What's Going on With These Eggs? Transparent Looking.

No need for the perilite. Just use the Superhatch ( Calcined Clay ) and prep it according to the directions.

Haven't tried that stuff before. What's it like? How much would you need to fill a shoe box about 2" deep?

The main thing thats nice about superhatch is that it changes color so you can visually inspect whether its dry or not. We lost a bunch of ciliatus eggs our first season because we incubated on perlite. They ended up caving in from the bottom due to lack of humidity then mold growth would start in the cavity ultimately killing the egg before we even knew something was wrong. Superhatch has a distinctive color difference which allows you to add more water when it dries out. Very important for geckos that come from regions with high humidity (Uroplatus). I think thats probably were I messed up with the BP eggs, I'm used to doing gecko eggs from humid regions, dry to me is probably wet for BP eggs. Also, this is my first time incubating soft eggs.

I took a paper towel to the substrate and it seemed pretty dry. This is day 21 of incubation so I'm thinking this damage was done a while back, alot of the humidity has evaporated as I have the lid slightly cracked.

I purchased this Volta girl mainly as a test run though so if I end up losing the clutch, while that will suck bad, it won't be as bad as losing our expensive animals. So far it has been a really positive experience with alot of things I will do differently in 2014 (when my animals are RTB).

Ok switched them over to the substrateless method just now. We could not find the grates you all recommended at Lowes but I got some hard plastic circle grate which i think is used as a gutter guard. So I currently have them in a 6qt bin with about 1" of wet superhatch. I also purchased the glad press and seal but have not put that on yet.

The press n seal is only important if you lose a lot of moisture through evaporation. I've hatched plenty of ball pythons without it, but I've also lost clutches in the past when the egg box dried out with a couple of weeks yet to go before hatching. Once the eggs desicate, especially late in incubation, it's tough to get them plumped up again. The lids to most shoe boxes don't have a very tight seal, hence the press n seal.

I've been doing a bit of research on this superhatch substrate and I think I'm going to have to get some to give it a try, it sounds like it should be pretty effective. I think I'm going to set up a couple of boxes with it this year to see how it works out. Thanks for the tip.

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Originally Posted by MarkS

Haven't tried that stuff before. What's it like? How much would you need to fill a shoe box about 2" deep?

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It takes 4 scoops with a 8 oz. deli cup for approx. 2" in a 6 qt tub. I don't use Superhatch specifically but use Calcined Clay that comes in 50 lb bags :)

I place 4 scoops into a kitchen strainer and rinse it under water until clean and then placed in a bowl to soak for a few minutes. Then I allow it to strain and excess water while suspended above the bowl for around five minutes. Then nestle the eggs into the media.

Soak, Strain, Setup... Simple

I have hatched Cal Kings, Western Hognose, Leo's, and Balls using this exact method :)