Egg Laying Substrate

[aschnell]

Hey all,

What are your favorite egg laying substrates? I'm currently using peat moss mixed with green moss, any opinions on that?

Thanks

[Sublime Reptiles]

I personally do not like peat moss, I find it discolors the eggs to much. I personally use straight perlite, havent had any problems with it and the eggs stay pearly white.

[aschnell]

Really? It seems like a female would have a super hard time digging through perlite to lay, I mean as an incubation substrate I totally use perlite, I've just never heard of anyone using perlite as an egg laying medium.

[Dragontown]

Been using perlite for a few years now!

[aschnell]

Alright it seems I am outnumbered haha

Thanks for the advice!

[flower]

I have been using Peat Moss for a few years now and have not lost a single egg to it. I don't use a lay box though because i have natural viv's, and peat has worked wonderfully for me all around.

There have been times when they switch up where they like to lay and it has taken me months to find the eggs, and the peat holds the moisture so well that when i did find them (all three clutches) they were all fine, and i only had to wait a few weeks for one of the clutches to hatch....

It does discolor the eggs a little bit, but it doesn't have anything harmful in it, not like the ground coco husk or anything. but i don't really care what the eggs look like as long as the babies inside them are ok! ;)

but i noticed pretty early that one of my girls likes to "taste" the area that she is laying in, so it would freak me out way too much to use perlite!

[aschnell]

but i noticed pretty early that one of my girls likes to "taste" the area that she is laying in, so it would freak me out way too much to use perlite!

Yeaaaa speaking of that, how bad is it for them to swallow perlite? They definitely do eat a bit of the substrate when they dig.

I'm tempted to use perlite to avoid discoloring the eggs, but I worry about the females swallowing the stuff.

[Jateui]

I had completely forgot to tell you about another kind of moss i've seen. It shouldn't dye the eggs at all.

http://www.zoomed.eu/images/Interz22.jpg
It comes in that package
http://www.petco.com/product/108889/Zoo-Med-New-Zealand-Sphagnum-Moss-Reptile-Substrate.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch
They're found at petco, but normally in those zoomed packages. $15 is a bit much, IMO, but they're pretty nice. They aren't normally as muddy smelling as normal sphagnum moss, and since it doesn't have a lot of dirt in it, it shouldn't dye.

I hadn't thought much of it before. But if they eat the perlite, not only will they maybe have problems passing it but that stuff does absorb a bit, so it can make the female a bit more dehydrated. I doubt she'd actually WANT to eat a chunk of it though, so she'd likely try to spit out larger clumps.
I haven't personally used it though, but I heard it also shifts a lot. So it's harder to tell if the female laid.

[rhatfield]

Ive use potted plants, Well the plants died and now it is just the dirt. The rest use lay boxes filled will moss. A product called forest moss, from petsmart. it is in bricks/like the coconut fiber, and you add water to is just the same. It doen't discolor the eggies and the girls like making tunnels in it. Keeps the eggies will hydrated when the eggies are left in it for any time. I will be switching them all on in it in the future.

[flower]

perlite is pretty rough on the digestive system if it is ingested. It can not only cause impaction, but it is also very rough, and *can* cause tears in the colon if/when it is passed through. As a result i have never used it. I mean i have heard of both people who have used it for years and never had a single problem with it, but i have also heard of people using it for a few months and it being the cause of death in their geckos, so i guess it just depends on the gecko, but knowing that mine do "taste" their laying area, i stay away from it just as a precaution. And the peat moss is so fine, that it doesn't seem like a little bit of it ingested is going to hurt them. Even if they ingested alot of it, Peat "moss" is made up of decomposed plant matter, and is not truly dirt, so i figure that they can probably digest it since they are omnivores.

lol, but i over analyze everything! :D

[Sublime Reptiles]

Basicly what it boils down to, substrate choice is like that of those who ask if sand is ok for a bearded dragon, you will have some lean this way, some lean that way. You have to find what works best for you.