Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am about to have some rat snakes eggs drop, and I was interested in knowing what medium folks have used in here for their eggs. I have used potting soil in the past with a lot of success, but I am considering vermiculite and perlite as well.

Anyone have an opinion? Thanks, Alex

i've used vermiculite about 30 times and perlite about 10 times. both worked perfectly every time.

i think as long as you have appropriate moisture/temps most eggs are pretty easy to cook. I check them on day 20ish, 40ish, and 60ish for most eggs and have only had 1 egg go bad in 13 or so years.

>>I am about to have some rat snakes eggs drop, and I was interested in knowing what medium folks have used in here for their eggs. I have used potting soil in the past with a lot of success, but I am considering vermiculite and perlite as well.
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>>Anyone have an opinion? Thanks, Alex

a lot of people lean more towards vermiculite but I still prefer sphagnum moss. easier for me to judge moisture levels with a quick glance. Its what I'm used to.
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Corn snakes and rat snakes...No one can have just one.
"Resistance is futile"
Jimmy Johnson
Draybars Snakes

The good thing about perlite and coarse vermiculite is the spaces between the granules allows for "all around" air circulation for the egg. But really there are lots of mediums that work, including using no medium at all (suspending the eggs above water).

I use perlite, vermiculite - or a mix of both.

Tim

Third Eye Herp

In using perlite or vermiculite I'm never sure of the ratio of medium to water. What do you recommend. I think I read a 6:1 ratio somewhere.

I am not sure of the exact ratio, but I usually just mix enough water in to thoroughly saturate the substrate, and then squeeze all of the water that I can out of it. This has worked well for me for years. If I see an excess of condensation on the sides of the container at any point, I leave it open for a few hours to let it dry out out a bit. I have used various substrates over the years and found them all to be effective. This year I used vermiculite as the base substrate. I nestled the eggs into the vermiculite and then laid a layer of sphagnum moss over the top.
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www.sunshineserpents.com

>>I am about to have some rat snakes eggs drop, and I was interested in knowing what medium folks have used in here for their eggs. I have used potting soil in the past with a lot of success, but I am considering vermiculite and perlite as well.
>>
>>Anyone have an opinion? Thanks, Alex

Alex,

Good opinions and experience outlined here already, but I will throw in my 2 cents as well.

First - what species of rat snake are you expecting eggs from? In my experience, not all "rat snake" eggs are the same - they are variable (in many ways) even within within the various genera which are still considered rat snakes.

I have sucessfully hatched eggs from rat snakes from the genera: Senticolis, Orthriophis, Elaphe, and Pantherophis. I have found Pantherophis eggs to be the easiest eggs I have incubated - they can incubate successfully in a variety of conditions, and various moist mediums will work - my favorite for them has been moist sphagnum moss, but are easy to incubate in most any acceptable method of incubation IMO...

I have found Senticolis and Orthriophis eggs to be possibly a bit more difficult to hatch than other rat snakes, and I have opted to incubate them in some alternative mediums, humidity and temps. My current favorite method of incubation for Senticolis (and most of my eggs) is eggs set on top of fluorescent light diffuser which is set on top of wet perlite - in a shoebox, at temps in the mid / upper 70's F. This way, they are subjected to high humidity but are not in contact with a wet medium.

Another medium which has worked well for all species I have bred / incubated (excepting possibly Senticolis) is "Hatch Rite" - which looks like perlite, but which is a bit lighter and already has moisture added.

My current favorite method of incubation - these are Senticolis triaspis intermedia on fluorescent light diffuser over wet perlite.

Here are some babies hatching on "Hatch Rite".

South Korean Elaphe dione

Orthriophis taeniurus taeniurus
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-Toby Brock
Southwestern Center for Herpetological Research

Hi Toby, thanks for the info (and that goes for everyone else as well). I am expecting eggs from Deckert's rats (essentially Yellow rat snakes).