Vermiculite & Perlite are toxic?

[Eric Alan]

That sounds great. I think I'll pick up some egg crate. My only concern would be water condensation dripping on the eggs or condensing on the eggs themselves, causing water spots and mold. Has this ever been an issue? Thanks again

Sure, but it's also a possibility when not using the egg crate. Just keep an eye on things and act accordingly if you need to.

[For Goodness Snakes]

Whew! Thank you everyone for confirming what I believed. I couldn't imagine that hundreds of thousands of snakes that were incubated with verm were exposed to toxins. I just picked up my sack of vermiculite from home deopt the other day and was super bummed when I spoke with the guy at the reptile store. I thought I was going to have to change my incubation method completely.

A weight ratio of 1:1 vermiculite to water is what I was going to start out with and leave an open container of water in the incubator for humidity. This sounds okay right? From what I've read, it's pretty standard. I was thinking of incorporating the light diffusers/egg crate to keep the eggs off the vermiculite, but I'm not sure it's worth it or better...

Check out this video that I uploaded a few years ago on YouTube, if you follow it to the letter you should have no problems with incubating your clutches.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-wjmsV9gMw

My incubators are bone dry (no open containers of water) I never have to add anything to the nest boxes during the incubation period. Remember it's not the humidity inside the incubator that should concern you, but the humidity inside the nest box that will determine whether the eggs desiccate / dimple too early.

If you are still unsure of what to do feel free to call me anytime at 408-981-6694, I'm always glad to help.

Brian Gundy / For Goodness Snakes

[EvergladesExotics]

Check out this video that I uploaded a few years ago on YouTube, if you follow it to the letter you should have no problems with incubating your clutches.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-wjmsV9gMw

My incubators are bone dry (no open containers of water) I never have to add anything to the nest boxes during the incubation period. Remember it's not the humidity inside the incubator that should concern you, but the humidity inside the nest box that will determine whether the eggs desiccate / dimple too early.

If you are still unsure of what to do feel free to call me anytime at 408-981-6694, I'm always glad to help.

Brian Gundy / For Goodness Snakes

Thanks Brian! That was very helpful and answered some other questions I had regarding temp fluctuations. I couldn't quite tell if that was a 6qt tub or a 12qt tub you were using. I would assume the size of tub is important to keep the right amount of substrate at the bottom. I've seen people refer to both of these size tubs as shoe boxes, so I just want to be sure which to use with this formula. Thanks again everyone for your responses!

[polod]

Hi,
I am living in Thailand and hope to have my first clutch in about 7 months from now.

The vermiculite I bought here comes from China, and apparently there are high chances that it contains asbestos. That's why I would like to find another solution for my incubation.

Could you please tell me more about you "substrate-less" way of incubation please ?

Thanks you