Record Keeping Methods

I’m curious about how you all keep records on your reptiles. Plus maybe this discussion can help inspire new owners. What method do you use? What do you keep track of?

I’ve always kept pen & paper records in a small spiral notebook, but I’ve been considering switching to digital records.

I record:

  • Feedings, including refusals and if they are in shed when they refuse
  • Weighings
  • Sheds
  • Pairings, including locks if seen
  • When clutches are laid
  • When any eggs hatch
  • Any unusual events or behavior
  • For new arrivals the purchase date, weight, source, price.
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I only have my first 5 females all between 400-900 grams so there’s not a TON to keep track of but I use notebooks and track weight and feeding. Have not felt the need to go digital just yet but at some point it’s probably a great idea.

I try to be efficient with the number of animals I keep and keep track of what is important to me.

Rather than keep track of feeding, I keep track of refusals, that means a lot less data to enter.

I keep track of pairing, ovulation, pre-lay sheds, egg laying and hatch date.

For my personal collection I use reptilescan and fir animals I sell I use an index card.

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I know the big breeders (100+ animals) only keep track of refusals, like Deborah said above (Stewart Reptiles, good to see you on here, Deborah!).

I personally use blank business cards that are attached to each tub using clear business card holders with adhesive on the back. It’s been working great. I used to use Excel but that was too time consuming. The business cards are nice too because I just put the feed card in the back or on the receipt when I ship the snake out to a new owner.

I keep track of feedings (not refusals), locks, ovulation, pre-lay sheds, egg laying date and clutch size. I don’t keep track of regular shed cycles, I don’t find it useful.

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Used to keep cage cards on 4x6 index cards. Recently switched to keeping records on my laptop. But wasn’t happy with it. That ended in less than two months. So went back to the index cards.

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I currently use the Google docs Excel and have the sheet saved to my home screen on my phone. I only have four snakes so I currently only keep track of when I fed them and their weight.

When I grow more into the hobby I’ll probably transition to include locks, ovulation, pre-lay sheds, egg lay date and clutch size, and a personality trait of the animal.

Example; Penny is an angel. Margo is the devil. :joy:

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I own a company and we use Airtable to store, organize, and view different records and data. It’s powerful but easy to use at the same time. And the design is top-notch. We’ve moved away from normal spreadsheets and Google Sheets. If I ever rekindle my childhood hobby and start keeping snakes again, I for sure will be using Airtable to keep track of everything.

https://airtable.com/