super hatch to the rescue

[Gaboon]

How does this stuff work differently from other mediums?

[JustAnja]

To quote the description:

Superhatch Egg Incubation Substrate



Egg incubation Substrate
This is course grade ceramic product (Calcined Clay) It has excellent porosity and is the next generation of egg incubation media.

It does not break apart over time, does not compact, or float. It's color changes based on the amount of water it contains so you can easily monitor visually for changes in moisture level.

It can be re used indefinitely by cooking or boiling to sterilize.

An inert, neutral 100% natural mineral blend, this product lasts year after year without breaking down. Each particle contains thousands of internal and external pore spaces.

I have had 100% hatch rate with the Superhatch so far. I only had about a 25% hatch rate for my gecko eggs with the Hatchrite. We also did not have a very good hatch rate with hatchrite on our colubrid eggs last year. Not quite as low as with the gecko eggs, but not great for sure.

[MrsWTownsend]

The breeder I bought my Mardi Gras from uses Superhatch and swears by it. I plan to use it for my egg incubation when my projects are ready for breeding as well.

[Leif]

Superhatch worked wonders for some eggs that I had not seen in the lay box. Definitely dried out but came back after a couple of days and eventually hatched.

[Gecko Ranch]

Just got around to playing with Superhatch today! It is a very nice medium to work with. I think it is going to save me a lot of labor checking the eggs. With Perlite, my favorite medium for leathery-type eggs like leos and rhacs, you have to weigh the container to see if it has enough moisture in it. I have a system using pre-set weights for the moisture I need, but it is something I have to do once a week. With the superhatch I can just look at it and tell if the color is right and continue on checking other containers if it is. I can tell it will hold moisture a lot longer than perlite right off the bat.

This has to be hugely advantageous for beginners with the color checking feature!

[sciteacher]

Originally Posted by Gecko Ranch

Just got around to playing with Superhatch today! It is a very nice medium to work with. I think it is going to save me a lot of labor checking the eggs. With Perlite, my favorite medium for leathery-type eggs like leos and rhacs, you have to weigh the container to see if it has enough moisture in it. I have a system using pre-set weights for the moisture I need, but it is something I have to do once a week. With the superhatch I can just look at it and tell if the color is right and continue on checking other containers if it is. I can tell it will hold moisture a lot longer than perlite right off the bat.

This has to be hugely advantageous for beginners with the color checking feature!

Exactly! I had very good hatch rates with straight perlite, but it was always a guessing game as to whether it needed additional water or not. I really didn't weigh, I just looked for tiny drops of condensation on the side of the container below the perlite line. Last year I used the superhatch and it held moisture much more consistently and was obvious at a glance when it was starting to dry. My hatch rates were just as good as they were on straight perlite.

Gary Hamann
Ridge and Valley Reptiles

[JustAnja]

I'm still at 100% hatch rate with Superhatch and I rarely have to add water to mine. I'm quite happy with it.

[Silly-atus]

I'm really glad to see this is catching on, it's so much easier on us. Reading post after post on how to incubate with vermicutlie or perlite, the weighing, fiddling and headaches made me wonder why more people weren't trying ceramic. I checked back in my records to see when I started using it. The first clutch was in 1999. I know how much more I bought over the years, and going by what I've got in use, that means some of the original purchase is still going strong. It's not likely that vermiculite or perlite would last 10 years.

Julie, what are you going to do with all the time you've got now that you don't have to weigh all those containers every few days? With a colection the size of yours, I bet it added up fast.

All these years that I've been using it and praising it on forums, I was getting some really strange replies and even PMs asking me if I was insane. One particular one made me laugh: Everyone knows you don't incubate on rocks, it's perlite or vermiculite... get your head checked.

[Gecko Ranch]

Originally Posted by Silly-atus

I'm really glad to see this is catching on, it's so much easier on us. Reading post after post on how to incubate with vermicutlie or perlite, the weighing, fiddling and headaches made me wonder why more people weren't trying ceramic. I checked back in my records to see when I started using it. The first clutch was in 1999. I know how much more I bought over the years, and going by what I've got in use, that means some of the original purchase is still going strong. It's not likely that vermiculite or perlite would last 10 years.

Julie, what are you going to do with all the time you've got now that you don't have to weigh all those containers every few days? With a colection the size of yours, I bet it added up fast.

All these years that I've been using it and praising it on forums, I was getting some really strange replies and even PMs asking me if I was insane. One particular one made me laugh: Everyone knows you don't incubate on rocks, it's perlite or vermiculite... get your head checked.

LOL! I had to dedicate an entire day each week to collecting eggs and weighing containers. What will I do?! I'll have time to check the head of that guy!

[dragonlvr]

Originally Posted by sciteacher

Exactly! I had very good hatch rates with straight perlite, but it was always a guessing game as to whether it needed additional water or not. I really didn't weigh, I just looked for tiny drops of condensation on the side of the container below the perlite line. Last year I used the superhatch and it held moisture much more consistently and was obvious at a glance when it was starting to dry. My hatch rates were just as good as they were on straight perlite.

Gary Hamann
Ridge and Valley Reptiles

Curious as to how you all add the water if it does start to dry out? Do you spray/mist?