Keeping Records of Reptiles

When caring for animals of any kind, it is always good to monitor the growth of the animal so that you know that the animal is growing normally.

When it comes to reptiles and measuring their growth rates, it's not always the easiest. First, you will need a good digital scale that is a small window of accuracy. It's ideal to find a digital scale that has less than 1.0 gram accuracy; this way, you have the closest and most approximate estimate of your reptile's weight.

Some reptile keepers will not only weight the reptiles regularly, but they may also take the lengths of the reptiles. This is most common with leachianus geckos, as keepers want to monitor the weight and length that the gecko grows, as these are rather large geckos.

I prefer to just stick with keeping records of my reptiles' weights.

I have several charts that I keep up with the animal, date or weigh-in, and the weight in grams. This helps me monitor the health and growth better. This is a great tool for growing younger geckos to adults, as well as monitoring breeding females.

There are many different methods to keep track of your records. I prefer an excel spreadsheet and a printout that I can just hand-write the info on until I have a minute to sit down at my computer. But, there are many keepers who prefer using record keeping software.

Metzcal is a popular herp software that allows reptile keepers to track genetics, diet and feeding schedules, weights, and much more. You can easily download the software to your computer and keep track of all the important information regarding your reptiles.

No matter how you decide to keep track of your reptiles, it is highly recommended that you monitor their growth, development, and feeding. This will help you notice any fluctuations that may be a sign of illness that you may not have otherwise caught in time.