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Laying Substrate...

What substrate do you use in your laying boxes?

  • sphagnum moss

    Votes: 12 44.4%

  • vermiculite

    Votes: 13 48.1%

  • other (please post below what you use)

    Votes: 2 7.4%
  • Total voters
    27
Skye

Skye

New member
I have used sphagnum moss up to now, but I was wondering about the possibility of switching over to vermiculite since it is easier to view when they have laid/are laying, and also I prefer to incubate in vermiculite rather than moss, so I though it would be easier to have just one substrate to play with.

What does everyone else use?

Thanks for participating, Skye
 
I read on a different forum that Vermiculite is BAD for the snakes to lay in.... first I'd heard that. I have all my snakes set up with Vermiculite lay boxes. Last year the first snake got Sphagnum PEAT moss, and the second one got Vermiculite. This year I have three corns and three kings all with their own vermiculite lay boxes, and one other snake who will get a vermiculite box in a month or so when she is getting ready to lay (she just started breeding).

So for those who say vermiculite is bad... why?
 
The last two years, I've given my females the choice of a laying box with moss or vermiculite; they've laid in vermiculite each time.
 
Some batches of vermiculite have been found to have asbestos in it.

If it's bad for us to inhale, it's bad for them too. Just imagine the amount of dust they must inhale, especially if they are burrowing around in it.
 
I use sphagnum moss for my laying container and incubating medium and had great success with her laying and all of my eggs hatching last year.

I first tried vermiculite but my female was searching frantically for a more suitable laying spot, once I switched out the vermiculite and put in moss she instantly went in and started laying later that day.

I also found vermiculite terribly messy. And with hardwood floors when stuff gets in the cracks between boards, it's a bear to try and get back out. At least moss is large enough that it doesn't go too far.

I just found the moss a lot easier to work with as far as getting the correct moisture level. With the vermiculite it was either way too wet or way too dry, I never found that happy medium. With moss, I just let it soak in lukewarm water for 20 mins and then came back and wrung it out by hand, fluffed it up in the container and voila.

And to me, everytime I see eggs being incubated in vermiculite it just looks too confining for proper air exchange for the developing embryos. You've always got that one side that's exposed to the air and the shell possibly gets too tough for proper hatching. Plus it looks a bear to take eggs out and check on their development and candling, etc. With moss, I just lift up the 1 inch "pad" on top and do what I need to do.

I also cannot find vermiculite locally so ordering online is another whole issue. So for me, moss is so much better. Plus after the eggs hatch, I just throw the whole thing in the compost heap. =)
 
One of my problems is that I can't find Sphagnum Moss, but found bags of Vermiculite at Home Depot (or was it Lowe's) for $3.99.... one of those bags is good for probably 10 to 15 clutches. And yes, it's moist, no dust that I can see. The corns seem to love it. I have two gravid girls together (separating them this weekend) they have two laying containers but always buddy up in one of them, usually one on top, one buried in the substrate.

The kings also seem to really like the substrate of vermiculite. Last year i found that the vermiculite was easy to keep properly moist. I would check in daily and at any time that I noticed the condensation was diminished I would just trickle a little water in the corners of the box, knowing that one of the big properties of vermiculite is that it can pull the right amount of moisture from the areas of saturation to the areas of dryness. Had no problems, and boy those little snakeys did love to tunnel in the stuff!
 
Compost? Your compost must be completely different from mine, which consists of all the organic waste from the kitchen, all the mouse, rat, and gerbil bedding, and other organic wastes. I would be afraid of the eggs going bad for any of a thousand reasons.
 
i buy a bag of compost from my garden centre it hasnt failed me yet it has got no rotting veg ect...in it dont worry ..
 
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