Perlite/vermiculite Q

[mykee]

I was thinking about getting my incubator going soon and I was wondering if any of you have any idea whether perlite or vermiculite has a shelf-life when wet. I was hoping to set up a few egg boxes for my balls just in case I get a surprise clutch and I don't want to be caught offguard. Will perlite or vermiculite go "bad" if left in an incubator too long?

[Jeff_Favelle]

It will last at LEAST the year, so I wouldn't worry about it if you set it up now. I wouldn't use the same stuff every year though.

But seeing as BP's are maternal, you could always just let the female incubate the eggs for the 10 minutes that it takes to set up an egg box. ?? ;)

[mykee]

Yeah, but I'm guessing that the females will be on their eggs when I go to turn on thier lights in the morning and in the 3 minutes that I have to do so before I head out to work, and I'll have to wait until I get home from work. Much to many ifs and ands for me. That and the egg box substrate wouldn't be up to the proper temps if I set them up on the fly, I like to leave them loaded in teh incubator to get to temp. Oh, did I mention that I suffer from OCD AND I'm anal retentive?...
Thanks Jeff.

[Jeff_Favelle]

Join the club brother! heh heh.....

Fine, set them up ahead of time. Is that what you want to hear? Jeezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz



LOL, it'll be fine dude. With the no-substrate, you could easily set it up 6 months ahead of time and not even think about it. Only thing that would suck would be the electric bill for nothing, LOL!

Let me know how it goes man. $15K Super Pastels and I'd be settign up egg boxes as well, ha ha!! ;)

[Stockwell]

I've always set up egg boxes weeks ahead of time.
It takes hours for a large mass of substrate to reach the correct temperature unless you want to tinker with the water temp before you add and mix.
Both vermiculite and perlite are cheap, and I'm certainly not hatching those mega buck Regius, but for what it's worth I've used the same exact substrate in some cases for a decade. It's a fairly inert material and doesn't go bad. It will get egg goo, and crap in it over the years, but I just remove any obvious refuse before re-saturating the material, and top them up if they need it.

[Tim_Cranwill]

OCD <b>AND</b> anal retentive?!?!? Maybe we're related! :D

[mykee]

Related? nope, I still have a full head of hair. LOL. It's nice to know there are other "special" people out there though, thanks Tim.
Thanks guys with the advice. I am tinkering with the idea of using single egg boxes (rubbermaid #2228's) 8x4x13 I think. My incubator is getting too small for the 2220's if I get the number of clutches that I'm hoping for. Any experiences with #2218's (edit: my mistake)?

[Jeff_Favelle]

Are those the 26.4L ones Mykee?

[Bristen]

Originally posted by Tim_Cranwill
[...]OCD AND a... retentive[...]

Ok, laugh at me all you want, I don't care.. what are you guys talking about?? :(

Bristen.

[mykee]

Jeff, sorry they're the 2218's they're maybe 6 liter (8wX13DX4T)....they look the perfect size for a ball clutch of up to 10 or so, any more than that it might be a tight fit.

[mykee]

Bristen; OCD = Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (think Jack Nicholson in "As Good as it Gets")

[morph]

Hey Mykee I used the 2218's last year with no problems a 10 egg clutch fits no problem.I fit in 10 egg clutches of ball eggs and 20 something clutches of jungle eggs with ease

Good luck this year

Scott

[mykee]

Thanks Scott, didn't know if they we're suitable for large BP clutches.

[Jeff_Favelle]

I use the 2220's for the extra height, as sometimes my females beehive too tall for the 2218's. You can fit TWO small (6 eggs and under) BP clutches into the 2220's.

Let us know how it works man. Are you going to set them up this weekend??

[morph]

OOOOOOPS I was just out in the rat shed and noticed my egg boxes were actually the 2220's Not sure why they are in the rat shed but hey......

Too many damn rubbermaids here!

Sorry bout that
Scott

[mykee]

Jeff, I set them up this evening, I'll post a pic or two tomorrow of them w/ substrate and a chicken egg or two.

[Jeff_Favelle]

Scott's on glue peeps.

Too many snakes man, better send some over here. ;)

[morph]

Jeff:

The funny thing was when I got back to the computer from the rat shed and saw you had already replied I thought sh#t he caught my mistake already and is callin me out. I was pleasantly surprised to have a chance to bust my own balls before someone else got to it. Which by the way is quite the feat around here:D

Scott

[Jeff_Favelle]

Oh, I saw it beeotch. I was just being uber-nice last night.

That was your one freebie.

Heh heh.......... ;)