Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This tip is more for those with quite a few snakes. I keep my snakes in rack units so when it comes to feeding, I simply go down the rows and drop in a meal. Then I come back later and check each tub to see if the meal was eaten. Once we get closer to breeding season, my snakes become sporadic with feeding. So only about half are fed. I don’t want to check every cage, so when I feed them, I reverse their index card (writing facing away). Now, when I go back to see who has fed, all I have to do is check the cages with the reversed index cards. Not a huge time saver, but every little bit counts. And if you know what each snake feeds on, you don’t have to enter the meal until it’s eaten. Unless you track the last time a snake ate.

I hope you found this tip useful. Do you have any timesaving ideas? I’d love to hear.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

Thats a good tip, Ive got a board I mark what number has a rat and when it eats I circle it. From there it goes into the snakes records.

Your way would save a few steps. Keeping track of everything has been alot more work than I figured it would be.

Very similiar to what you do~ but I mark on both sides of the index card so turning it backwords would not work for me. I have the index cards hung on a small screw just above each tub (I use a binder clip to hang them~ gives a nice little "handle" to hang them off the screw with)

I start at the bottom of the rack~ put the bottom index card on the floor~ put a rat in the bottom tub. Next tub~ that index card gets laid down in front of the tub below it~ and a rat gets tossed in that tub. When I'm done~ all the tubs with a rat in it has it's index card laying on the shelf below it. Any with an index card hanging properly does not have a rat in it. When I check the tubs I work from the top down~ pull the tub~ look for the rat~ scoop any poop~ clean the water~ mark the card and hang it up on it's little screw~ work my way down to the bottom of the rack.
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Cheryl Marchek
AKA JM
Check out my website at:
The Red Dragons Den

I have a big stack of heavy vinyl strips about 1" x 2" or so - left over from a job hubby did years ago. They are green on one side and cream on the other. I mostly use them for feeding. If a snake does not eat (I usually feed once per week), when offered, I place a marker on the rack, on the side of his tub. If I start to see 2 or 3 accumulate, I know it is time to check and see what is going on (mine are mostly corns that eat more regularly than some of the balls, lol!) Once it eats again, I remove all of the markers. You could use them differently on BPs - different species require different strategies.

I also use the markers in different places for different things. When I have a male and female together, I will place two markers in the middle, cream side up. Once I observe copulation, I put the green sides up. I may have 1 or 2 dozen pairs together at the same time, so helps me remember who is doing what. Then I can write down the breedings at the end of the session.

I also use the markers in various places (right, left, middle under tub) and with either the cream side or green side up, to mean various things. It might mean that food was left in the cage, that this one still needs to be fed, or whatever you want it to mean, as long as you are consistant in placement.

This system is obviously not needed for small collections, but it saves alot of writing if you have more animals than your memory can keep up with.

I mark the tubs F-fed S-shed P-poop, W & # if I weighed them that day; then at the end of the day & update my Excel folder that has the records on each snake. It's a habit now... My Excel folder has each snakes' complete history. Great for showing trends...
Deb at-
NorthernRegius

I don't have a huge collection, but it seems that record keeping is a large investment of time. I have my collection in racks with plastic tubs. When I feed I feed all at once. I drop the apropriate sized rat in each tub and use a grease pencil to mark the the date on the out side of each tub. When I go back to make sure everyone has eaten I put an R next to the date if they ate and an X on the date if they didn't. Then on Saturday I send my son out with the record cards to update the activity for the week. After he writes down the information he wipes off the box and we are good to go for the next week. Saves me a lot of time and I pay him .25 a snake to write the info on the record card and then up date the information in the data base.

I keep all my feed cards in an index card holder - they are separated into 4 sections - Live - F/T - Off Feed - Gravid. Since I have very few live feeders and no problem feeders this system works really well for me. Having all the cards in one place makes it easier for me to see what needs to be pulled for defrosting - after they feed their card gets tossed into either a "fed" pile or a "refused" pile - the refused card(s)get put back at the front of the section - then I take the "fed" cards and add dates to them as Im watching TV when I'm done they get stuck in the back of their section. This way I can keep a close eye on whos not eating and for how long - once they've gone off feed their card gets moved to the "off feed" section where I don't worry about offering them something every week. Once the card is filled it gets filed into their file (yes I have one for each snake) and I start a new card.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

7.33.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.2 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

z

I have used various methods of record keeping and have found the following helps save time. I print record sheets & attach them to shipping label tags which are tied to binder clips. All tags start on the left side of the box. When a food animal is put in the tag is moved to the middle. After the box has been checked the tag is moved to the right. This way I can tell at a glance who needs to be fed or checked for the week. Another thing I do is use different colored pens. When I write down the food item I use a blue pen, then if the snake ate I write the date fed above the item. If it didn't eat I use a green pen. When I put a female in with a male the feed card goes with & I record the date & which male in red. This may seem complicated but once you get the hang of it, it is very simple & you can see what's going on at a glance. If you look at the below photos I used to use highliters but pens or fine sharpee markers work better. It eliminates having to redo post-it notes, grease pencils, washable markers & other time consuming re writes. Hope this helps. Bruce Delles c/o Twin Cities Reptiles
CELEBRATING OUR 27TH YEAR IN THE RETAIL REPTILE BUSINESS

I got this idea from Ric Blair. After helping him feed/clean for about 5 hours one day with another buddy of mine (making a small dent in the weekly upkeep), I realized how important this method is, both with timesaving, and the health of his extensive collection. With a collection his size (in the thousands, not sure the exact number), and feeding mainly live, this method is a major time saver. The tubs that have been fed are only pushed in flush with the front of the rack (pushed all the way in they are about an inch back from the front). After an hour or so, each tub marked this way is checked, uneaten prey is removed, records updated, and the tub pushed all the way back in. With just a glance at the rows of racks, you can see which tubs still have to be checked. I've found this method useful even in my substantially smaller collection. I can't fathom having a collection as big as his, and still working 70-80 hours a week. The guy is an animal!
Evan Jamison

We have Freedom Breeders and the tubs, when totally closed are flush with the edge of the rack.