water VS vermiculite

[nervous]

hi all,
just wondering your thoughts on incubation techniques?
do you's think water is better to incubate on or do you's think vermiculite is better?
which 1 do you's guy think holds moisture better?

thoughts?

[Ricko]

Also just to add to your threads if i may nervous, how much water in the incubation tub? how far above water do the eggs need to be?

Cheers Ricky

[mat.m]

Hi Nervous,
I used the water method for my womas for the first time this year and had 100% hatch.I found it to be very easy to set up and monitor and had no problems throughout the incubation period.It worked for me so I will continue to use it in future incubations.
Mat.

[nervous]

yeh nice
im using the water my self at the moment and it seems to be going fine, but i have heard that water method doent hold moisture as well so i thought i would find out what ppl thought

[nervous]

Originally Posted by Ricko

Also just to add to your threads if i may nervous, how much water in the incubation tub? how far above water do the eggs need to be?

Cheers Ricky

hi ricko, i put about 1.5 - 2cm of water in the bottom of the tub and the eggs are sitting about 2 - 2.5cm above the water .

[mat.m]

Nervous,I found that using this method kept the mousture level perfectly well.
The water being heated by the heat source creates moisture and as long as your temp is constant and your container is sealed you will maintain as much moisture as you need.In the week leading up to hatching I wiped the excess moisture of the lid so it could view the hatching process.
Mat

[nervous]

hey mat just prior to yours hatching did you move them on to a differant medium?
ie. damp paper towels?

[mat.m]

Hey Ben,
No I kept them in the same container.Why do you ask ?.
Mat

[mungus]

The water method is far better and easier.
As long as you have a good seal between the lid and the top of the container.
The humidity in my containers when their up and running is excellent.
You may need to apply a fine spray to the u/s of the lid to get the humidity started.
I have little fine misty droplets on the lid and side walls and they remains like that through
out the entire incubation period.
I also introduce a few open water containers in the incubator, this helps with the o/all
humidity levels in the whole incubator.
I also have a small hole in one side to allow the temperature probe to be placed in
the egg clump for the precise temp. in the container, which is always higher than the incubator temp. as the eggs emitt heat as well.

[GSXR_Boy]

Any one got pics please?
And hoe are they suspended above the water?

[stencorp69]

I'm using a method Larks from SA showed me, its sort of a hybrid I guess. I filled an ice-cream container about 2 cm deep with vermiculite and poured in water until it was just over the vermiculite (this stops the water splashing round when moving the container). Directly on top of the vermiculite, I placed aircond diffuser which keeps the egg airated and off direct contact with the water. My stimi had only one fertile egg but this method had work for it - its due to hatch in a week. Candled egg show the animal moving around in the egg.

[Valley Reptile Supplies]

i used the water for the first time this year. Well sort of rather than just water i used 1 container 1:1 vermiculite and water Old method.
And i also suspended eggs in another container with the same mix of vermiculite and water then added about another 1L of water to make it very wet but still stable if knocked ect (no water splashing around.
Findings the eggs in the first tub were smaller at hatching and not as healthy looking as the ones using the second method. 100% hatch rate from both but the suspended one hatched later than the eggs sitting in the vermiculite.
Overall They both worked well but i will be using the suspended method solely next year as there was no adding water or anything and the eggs looked alot healthier Only down side was the eggs tended to roll when lifting container but i will make depressions for the eggs if i seperate them next year.
This is not a picture of my setup but is the same set up Its actually a pic i used to find the grating to do it
.

Looks like i was typing as you posted lol

[GSXR_Boy]

Thanks!

[MatE]

I used the water method this year and last year aswell.I put in 2 layers of grating(Light defusior for fluros)Which acts like a baffle in a tank and stops the water from splashing around.My mate has been using these little egg cups to stop the eggs from rolling around,but only good if you have them seperated.

[stencorp69]

Originally Posted by Valley Reptile Supplies

i Only down side was the eggs tended to roll when lifting container but i will make depressions for the eggs if i seperate them next year.
This is not a picture of my setup but is the same set up Its actually a pic i used to find the grating to do it
.

Yep this is the same method - its extremely low maintanence But I have the exact same issue with rolling and have thought of using plastic tooth picks (or similar) to stop the rolling. I did mark the eggs with a pencil to ensure I know where up is.