large scale breeders? + record keeping

[boutiquegecko]

2 things I've been thinking about. For the large scale breeders out there-do you mainly take your hatchlings/sub adults to shows? I ask because on most of your websights, there only seems to be less than 30 leos listed when if you have over 100 breeders, where are all the others? Garrick is the only one I've seen that has everything listed it seems.

Also, is there a pc program that is used for keeping records for breeding, selling etc? Right now I'm using a notebook, and was just going to create my own off a program we have, but just wanted to know if there was one out there that you could already just put in the info etc.

 

[ExcessiveHerps]

2 things I've been thinking about. For the large scale breeders out there-do you mainly take your hatchlings/sub adults to shows? I ask because on most of your websights, there only seems to be less than 30 leos listed when if you have over 100 breeders, where are all the others? Garrick is the only one I've seen that has everything listed it seems.

Also, is there a pc program that is used for keeping records for breeding, selling etc? Right now I'm using a notebook, and was just going to create my own off a program we have, but just wanted to know if there was one out there that you could already just put in the info etc.

I'm not a large scale breeder but those who have multiple leos of the same morph and sex probably just show a few of each at a time and update thier site as they sell leos and as leos are large enough to be listed. At shows they bring all thier leos. I use microsoft excel to make my own products to manage breeding, egg laying, hatching, and leo sold data.
Xavier

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

I don't consider myself a large-scale breeder at all, but I do not photo every gecko I have for sale and post them on my website. It's just too time consuming to list, weigh, photograph, download, ID, crop, watermark, post, price, and upload that many every month! (Whew!!!) I do take most of my available geckos to the shows, though...

As far as record keeping, I made my own spreadsheets using Excel where I keep track of clutches, hatch rates, etc. I just haven't found any commercial software that has the features I want.

 

[Franks_Geckos]

I am not a large scale breeder by any stretch of the imagination, but I do believe keeping records is very important. I have used Excel in the past to manage my data and will probably return to that as a standard, but as a backup, I still use 3x5 index cards to keep track of all the vital info for every gecko I hatch and buy. I include parents, hatch date, duration of incubation, sex, and id number for the gecko on the card as well as where or who it was sold to.

 

[Jeanne]

Not a Large Scale Breeder either, but I do have enough to lend some info here.

I mark each hatchlings tub with the parents, date egg was laid, and hatched and the sex. Then when its sold, I write who bought it so I know which gecko to send to who on shipping day.

On my breeders tub I write, morph, what project he/she is being used in, and what that gecko is feeding on. Writing down what the gecko is feeding on has helped me a lot, because some of my geckos will only eat mealworms, so superworms, etc. So I will get the mealworm container and go and feed the tubs marked mealworms, then do the same for superwors, etc.

I don't really keep any files on the pc except for the age of my breeders. Once a gecko is sold, I don't keep a record for that baby anymore. I have been thinking about making a sheet for keeping track of them, but I really don't have the time to make one right now. Although, now that I think of it, it would probably be fairly simple, you could put:

Mother
Father
Date Egg Laid
Date Egg Hatched
Morph
Sold To ?

Is this what you do Marcia?

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Is this what you do Marcia?

Yes, but I also keep detailed records for each female to keep track of # clutches laid, # eggs that hatched, weights at beginning of the season and after each clutch, etc.

 

[Russ S]

i have used this software in the past, not sure if it will do all that you need to do though. It's called "Herp Care Software" and is available at http://www.thegeckocam.com/

 

[G & M Geckos]

There was a really good out a year ago or so called "Herp Master" . It is no longer availible but I heard the guy that created it was going to put a new one out, and the time frame seems like it should be out soon.

It had everything you are asking about and then some. Was a very cool program.

 

[Russ S]

Glenn,

I think this is the software you are talking about, there is a note on the page about a redesign, name change, and hew web site being designed with a referance to herp master .... http://www.metzcal.com/

Russ

 

[roaches42993]

the gecko cam one is gr8 cant figure out how to get the feeding schdual to work though ... ill look at the live help thing tommarrow . ill try herpmaster to

 

[TheHiddenGecko]

I use Herp Care Software and I think it's really good. I also have the information in a notebook as backup.

 

[gko reptiles]

Also, is there a pc program that is used for keeping records for breeding, selling etc? Right now I'm using a notebook, and was just going to create my own off a program we have, but just wanted to know if there was one out there that you could already just put in the info etc.

Again, we are not "large scale" breeders either, but I keep intense records of all of our leos. I have tried some of the programs that are specifically for reptile record keeping; and the est program that I've found yet is the one that I made myself on Microsoft Excel. If you want, I can take some pictures of the sheets and post them later. Making an actual 'program' takes a lot of time, but putting in some info every now and again to already marked spaces works out really well!! It's getting late (4:20AM here) so I'll post some pictures tomorrow! Hope this helped! Best Wishes and Good Luck!!

 

[Jeanne]

If you want, I can take some pictures of the sheets and post them later.

That would be great!

 

[G & M Geckos]

Glenn,

I think this is the software you are talking about, there is a note on the page about a redesign, name change, and hew web site being designed with a referance to herp master .... http://www.metzcal.com/

Russ

Hey thanks Russ. Herp Master was very cool had

who gecko came from
what cost was
weight graphs
feeding graphs
cleaning graphs
punnet square (sp?)
sell cost and graphs
medical expense graphs
Also a care sheet and photo gallery interface with care sheets from guys like NERD, and Nathan Hall.


I had it on my old computer, but could not seem to get the information transfered over to the new one. Alot of that was because their whole system shut down though. Thanks again Russ I will be checking it out!:main_thumbsup:

 

[gko reptiles]

Ok guys here are some pictures of our record keeping... These are all from today, and I just realized how much uploading I have left to do! I keep an updated version of the 'program' on a USB Flash drive, just in case, and I also print out a hard copy that lives in a 1/2" folder in the lizard room so that we can write things down as they happen (IE: clutches laid, new hatchlings, etc...)
Here are the pages in order:
1 - Breeder specs
2 - Hatchlings
3 - Lay log (each clutch each female lays)
4 - Sale Sheet
5 - Egg Log

There are a whole bunch more pages on the actual program... these were just a few of the ones I had printed out for the hard copy

 

[nwheat]

Cool, Christine! I love to see how everyone else keeps records - gives me new ideas.

I'm certainly not a large-scale breeder, either, but I do keep very careful records. Info such as dates eggs are laid, when they hatch, whether they hatch successfully and weekly weights (obsessive perhaps, I know), problems, etc go into notebooks in the gecko room and eventually into the computer. I use Degei software and really like it. I downloaded Herpmaster a while back as well, but haven't had time to play around to see if I like it any better.... I also have lots of inputting to catch up on....:main_rolleyes:

 

[gko reptiles]

Anyone else have hard copy pictres? I'd like to see other peoples stuff too

 

[Jeanne]

Those are great Christine. I think I would have to quit my day job to keep up with all those forms though....LOL I need to do something simple, that won't take up too much time, but still works.

 

[boutiquegecko]

Those are nice. I have to get time to actually sit down and create a program here. Right now all my info is in a notebook, but I like the nice organization of a pc.

 

[gko reptiles]

Those are great Christine. I think I would have to quit my day job to keep up with all those forms though....LOL I need to do something simple, that won't take up too much time, but still works.

The set up I've got there really doesn't take that much time. All you do, really, is go into Excel, and type in the stuff you want. Then just fill them in by the columns! If you print out a hard copy/notebook copy like I do, just fill in the boxes whenever something happens (eggs laid, leos sold, etc) and then maybe once a month fill it into the boxes on your computer and click save! It actually SAVES quite a bit of time because you don't have to go looking through piles of papers and whatnot to find the info you need. It's all there, super organized, easy to use, and easy to keep track of! (Trust me a notebook is a LOT harder to lose than an index card