Hi William,
I made the switch to perlite two years ago. Rick has a key point in that it does not hold water the way vermiculite does. Perlite is not very absorbent at all, so you have to change your thinking. I have come up with a weight system for setting it up and maintaining it with leopard eggs using the tall 6" cups with airholes sold by Superior Enterprise http://www.superiorenterprise.com . I fill the cups with perlite about 1/4" below the airholes. You need to add more perlite than vermiculite because of the moisture retaining difference. Make sure you do not use all fine perlite as the fine stuff really becomes hard and does not leave room for the eggs to grow. I usually mix the coarse and fine stuff (that is how it comes in the bag). Then, I pour water evenly to about 200g in weight. How much water you add after that and how often depends on how fast water evaporates from your set-up. I am able to service my deli cups with eggs about once a week. Using a gram scale you will be able to establish a baseline that works. Make sure you mostly cover up the eggs in the perlite, vermiculite you leave more egg showing.
You will probably screw up some eggs, however, remember to err on the dry side at first. In time you will sort it out.
Julie B.
Rick Gale wrote:
I've used perlite to incubate pairs of rhacodactylus ciliatus eggs. I use it pretty much just like vermiculite. The main difference is it doesn't really hold water the same way. I wet the perlite until it is thoroughly dampened, then pour off all excess water so that there is no standing water in the container. I weigh it and mist it back to its original mass every few days. I use a plastic container with a lid and several air holes. Depending on the species you are trying to hatch, your mileage may vary, but I've had no problems with this at all.
Rick
----Original Message Follows---- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [gecko]Perlite Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 18:37:33 -0400
Hello,
I am thinking of switching from vermiculite to perlite as an incubation
medium. I am unsure how to use perlite. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks, William _______________________________________________ Global Gecko Association http://www.gekkota.com Classifieds http://www.gekkota.com/cgi-gekkota/classifieds.cgi gecko mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.gekkota.com/mailman/listinfo/gecko
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