vermiculite/pearlite

[Morelia_man]

please excuse the spelling of them two. but could i get an all round opinion on which one is better and how much i mix with water etc...
my female nt carpet is gravid!! wooohoooo!!!!!!!!!!

 

[rodentrancher]

Pearlite is probably the better of the two, but what do you want to use it for? We use it for our hydroponic vegies(yes Vegies!) Can't grow in the ground near our house as too many nematodes. Cheers

 

[herptrader]

If you are considering using it for incubation I pefer vermiculite. I mix it 50/50 by weight. Eg: to 100g of vermiculite I would add 100g (100ml) of water.

The is a good article on reptile egg incubation on the Herp Shop web site <http://www.herpshop.com.au> under "Links and Care Sheets" that you may find useful.

 

[bigguy]

Vermiculite is the best for snakes, whereas Perlite is better for lizards. They are mixed the same,ie by equal weight as a standard mixture. For some species you add less or more water.

For a Carpet Python use Vermiculite with the standard mixture(equal weight of Vermiculite and Water)

 

[sobrien]

Ok, take goanna eggs for example, would you use perlite with equal water weight to perlite or not?
Simon

 

[bigguy]

Simon, I do all my monitor eggs on perlite with equal weight of water. If the eggs every seem to be drying out I simply spray some water over the eggs and on the perlite.

 

[Simon_Archibald]

Simon,
That description of goanna egg incubation seems to be the preferred method for a lot of top breeders I have spoken to. If (fingers crossed) I get any eggs from any of my pairs this year, that's how I'll be incubating them.

Simon Archibald

 

[sobrien]

alright thanks a lot guys!
Simon

 

[Sdaji]

Ok, take goanna eggs for example, would you use perlite with equal water weight to perlite or not?
Simon

Yep, so far it's been 100% success for me with that method Although I guess the amount of water, not weigh it. I don't think the ratio is too critical with perlite. I make moisture modification during incubation if it looks necessary, but with perlite it rarely is.

Morelia man: 50:50 is the usual method with either, most would use vermiculite for carpets, I've never tried perlite with them, but it hatches children's eggs no worries (well, at least it's worked for me).

 

[Tommo]

over a year to late sdaji

 

[Guest]

what if you havent got scales?? can you use the old wet and squeeze till no water squeezes out?

Im thinking only of beardie eggs this year.

 

[MysticLizzards]

ya or just feel if its try add half a cup of water and check it in two days if its moist you'r good(putting a container of water in the incubater also keeps the humidity up and the perlite can all most be bone dry)

 

[Sdaji]

over a year to late sdaji

Huh? Over a year too late for what?


Tankster: I would definately not try soaking and then squeezing, this will work for vermiculite but not perlite (which I recommend you use). I haven't really tried, but I think that if you tried squeezing moisture out of damp vermiculite you'd end up with something starting to resemble clay which is still too wet to use. I stopped using scales to measure the water a couple of seasons ago and my results have improved dramatically, although it's probably best to use scales at first if you're unfamiliar with judging the appropriate quantity. With vermiculite, you have to keep in mind that there may already be moisture in it, so if you weigh it you'll think you have more than you do, and you'll end up adding water to water, leaving you with far too much water. It's not unheard of to buy vermiculite which is already about 20-30% water by weight, so if you added this to an equal weight of water, you could have approximately 35% vermiculite 65% water, which is far too much, this is why I stopped using scales. When I did use scales to make the initial mix I'd always end up making adjustments to it over the next week or two anyway, because it was always out.

If you have the opportunity, visit someone who is incubating eggs, see how they do it, and play with their water:vermiculite mix to get a feel for the appropriate moisture level. Alternatively, just use perlite, with which I'm guessing (and only guessing) you could get away with mixes of between 1:2 and 2:1. Perlite is like this because even if you've used 2/3 water (or I'm guessing even more) the perlite is dry to touch, but the humidity in the sealed tub will be close to 100% Vermiculite on the other hand will soak the eggs if it's too moist and not give sufficient humidity if it's too dry.

I'm guessing that the suspension method is probably better still, but I haven't tried it, partly because it's difficult to set up and mostly because other methods work really well anyway.

Good luck with whatever method you use and let us know how it goes.

 

[Guest]

Apart from reptile supply shops, where do i get pearlite???

 

[bigguy]

Sherm, try the local nurserys or nursury wholesalers.

 

[Sdaji]

Sherman: I get mine from a hydroponics store, I get about 40 litres for $20 or something, when you're using a couple of litres for a clutch of eggs the cost is completely negligible. I'll give you a few litres if you want to stop by

 

[Guest]

Thanks bigguy and Sdaji.

Id love to stop by Sdaj, but the lear jet is in for repairs, im getting it lowered and putting in a sports exhaust system. LOL, so maybe when its done ay??

 

[Morelia_man]

well this morning their i walked out and their they were!!! EGGS!!!
i didn't get to see this before i actually made my decision so i went and bought pearlite. i hope this works. some reputable reptile enthusiasts told me they prefere pearlite over vermiculite. but we will see how we go. today is a good day!!!!!!!

 

[Sdaji]

Congratulations!!!

It should be interesting to see how the eggs go with perlite, I'm guessing it should be just fine. Please keep us updated!

 

[snakehunter]

Having no experience with incubating or either of these mediums, what is the difference between the two? Why is one better for snakes and the other for lizards? What about turtles?