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Post by Shawn(snakebite) on Dec 12, 2006 0:16:55 GMT -5
I am curious as to what everyone uses for water when incubating their eggs?? I have used both straight from the tap and bought water finding no evident pros or cons relating to either choice.Is this an issue and does anyone have a preference or any facts regarding this topic??
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Post by Ryan Wunsch on Dec 12, 2006 0:32:58 GMT -5
A few years back on another forum I discussed this topic with Roy Stockwell, one of, if not the most successfull and knowledgable snake breeders (especially colubrids) in Canada.
He always takes the simple approach. I mentioned adding Hydrogen Peroxide to the water to inhibit mold growth (a trick that mushroom growers use). To that, he said he'd be hesitant to try it, as most molds don't have a bad effect on colubrid snake eggs.
Chlorine evaporates off of tap water quickly. Distilled water is not good for plants. Reverse osmosis water is expensive.
Feel free to experiment, but personally I have no worries about using Leader's water - some of the "worst" water in the country I'm sure.
I'd be more worried about what kinds of things are in perlite or vermiculite, before I'd worry about the quality of water I was soaking it with. And I don't worry about any of that. My motto has always been "if the Green Tree Python breeders use it, then it is good enough for me"
But, interesting question for sure - who knows, there may be an advantage to using filtered water or spring water.
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Post by kaley on Dec 12, 2006 10:13:02 GMT -5
Agreed - I wouldn't worry about your water too much, unless for some reason it was unsafe to drink...I would assume that safe to drink would mean safe for incubation...
Also, I would think that using RO or distilled water might actually do more harm than good, as I think that it is likely that there are minerals etc in "regular" water than are essential or at least beneficial for the developing hatchling...Not that I know for sure that they'd actually absorb any of them...just a hunch!
Kaley
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Post by vanderkm on Dec 12, 2006 18:28:54 GMT -5
One of the reasons I like incubation by the no substrate method - when eggs are not in contact with any medium - just suspended in a humid environment I am not as worried about water quality or the stuff around them - I believe it will be pure water vapor - not sure if any disolved minerals or solids would be any problem then even if the water was very poor. I would only be concerned if it was very alkali - if the pH was really off I wonder if it might cause problems.
Interesting question - one I hadn't thought much about - we use Regina water and I sort of figured if it is good enough for us to drink, it is good enough for the snakes.
mary v.
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Post by Shawn(snakebite) on Dec 13, 2006 20:37:49 GMT -5
I have used alot of incubation methods such as the no substrate, and I've done just perlite, or vermiculite, and I've also done sphagnum moss too , where the clump of eggs is totally engulfed in the damp moss. I've used both bought and tap water and like I said before , it seems to not affect the eggs either way in any bad way.It was something I always had a concern with , but yeah , in the end I thought well yeah if I drink it it should be fine.
In a related issue with eggs , I found I had a better hatch rate for Red ear turtle eggs when I sunk the majority of the egg within the substrate and then covered the top either with damp moss or a piece of paper towel cut to fit the container on top. Last year I used eggcrate with some eggs as well as just sitting the egg in a hollow in the vermiculite and I had no success.I did everything the same with preparation for breeding with my adults , so , I am guessing my changed incubation technique had something to do with it, along with I moved my turts last year into a better setup and maybe the disruption held up their productivity.
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