Record Keeping

[jaybox_reptiles]

Hi all i have never really kept records of my herps too well i dont no why but i was wondering if some of you could help me out i need to no what to keep records of ( feeding,fices,pee,sales buys,people i buy from, deaths, trgedys, and what not etc) so could some of you give me some tips basically on what i need to keep record of and how ofen and how to keep it orginized such as a file cabnit etx.

Thank you PLEASE HELP!!!!
Jay
Box

[snakehunter]

i use a spiral not book and document pees poos, feeding, wheught of food, weight after pees and poos, vet trips, what vvet says, any abnorm behavior, physical abnormalities, and i also not the date of whatever i note
-Jacob

[jaybox_reptiles]

kool thx i am still open for any suggestion

[marisa]

I have simple Windows Word documents for each snake. At the top it says species, where and when I got it.

Down in colums it just has feeding dates, what they ate, and one for notes.

Marisa

[Invictus]

I only keep records of feedings and sheds.

[reverendsterlin]

HCS(?) and snaketracker are two records programs, you just have to print hard copy on occassion to prevent record loss

[Corey Woods]

I now keep everyone in Rubbermaids that are housed in a Melamine rack. Beside each rubbermaid I have 2 cards.....a feeding card and a breeding card. On the feeding card I keep track of what they've eaten, what they've refused and what medications they've been given. On the breeding card I keep track of who they were bred by, ovulations, when eggs were laid and how many were laid.

Corey

[elevation24]

I also use a simple Word document to keep track, and I record: Feedings, which includes the date, what they ate, how much it weighed, and the status of the prey (ie., F/T). If they didn't eat that night for whatever reason I make note of it; Weight gain; Defecation dates; and Shed dates (the date I first start noticing them go into a shed and when the shed is complete). In the shed I also make note of whether or not the shed was successful (ie., one full piece and no assistance required) and any retained eyecaps.

[jaybox_reptiles]

kool thank you all for the info

[Tim_Cranwill]

I use an excel spread sheet I designed. It has worked well for me and I'll email you the file if you'd like to have a look at it.

cranwill@mts.net

Put "snake records" in the subject...

[BoidKeeper]

I used to track, date and time of feeding. Amount of food items offered and weight of meal. Food type, rat or mice and refusals. Temps at the time of feedings. Deffications and sheds and the snakes weight at the time of shed.
Now my system is almost identical to Coreys.
Cheers,
Trevor

[RevMojo]

I understand the desire to track every little detail about your snakes, but how many of you actually use the information, and for what?

A breeder I could understand, so that when you sell you could show that it's eaten and shed, etc., but for the average hobbyist?

[Colonel SB]

When reptiles get sick they don't show it like we do so your first sign of illness will be to go off feeding or something wrong with thier bowel movements.

[marisa]

Oh man I can't tell you how many times it has helped me.

I am forgetful and with anywhere from 8-30 snakes to feed this year I totally relied on the records. I couldn't remember who if anyone had skipped, who I was feeding this week (my males only eat twice per month) or anything. the records let me look back.

Also my male cal king stopped eating for three months this year, it was easy to look back to last year and see its around the same time as before, so most likely just his norm.

Marisa

[burmer]

I keep records of feedings, sheds, and records if by some chance they received vet care. I use an MS Excel document to keep them in.

[MouseKilla]

I kept records for about a year for all my snakes in a date book type of thing. Then I started to work an average of about 60hrs a week and had a hard enough time keeping up with the feeding and cleaning let alone taking notes. I fell off it and haven't started up again since I stopped working like an 8 year old girl in a Nike factory, but I keep meaning to.

[lilyskip]

i just write down feedings, sheds, and poops in my day planner, and hope people don't pick it up :D i used to have a separate pad, but i lost it.

[NewLineReptile]

Ha Ha Lilyskip if someone reads you day planner they will think you are some kind of nut...lol

Brandon

[MAN OF STEEL]

opaque/shed dates, feedings, stools and urinary deposites,
temps, weights before feedings, abnormal behavior and any medical situations.

[MAN OF STEEL]

i missed humidity.

[Linds]

I keep them on recipe cards, and I used to just slide them in beside the enclosure or clip it on it, until my cat started getting more creative with removing and hiding/destroying them So I still keep them on recipe cards, each snakes cards held together with paperclips, until they get too large then they get retired to a binder. At the top of the card I record the name of the animal (whatever I choose to call it). On the initial card I record:
latin name
common name
age
sex
purchased from
date purchased
breeder (if known)

on the rest of the cards I usually get at least 3 columns across. I write the date of whatever I am recording, and I have codes for recording as well:

IS - in shed
S- shed
D- defecate
F- fed
NO- refused food

If I need more specifics than that, I put a word in brackets, or if it requires a lot of space I make notes on the back of the recipe card. I also record weights on them. When writing dates to save space I use this format:

Aug 03/03-D
15- F
22- F,D
29- IS
Sep 01/03-F
5- S
6- F
14- NO
etc, etc.

This method works well for me I find for basic record keeping. For breeding I attach a breeding record to the back of the females regular records and go from there using codes as well:

C- copulation noted
IS- shed
S- shed
O- ovulation
Se- seperated
I- introduced

[daver676]

I record feedings (or non-feedings), sheds, defecations, urates, monthly length and weight, general behavior, and anything unusual.

Dave