Vinman
Vinman
BEWHARE OF SPHAGNUM MOSS
I will never use Sphagnum Moss again to incubate my eggs . Over the last 5 to 8 years I been getting a lot of kinked hatchlings, DIE and clutches that just don't hatch. The corns have been effected the worst by this.
At first I thought it was temps that been fluctuating that maybe got to hot. So I kept between 76 to 82 , Still had the same problems
Next year I thought incorrect thermometers so I got new thermometers which the old ones were 2 degrees off . Problem solved right? NOPE
Then A ex friend of mine from NY said maybe it is your mice you feed them dog food. So I went for rodent block for a full year that was last year till this year.
This year I bought Coco Fiber I set all my clutches on it except 2 of the first clutches. The first 2 on 50%50 coco fiber and Sphagnum Moss
THE RESULTS
The first clutch that hatched 9 eggs 1 perfect Blood Red corn 7 kinked in vary degrees and 1 DIE.
2nd clutch1/2 were laid in water so I got only 6 good eggs 5 died in incubation and one hatched with no imperfections.
The next clutch all hatched in pure coco fiber only 2 had the slightest kinks and I mean barely noticeable
All the other clutches after that were prefect so far.
I had one young female het blood red that gives me 20 to 26 eggs per clutch the first 2 years I bred her both times the whole clutch never hatched. They went almost 90 days to find undeveloped snakes that looked no more than a month through development. I was going to off her as a pet but I said lest see how she will do next year as I will try a new substrate This year is the 3rd year I bred her and I have one blood red hatching out.
What kills me is I never had problems before hatching snakes except if the temps went too high. I Could not figure out why this was happening to me. I was doing everything I always did.
IDK if the sphagnum with an contaminate ( natural or chemical ) or pathogen. I got it from an orchid grower that had it is a storage room and he said it is all natural with not chemicals to make it retain water and that storage was free of any chemicals
I will never use Sphagnum Moss again to incubate my eggs . Over the last 5 to 8 years I been getting a lot of kinked hatchlings, DIE and clutches that just don't hatch. The corns have been effected the worst by this.
At first I thought it was temps that been fluctuating that maybe got to hot. So I kept between 76 to 82 , Still had the same problems
Next year I thought incorrect thermometers so I got new thermometers which the old ones were 2 degrees off . Problem solved right? NOPE
Then A ex friend of mine from NY said maybe it is your mice you feed them dog food. So I went for rodent block for a full year that was last year till this year.
This year I bought Coco Fiber I set all my clutches on it except 2 of the first clutches. The first 2 on 50%50 coco fiber and Sphagnum Moss
THE RESULTS
The first clutch that hatched 9 eggs 1 perfect Blood Red corn 7 kinked in vary degrees and 1 DIE.
2nd clutch1/2 were laid in water so I got only 6 good eggs 5 died in incubation and one hatched with no imperfections.
The next clutch all hatched in pure coco fiber only 2 had the slightest kinks and I mean barely noticeable
All the other clutches after that were prefect so far.
I had one young female het blood red that gives me 20 to 26 eggs per clutch the first 2 years I bred her both times the whole clutch never hatched. They went almost 90 days to find undeveloped snakes that looked no more than a month through development. I was going to off her as a pet but I said lest see how she will do next year as I will try a new substrate This year is the 3rd year I bred her and I have one blood red hatching out.
What kills me is I never had problems before hatching snakes except if the temps went too high. I Could not figure out why this was happening to me. I was doing everything I always did.
IDK if the sphagnum with an contaminate ( natural or chemical ) or pathogen. I got it from an orchid grower that had it is a storage room and he said it is all natural with not chemicals to make it retain water and that storage was free of any chemicals