Perlite vs. Hatchrite

So i have a bag of perlite, hanging out in my incubator, waiting for my girl to ovulate. this is my first year breeding (and hopefully it will be my first year with eggs too!!) and i was wondering. i read that alot of people use a mixture of perlite and vermiculite. I've also read about just using hatchrite, or just perlite. ive read bad things about using just perlite. my question is, what would you do?

If you are unsure and it's your first year, I'd just use HatchRite.

I use straight vermiculite. Works great for me. Thing with hatchrite is that its expensive! There are several posts and videos describing how to mix up perlite/vermiculite with success.

yeah ive read that alot of people use a perlite/vermiculite mixture, but i wasnt sure if using straight perlite is recommended or not. my local home depot is selling huge (and i mean huge) bags of vermiculite, i dont know if it keeps for a long amount of time, cuz i definitely wont need that much this year. :D i think i will just go ahead and buy it though, it seems like a good deal, and im sure ill worry less if its a mix of the two. hatchrite does seem expensive, the only reason i was considering it is because its premixed. i did see a sticky on how to do it though, so i guess ill just try my hand at the mix. thanks for your input!!! and please wish me luck. send gravid vibes my way. (to my snake, not me!! PLEASE!! :D )

Skip the vermiculite, perlite is just fine. Pick up some eggcrate from Home Depot instead of the vermiculite. You'll find it over by the flourescent lighting section, it's used as a light diffuser. Cut it to fit nice and tight inside your egg box. Grab some sort of small spacers, I use 1/2" pvc couplings. Put four of them in the egg box, and fill the box up with perlite until it's even with the top of the spacers. Pour in a bunch of water until the water level is just a little bit below the top of the perlite. Put your eggcrate on top of the spacers, and your eggs on top of the eggcrate. The eggs are out of the substrate so you don't have to worry about it being to wet, while you still get all the humidity they could possibly need. About the only possible way to screw up this method of incubation is the temperatures in your incubator spiking too high. :gj:

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Originally Posted by m00kfu

Skip the vermiculite, perlite is just fine. Pick up some eggcrate from Home Depot instead of the vermiculite. You'll find it over by the flourescent lighting section, it's used as a light diffuser. Cut it to fit nice and tight inside your egg box. Grab some sort of small spacers, I use 1/2" pvc couplings. Put four of them in the egg box, and fill the box up with perlite until it's even with the top of the spacers. Pour in a bunch of water until the water level is just a little bit below the top of the perlite. Put your eggcrate on top of the spacers, and your eggs on top of the eggcrate. The eggs are out of the substrate so you don't have to worry about it being to wet, while you still get all the humidity they could possibly need. About the only possible way to screw up this method of incubation is the temperatures in your incubator spiking too high. :gj:

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That's how I set up my tubs, with one difference, I use hatchrite, add water and a light diffuser. Helix set at 89. cover with press and seal snap on the lid. Open it once a week to vent.

Any specific reason you use Hatchrite? I was under the impression the big deal about Hatchrite was that you could use it the oldschool way of putting the eggs directly on it without having to worry about having the mix ratio right. Using the eggcrate on top completely removes the possibility of having the substrate too wet, so it seems like using Hatchrite for that method would just be throwing money away.

if you are not going substrate-less you will want to mix perlite and vermiculite and water, or just use hatchrite its already premixed.

if you want to go substrate less just use some perlite or pretty much anything that would stop water from sloshing(could be perlite, aquarium gravel, hatchrite, etc) around the tub and put grid in there to keep the eggs up out of the water.

what ever setup you go with make sure you do not use anything with fertilizer in it(i.e. mircle grow)

Would someon mind posting or pointing me in the direction of a picture with the eggcrate/light diffuser method. I'm a visual person :oops:
Thank you!

iv heard of many people using nothing but a tub of water and egg crates to keep them just above the water

Hi,

The perlite is just there to stop the water sloshing about as much when your moving the egg box - though it might also prevent possible accidents when the hatchlings arrive I suppose.

Though I have never heard anyone report hatchlings dropping through the grate and getting stuck or drowned.

There is a nice clear picture in the first post in this thread.


dr del

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Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,

The perlite is just there to stop the water sloshing about as much when your moving the egg box - though it might also prevent possible accidents when the hatchlings arrive I suppose.

Though I have never heard anyone report hatchlings dropping through the grate and getting stuck or drowned.

There is a nice clear picture in the first post in this thread.


dr del

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Thank you for the link. Just 1 more question on this.
Because if the softness of the shells, so the grates leave imprints on the eggs? If so is it, or could it be harmful?
Thanks! :)

Hi,

Well I've never read anyone complain their snake came out looking like a waffle so I'm gonna stick my neck out and guess it would be perfectly ok unless your using a very wide grating with sharp edges. :P

But feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. :)


dr del

In the wild they lay their eggs in the dirt. Use whatever maintains a high humidity and feels the most comfortable to you.

jeez this is great info, and the reason i love this freaking site. i wrote all that down in my little snake book. yes i have a snake info book. with a snake sticker on the front. :D i think this year i will try the egg crate/perlite so i dont really have a chance to mess up the water ratio, then after i get a few more clutches i can try my hand at mixing, or just stick with the egg crate way. :D thank you guys soooo much for all the wonderful messages. awesome.:taz:

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Originally Posted by Dave763

That's how I set up my tubs, with one difference, I use hatchrite, add water and a light diffuser. Helix set at 89. cover with press and seal snap on the lid. Open it once a week to vent.

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that is another thing i was wondering about, i have it written down that i should open it to get fresh air, but i was wondering if there is anything else special i need to do? i have a hovabator, and i've got the thermostat all ready, im just waiting for that prelay shed to hook it all up. actually, im waiting for an ovy to be honest, she's still locking up. im a first timer though, so when i palpated i was still kinda worried about the end with teeth. she's a grump.
how long should i open the egg tub for? just a quick open/shut thing, or a certain time limit? i wanna do as much right as i can. im nervous. :D

Last year I used hatchrite... put the bag in the incubator and it was ready to go the day I had my first clutch.

I was really pleased with it. Using the egg crating this year (only because I could not find anyone selling it again this year).

If I could have found Hatchrite again I would have used it. It was just too easy, and I did not want to take any chances. For 12.0$ it seemed like a pretty small investment.

Bruce

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Originally Posted by m0esgirl

that is another thing i was wondering about, i have it written down that i should open it to get fresh air, but i was wondering if there is anything else special i need to do? i have a hovabator, and i've got the thermostat all ready, im just waiting for that prelay shed to hook it all up. actually, im waiting for an ovy to be honest, she's still locking up. im a first timer though, so when i palpated i was still kinda worried about the end with teeth. she's a grump.
how long should i open the egg tub for? just a quick open/shut thing, or a certain time limit? i wanna do as much right as i can. im nervous. :D

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I wouldn't even worry about it. There's more than a few people out there that don't even open the egg boxes once until it's close to the hatch date. If this is your first clutch, chances are you'll probably be opening it once a week anyway to candle the eggs so you can experience it first hand. The main thing is keeping an eye on the temps -- near the end the eggs will start to generate some heat on their own so you want to make sure your incubator isn't too hot.

so with hatchrite you dont even have to add water? i found some at my local exotic pet shop and when i'm ready to breed next season i'll just go for that if its that simple