Hard to find vermiculite... anything about hatchrite?

For the life of me I cannot find vermiculite, I have searched everywhere! Walmart, Home Depot, Home Hardware, local garden centers, Lowes, Canadian Tire... nothing. (If anyone is in the Calgary AB area and know where to get it, please let me know even online ordering?). But for now, because I cannot find it, anyone know anything about Hatchrite? I know it has probably been talked about a lot, so if there is another forum you could direct me to? It is pretty expensive but from the things I have heard about it, it kind of makes me scared to use it. Things like drying out the eggs, killing whole clutches, and even too high of humidity. Can someone give me a really good review about the stuff please? And also, if there is any other stuff I could use that people have been successful with? I would greatly appreciate it.

Hatch rite is VERY expensive and nothing more than some perlite and while it is supposed to contain the right amount of water you will need to add some to it.

You can find straight perlite at feed stores, nurseries, home depot, same goes for vermiculite.

And online http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/p...soil-additives

I've been using Hatchrite for 7 or 8 years now and never had a problem. It's just perlite mixed with some water-retaining gel. I've never had to add any water except for this year. And that's only because the bag was opened two years ago and I'm skeptical it had enough moisture. I added about 2 tablespoons of water and it seems fine about half way through the incubation period.

Another place online is here. http://www.uline.com/BL_3801/Vermicu...ds=Vermiculite

I use hatchrite, work just fine but I always add additional water too. Keep in mind too that most of the bags of vermiculite and perlite will not likely be easily labeled as such, so you may need to ask or read the fine print on the bags.

I found it funny when I called home depot and asked if they carried vermiculite and the guy asked me if that was some type of flower....

It seems pretty expensive to buy vermiculite online, makes more sense to get hatchrite at that shipping price.

Try Big Apple Herp also for vermiculite.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_86642-78212-...tt=vermiculite

My Lowes has it in store, this might help you

Go substrateless. http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...bstrates/page2

I think a lot of places pulled vermiculite off of their shelves when it was discovered that virtually all of it in North America contained a high amount of asbestos (which is a carcinogen) Vermiculite is a mineral that has been expanded with heat, it doesn't by itself contain any asbestos but the mine that formerly produced all vermiculite in North America was found to be contaminated with asbestos so sellers have needed to find other sources of the mineral, I'm sure it hasn't been easy finding a steady supplier. However you can usually find it online at gardening supply websites.

I use sponges and a light diffuser ;-)

That's weird you can't find vermiculite at Home Depot. I work at home depot and have worked in 5 locations 3 in san diego and 2 in northern california all 5 i've worked have vermiculite. They generally come in big green bags. Where do you live? maybe I can find out if they do have it and I can check to see availability in your area. homedepot.com has over 400k items that the strores dont have and if your current store doesn't have it i'm sure you can get it from online and have it shipped to the store for free. Let me know

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Originally Posted by Lynchman18

That's weird you can't find vermiculite at Home Depot. I work at home depot and have worked in 5 locations 3 in san diego and 2 in northern california all 5 i've worked have vermiculite. They generally come in big green bags. Where do you live? maybe I can find out if they do have it and I can check to see availability in your area. homedepot.com has over 400k items that the strores dont have and if your current store doesn't have it i'm sure you can get it from online and have it shipped to the store for free. Let me know

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I checked at Home Depot a couple years ago because I thought I had another bag and didn't. They also did not have it. I finally found some at a greenhouse. I always make sure to have an extra bag on hand now.

So, the only brand I have been able to find is Pro Mix... anyone know if this is a good brand to use? My local garden center did have some but they sold out in May!!! and have not received anymore... So what about pro mix? It is only a little bag but I only have two females that could possibly lay clutches so I do not need much anyway.

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Originally Posted by BCS

So, the only brand I have been able to find is Pro Mix... anyone know if this is a good brand to use? My local garden center did have some but they sold out in May!!! and have not received anymore... So what about pro mix? It is only a little bag but I only have two females that could possibly lay clutches so I do not need much anyway.

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Pro "Mix"...the "mix" parts leads me to believe there may be other ingredients which may be harmful to eggs...

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Originally Posted by sho220

Pro "Mix"...the "mix" parts leads me to believe there may be other ingredients which may be harmful to eggs...

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Yes, but they have other products too like soil, perilite and so on. The only ingredient on the package is vermiculite...

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Originally Posted by BCS

Yes, but they have other products too like soil, perilite and so on. The only ingredient on the package is vermiculite...

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If you feel the manufacturer is being honest, give it a shot. The worst that could happen is all your eggs will die and you'll be left with nothing but heartache. Or you could just stop worrying about it and just get a bag of Hatchrite.

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Originally Posted by sho220

If you feel the manufacturer is being honest, give it a shot. The worst that could happen is all your eggs will die and you'll be left with nothing but heartache. Or you could just stop worrying about it and just get a bag of Hatchrite.

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But i don't trust hatchrite... so doesn't that kind of defeat the point? I have heard lots of stories of people losing entire clutches due to hatchrite, but absolutely nothing about pro mix vermiculite.

Strange that the local garden and chain stores in your area don't carry vermiculite. Why not use sphagnum moss or substrate less incubation methods? Pretty much any substrate that maintains humidity can work for reptile eggs- I've used sand, perlite, vermiculite, carefresh, moss, pine, aspen shavings, etc

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Originally Posted by BCS

But i don't trust hatchrite... so doesn't that kind of defeat the point? I have heard lots of stories of people losing entire clutches due to hatchrite, but absolutely nothing about pro mix vermiculite.

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If you don't trust Hatchrite, why even bring it up in post #1? You specifically ask for opinions on it, then dismiss them without any consideration? You don't trust something made specifically for reptile eggs, but you have no problem using something you get from a lawn and garden store?

Good luck... :rolleye2:

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Originally Posted by sho220

If you don't trust Hatchrite, why even bring it up in post #1? You specifically ask for opinions on it, then dismiss them without any consideration? You don't trust something made specifically for reptile eggs, but you have no problem using something you get from a lawn and garden store?

Good luck... :rolleye2:

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I'm with Sho... ALthough I don't use Hatchrite because I find it to be too costly for the amount in the package. I am sure it works just as well as every other medium we use. If you don't trust it, add water. Simple.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Hatch rite is VERY expensive and nothing more than some perlite and while it is supposed to contain the right amount of water you will need to add some to it.

You can find straight perlite at feed stores, nurseries, home depot, same goes for vermiculite.

And online http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/p...soil-additives

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This^
Ive used hatch rite and it wasn't any better than the perlite I have now. It was about 8 bucks at the garden store. I've had the same bag for 2 years

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There are two things that you need to consider when hatching ball python eggs, a steady temperature and a high humidity. How you achieve that is up to you and there are many many ways that work just fine. I'm currently using a shoe box filled with about 2 inches of perlite with a section of light difuser crate sitting on top, the shoe box is covered in press and seal plastic wrap to maintain the high humidity. I've successfully used coconut coir, sphagnum moss, vermiculite, perlite, pottng soil, wet sand and damp paper towels. In the wild these snakes lay their eggs in a hole in the dirt and they've been hatching just fine for eons.

Okay, thanks guys. I think I will try this pro mix vermiculite. I finally had the guts to call a breeder ask where he gets his. He got some from a local garden center, that is the one that sold out this year. he said pro mix should work just fine and next year the garden center will have new stuff in stock that I will stock up on. Thanks again for your replies and input.