Egg incubating medium?

Do you have to use vermiculite when incubating eggs (That's what I used to use when I was breeding geckos) or can you use something else, or even nothing at all in the cups with the eggs? None of my balls are anywhere near big enough yet, so I thought I would ask before they were.

i use vermiculite just because it's worked for me and i've tried nothing else. you can also use the perlite/vermiculite mixture, hatchrite (pour and go), the substrateless method with eggs being suspended over water with light diffuser, light diffuser on substrate so the eggs don't touch the substrate... and some other ways that i'm not remembering off the top of my head.

the only thing i don't like about vermiculite is that it's so nasty and the snakes get it all over them, but nothing a quick rinse and shed won't remove.

Yeah, I was worried about it getting in their eyes.

We used hatchrite the first year successfully, vermiculite the 2nd year with no issues and perlite this year with no issues.
We will probably stick with perlite for how clean it is to work with.

I have used perlite for two breeding seasons with no problems and I like it. It is a little dusty when you are mixing it but other than that I love it.

I use vermiculite. I haven't tried anything else. I may try substrateless method this coming season and other methods but so far vermiculite works for me and nothing a quick rinse doesn't fix when the babies hatched as stated.

Ok. I'll probably use vermiculite then, since it's the easiest one for me to get. I used it for my leos, but just wondered if there was something better. I might look for perlite though, and try that too.
Thanks for the replies!

I used Perlite last year- LOVED it! I used Hatchrite this year because I got some free with an order. I think nest year, It`s going to be back to the Perlite.

I've used vermiculite, perlite, and sphagnum moss in the past. Except for species in which the eggs don't do well when in direct contact with a damp substrate, I prefer vermiculite because it is the easiest for me to maintain humidity. Sphagnum moss being almost as easy.
I personally don't like just perlite alone. I lost a clutch of acanthurus eggs and have lost gecko eggs using just perlite. This was probably due to my being used to vermiculite.

One method I do like to use when I have perlite around is to mix the vermiculite normally then cover that with 1/4 - 1/2" of dry perlite. The vermiculite provides the proper humidity level and the perlite keeps the hatchlings from getting coated in it when they hatch.

That's a great idea. That's something I might have to do. Would help ALOT with the mess from only using vermiculite. I had baby geckos get it in their eyes and it was very difficult to get it out!