Sage - I've grown Adeniums and Pachypodiums from seed for several years now. I should tell you that I live in Florida so I have the advantage of great weather most of the year. However, I do start my seeds indoors and under lights. The room I grow in ranges from a low of 65 to upwards of 80 degrees. I think the hours of daylight and temperature may be partly responsible for your germination problems. I always place my seeds on top of the soil and just cover them with a thin layer of gravel. I use bird cage gravel for this. My soil is a mix of Scott's seed starter plus some fine perlite. I also sterilize the soil by placing it in my oven at 250 for about an hour. I cover my pots with plastic wrap and usually keep them covered for about one week after germination. It usually takes about 3-10 days for my seeds to start growing. It's important to keep the soil moist but not wet once they germinate. Seedlings don't have the reserves adult succulents do so don't let them dry out. It's really a matter of providing the basics and working with your conditions. I hope this helps.
Robin

Robin,

I basically have done almost exactly as you described. They were planted indoors, keep moist not soaking and I use commercial soil, covered with plastic to maintain humidity. They are barely under the soil, in fact, one popped up in the process of my checking and it hadn't even sprouted.

Checking today, now the ferocactus has sprouted, so something works.

Sage

Sage,

Glad to hear your fero's came up. I have a harder time with cactus seeds then succulent seeds. I have 6 out of 18 Ferocactus glaucescens seedlings up that I planted Dec 18. I just yesterday took the plastic wrap off the pot. Two look pretty healthy so we'll see what happens.

Robin