Record Keeping

[SnakeWrangler]

Hey everyone,

Just wondering how everyone keeps their records, what information do you record? I was thinking stuff like weight, feeding info, shedding info, breeding info, health info, etc...

Cheers.

[Slateman]

I do keep diary and put in all information I come with. Important is to keep record of feeding habits, weight, lenght, sheds,medications,mating introductions, strange behavours.

[instar]

I use wordpad to record feeds, poos, weight ,length, vet visits etc. I have it backed up on disc aswell. will come in very useful for vet visits . I also record any changes in its condition, sheds and so on. :wink:

[sxereturn]

I use the same system they use at Venom Supplies, it's tried and tested, and it works very well for large collections. It's an Excel database.

If you have a couple of animals, use a yearly diary.

Are your required by law to keep one? or is it just to help us out.

[hugsta]

I don't believe its law to have to keep one, but it helps when you take you reptiles to the vet as instar said.
You can tell your your vet how big and when its last meal was, when your reptile last shed etc.
I keep a feeding and shed record, if at any time i have to take an animal to the vets at least there is some info for them.

[NoOne]

What is it Sxe?
I always get slack with my records because it takes so bloody long to do.
I've been trying a new method i heard about from a guy in the US.
Instead of writing down when you feed etc which most of the time is perfectly normal you write down when things are different like refused feeds and bad sheds and so on.
I takes alot of the work out of record keeping, i only use this for animals i've had for a while, not hatchlings and new perchases.

[Alexahnder]

i just use a note book and i write down whenever i do anything to them....ie change water, feed, mist, when they shed and poop. I change the water bowls every 2nd day and feed juveniles twice weekly and adults weekly to every 2 weeks.

I have tried using spreadsheats, and individulal sheets attached to the side of the cages, but i just found that it was to time consuming and i kept on forgetting to do it. With the book i write down the species or the cage number and write down the details.

I have also tried MSA herp but that was annoying to use.

Alexahnder

[NoOne]

It gets very hard when you have more than a few reptiles, thats why i get slack.

[SnakeWrangler]

Hey sxereturn, you want to donate a template of that excel database??

[hugsta]

Send a template my way to sxereturn.
If you dont mind, get sick of storing info on diaries all the time
would be good on pc if easy to use
cheers

[sxereturn]

All of the info is on my 'reptile' computer. It's not that hard to set up a basic Excel database. Have a codename for the animals, and columns corresponding to food/shed/comments etc

[earthmother]

I take photos at every feed - *cough* AFTER every feed now...BTW She's eating faster now since I demoted her from Movie Star status.

I know what size they've eaten and the date is saved.
I also have a book with the written records because I know I can kill a computer faster than I can a book. I fry harddrives.
I keep record of when they eat, what they eat, when they shed and thats all.
On the babies tanks STP set up a note paper to keep records which I find really convenient.
Em