys out more quickly.

For all of my asian rats I've used moss from the beginning. To be honest, I couldn't give you a reason why as maybe it was fear since they are commonly known as fincky so I was treating the eggs that way...who knows (some type of backward logic).

I've had excellent success w/ coxi and decent w/ mandarins this way. So far all of my "good" eggs still look good--however it isn't July or August yet so the humidity is to come.

I'm just testing things out to give me more control in case I'd ever have to dry out the chamber (which I never thought I'd have to do but I did last year).

hoped that helped
mgl

I've used perlite and vermiculite. They seemed to work equally well but the sharpness of perlite made it less attractive to me. I didn't like the abrasions I was getting from working with it and I worried that the snakes might also suffer from it too. I haven't tried sphagnum moss yet but maybe I will.

Thanks
John

Lovely pics - they are such bright colors. Would like to see some of the little differences you mentioned.

John,
I use moss for all of my colubrids. I started with it a long time ago when I started breeding snakes, and have had great success so I just never bothered to change. I like that the substrate can be covering most of the clutch without smothering the eggs - especially when you get those multi-layer stacks that are stuck together. This seems to give me a great humidity consistency throughout. Also, the acidity may help retard fungal/bacterial growth. And it is soft and just seems more "natural" when the babies hatch.

Bryan

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Last night I was laying in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and I thought to myself, "Where the hell is my ceiling?"

It's always good to hear what's working well for others.
Best regards
John

How do you keep the moss from molding? I've been trying to use sphagnum for my coxi but it just grows fungus like crazy. I'm in MN and the humidity is extremely high all summer long.
I'm using bed-a-beast right now and even it starts growing mold after a few days.
Thanks for your info and congrats on the litter! They look gorgeous.
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The Foxloft - Wildlife and Fantasy Art

I'd recommend trying a different brand of moss. I've had packages that seemed to have problems in the past. See if that helps.

Bryan
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Last night I was laying in bed looking up at the stars in the sky and I thought to myself, "Where the hell is my ceiling?"

Congratulations - Im trying to embark on a project to breed porpyracea lacinctas - though i only have one unsexed one now. Was wondering if sexing ur coxi is difficult or are the depths shallow for female and deep for male? Coz judging from my experiencing sexing ridleyis it's almost impossible to tell the difference.
Did u do anything to stimulate ur coxi to breed or left them alone in the tank? Thanks for the help.

although it can be tough with their size. For breeding stimulation, they go together just once (at least my pair does) and they lock up for up to 6 hours. She just dropped her 2nd clutch and could get a third out of her but I have to be careful of burning her out. There's been records of 7 clutches from a female in 1 year.

thanks
mgl