Change vermiculite?

[molzonice]

I have 2 eggs incubating and I was curious how often you should change the incubating substance and if you even need to. I also was wondering what are other things you do to the substance or the egg and what period of time. ie. Open up lid once a week to get air, etc. Thank you for the help with these things I really appreciate it.

 

[Tony C]

You shouldn't need to change it at all in the course of a season. I believe Gregg posted recently that he has been experimenting with using the same vermiculite for multiple seasons in a row and didn't have to add more water or change the substrate.

 

[molzonice]

That's great to know. Thank you very much! What are the routine things done to the egg too?

 

[Tony C]

What do you mean by "routine things done to the egg?" The only thing you have to do once the egg is in the incubator is be patient and wait for it to hatch.

 

[Taquiq]

Most people open the lid for air exchange once a week.

 

[UnicornSpirit]

I've read in The Herptolculture of Leopard Geckos that it is best to change the vermiculite between each hatch. It isn't good to cross contaminate your freshly hatched geckos with old yolk/fluids from the previous clutch that can still be found in the substrate (which can pass on disease or simply grow bacteria- Ew!).

Other than that there isn't any other reason to change the substrate.

 

[molzonice]

Thank you everyone for the answers, that's what I needed to know.