Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

My husband and I are in the process of collecting multiple female ball pythons (as is everyone else 'ha-ha') for breeding and we are having a hard time keeping track of who's who. We do our best to only take one out at a time so we don't mix them up and a few of them have very distinctive markings, but I am sure there is an easier way.

Does anyone have suggestions other than a micro-chip for each of them?

Thank you,

Kim Nodine
The Reptile Den

I use some software called Degei. It helps keep track of nearly everything.pics,breeding ,feeding etc. I use photo IDs for my animails. Do a search on the web for the Degei software it is really helpful and easy to use.
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Thomas Jones
aligatorhunter@cox.net

Thank you for the info..

I was using herpmaster software, but about 3 weeks after I purchased it the website went down and hasn't been availible since. So frustrating.

I will take a look at Degei and see if it is similar to herpmaster in it's simplicity.

Thank you again for your info and time.

Kim Nodine

Over time you learn to recognize them by sight and personality - this one has a blushing head - that one has the word "BooB" on it's back (yea we have that one too) - that one has a bad attitude, that one is fatter than the rest, etc. We cheated the system and only have two "normal" normals - the rest are all abberant and easy to tell apart. Keep them in a labled tub - take a picture and put it on the tub or in a file - that way if you happen to have several of them out and you get confused - you can go back and take a look. Like I said over time you get to know your snakes - it's pretty easy - if you have a couple hundred of them then you might need a better system.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

10.35.0 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)
0.1.0 Bredls Python (Smurfette)
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)
0.0.1 Lizard rescued from feline
0.0.0 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

I think Ralph Davis takes pics of all his animals for record keeping....is this where you got the idea? We can learn alot about this stuff from the big breeders that have been doing this alot longer than us.

Steve

Take a full dorsal picture of every snake then print out the picture and write on the back of each one with rack and bin numbers and info about the animals. Their patterns are as distictive as fingerprints but if you have to go by memory it can be nearly impossible. I've heard more then once about a snake getting loose, they crawling along the back of the rack pushing out all of the boxes as they go and freeing the other snakes. If you have picture documentation it's pretty easy to match up who's who. If you don't you'll never really be sure again which ones are your valuble hets and which ones are your normals.

Mark

>>Hello,
>>
>>My husband and I are in the process of collecting multiple female ball pythons (as is everyone else 'ha-ha') for breeding and we are having a hard time keeping track of who's who. We do our best to only take one out at a time so we don't mix them up and a few of them have very distinctive markings, but I am sure there is an easier way.
>>
>>Does anyone have suggestions other than a micro-chip for each of them?
>>
>>Thank you,
>>
>>Kim Nodine
>>The Reptile Den

Just echoing what has already been said...I'd take pics of each snake, but tosha is right...very soon you will get to know each of your snakes. I started all this about a year ago. 25 balls later, I can tell any one apart from the rest just by picking them up...They each have different personalities, attitudes and quirks that you learn. These are about as easy to identify them as their markings.

Let me also give you some advice that I've lived by...I handle each of my snakes at least once a day (save feeding days). More than just letting you get to know your snakes better, this makes your snakes so friendly (get's them used to being handled). I have two snakes in particular that were hissing and/or snapping every time I opened their bins. I was told that handling them every day would get them great attitudes, and it has. I don't have one snake that I wouldn't feel comfortable letting a child hold. Handle them a lot and you'll have very friendly snakes that you know very well. Good luck!
Jeremy Conrad
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Isn't it cooler that serpent's don't walk anymore?
(Genesis 3:14)