Egg laying substrate

[queenkobraaac]

Hello everyone! I was just wondering what you other Leo breeders use for egg laying substrate. I’ve always used coco fiber/eco earth over the years but was wondering if there was something else that’s better or “cleaner”. And by cleaner I mean something that doesn’t leave the eggs looking so dirty.

 

[acpart]

I used coco fiber. Sphagnum and perlite seem to be unsuitable for a lot of geckos to dig in and there's more of a danger of ingestion. Same with vermiculite which I tried and ended up with gold bricks coming out the other end. The dirty look never bothered me but to each their own.

Aliza

 

[queenkobraaac]

Thank you! Yea, I did a lot of digging yesterday and pretty much came to the conclusion that I’ll stick with the coco fiber. It doesn’t bother me at all, it’s what’s inside the egg that matters! But it was for photos/educational purposes. I was able to take some awesome progression pictures incubating tortoises and wanted to do so with a Leo clutch. I’m usually able to candle them easily to see if they’re fertile but past that the egg shells are usually pretty “dirty” and hard to see inside of.

 

[acpart]

You can always gently rub the egg with a moist cloth. I have found though that even if I get a "clean" egg, after a short while the embryo fills the egg and I can't see much.

Aliza