Hello, the VA just recently kicked me off of ketamine treatments for my depression, they had been working fairly well. The only thing they are offering me now is ECT (electroconvulsive therapy). Has anyone here gotten or know of anyone whos gotten this? Has it effected the way they can care for their animals? Specifically a medium sized collection of snakes? The biggest side effect is memory loss so I’m concerned. I use HusbandryPro right now for feeding/weights ect. but there are no alarms or popups that could remind me, is there a better option out there?
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Sounds like you are in a real tuff situation! Sorry to hear they are stopping treatments that you felt were working! I don’t have much experience, but my mom had to have radiation on her brain and it caused memory loss issues, but weirdly she wouldn’t forget just everything, just certain things would be patchy. So until you know how you react to this treatment, I would write notes, set phone alerts, whatever you can do to kinda double check yourself, at least in the beginning. It seemed to help out a lot. Good luck with everything!
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Well first of all welcome to the forum Kelsie! I’m so sorry that you are facing such a challenge! I have seen ads on television about a medication called “Prevagen” that is supposed to improve memory in older individuals. I don’t know what age you are, if you would even qualify for it or if it would in fact help you. But it’s worth a mention.
I have over 20 pet snakes. I am old school so I use little recipe cards to keep track of everything regarding them. Feed dates, shed dates, type of rodents they eat, etc.
As @banereptiles Nathan said, plenty of notes could help. I wish you all the best. I hope things work out for you. 
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Thank you! Yea it seems really random what you might forget. Notes and alarms seem like a good idea. Someone else had mentioned a big white erase board calendar, I really liked that idea as well.
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As mentioned, I would use the phone as a reminder. You could set up in the calendar the feeding schedule and to remind you. I do this just as a backup for when things get busy. I have them all on the same schedule so my calendar is set for every other Friday, and it pops up to let me now. I set it up to remind be that morning and again later in the afternoon and set it for several hours so it will stay there.
The other thing I do is place a colored piece of tape on each bin to show it ate. You could do the same but put the date on it so you will know when that feeding was. Either small. Piece and replace or a long one and keep adding the dates until it is full. Or hang a piece of paper and list each feeding, like a spreadsheet.
Even if you don’t end up needing it, it is still a good reminder and keeping track of all feedings.
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Thank you! I’m 32 so I’m not sure if I qualify lol but I will look into it. Recipe cards are a good idea, I used to do spread sheets but I like the card idea a lot better.
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Thats a good idea, I could set it out for months at a time. I still have a few babies (hognoses) so it’ll be a little before a set pattern. I really like the color tape idea as well! I’ll have an amnesia proof snake room in no-time! Lol
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I set mine to never end.
You could set 2 schedules, list them for waht they are for. 1 Hog feeding and 2 pall feeding.
I use color tape to mark each bin,
Yellow = shedding
Orange = eat
Black = empty
Red = active breeding
Other color and mix of color as to who is breeding with who.
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As others have mentioned, use the heck out of the calendar and/or alarm features on your phone. I’m terrible with dates and scheduling, so that’s the only way I can keep track of feedings for my snakes and spiders. I put the feeding dates on my calendar and set them to alert me once the day before a scheduled feeding (so I can put frozen rodents in the fridge to thaw overnight, and/or buy more feeders if I’m out), and then a second alert on the feeding day itself. Then once I’ve fed them, I write on the calendar if they ate or refused, and the size of the feeder I offered, just so I have a record of that stuff if I ever need to refer back to it.
I also really like the idea of putting tape/stickers with the date of the last feeding on the enclosures. If/when I have a bigger collection, I might employ that as well, I like how it would give you a quick, easy-to-read reference for each animal.
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Welcome to the community, @kelsieguerrero. I am sorry that you’re having to deal with the challenges you’ve had laid on you. The burdens are physical, mental, and emotional. It says so much about you that you’re doing your best to ensure that your animals remain well cared-for as you navigate them.
I haven’t had ECT, but I did have a serious electrical shock in which caused a TBI. It left me with, among other things, random holes and issues with my memory.
I’ve tried so many things. What has worked best for me is simple masking tape. There’s a strip on the outside of each animal’s home (bin, rack, or display enclosure) on which I keep a running record of feedings. Ones who are growing and changing size may get an additional tape tag to indicate prey size like LF, H, W. Other notable things are color coded on a square of tape. In shed? Blue, because logical. On Hold, Sold? Pink and orange, because those are the highlighters I had 
. I dislike waste, even of small things, so I stuck unused tags to the side of a shelf until I need them or their stickines is gone.
The tape is addition to keeping their individual records, which I still do a couple of ways. I’ve also got two big calendars on the wall. One has feedings. The other is breeding-related.
Don’t be afraid to layer multiple things and discard what doesn’t work well for you. That might even include asking a human to help by setting their own reminders or committing to check your whiteboard/stickers/calender and reminding you.
Everybody is unique, and every body is unique. Your concern for your animals is obvious. You will find what works well for you. Please allow yourself the grace you’d give a friend as you figure it out. I truly wish all the best for you and will pray for you.
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The calendar on my phone is waaaaay too complicated for me to use! 
I’m old school! 
. 
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