What data do you track in your collection

Psingletongolf · Feb 16, 2015

What data do you keep on your collection? molts, feedings ect. Also how do you keep your records?
Im looking to start tracking data and was wondering what you guys collect? My colection is around 30 at the moment.

Poec54 · Feb 16, 2015

I keep an inventory by species, genus, and subfamily, and within each: slings, juveniles, subadults and adults by sex (when known). I have too many to track molts, but that could be a handy thing to know sometimes.

There isn't much point in tracking feedings because it's discretionary. Cricket/prey roach size varies so much (an adult female cricket has far more bulk than an adult male) and when you're feeding immature crickets, a week's difference in a cricket's age may mean the cricket is 50% or 100% larger, and who measures and weighs their crickets? Because appetites and feedings are also effected by day/night temps, that needs to be recorded too, and who's doing that? You can keep detailed, meticulous records of your spider's feedings, and they're pretty much worthless to anyone else because of these factors. But if you want to indulge the inner bookkeeper in you, go for it.

Sana · Feb 16, 2015

I keep a three ring binder with a section for each genus and a page for each individual of a species within the genus. Right at the moment, I'm tracking molts, really basic feeding information, and any observations about the tarantula or enclosure. I'm in the process of adjusting to having 30 in my collection, 25 of which I got on the same day. Additionally, I'm having some health issues and am on a medication that seems to be making me a little forgetful, so I'm keeping track of things a little more closely than I might otherwise. It seems like overkill and a little silly, but it's been really helpful for me. If I glance at an individual but don't do anything particular, I don't make notes. If it's feeding day I make note of how many feeders the individual accepted or if it refused, and the approximate size of whatever type of feeder. As far as observations go though, something would have to be out of the ordinary for me to note it. A spot of mold that was found and removed in an enclosure would be note worthy. It's also helping me to see patterns in each individual, such as how often they accept prey or how fast their water is evaporating. I imagine once my brain is doing a little better and I have gotten more familiar with my individuals I won't keep such detailed notes.

BossRoss · Feb 16, 2015

I keep a reminder of the feeding(I am like a little fish called Dori so I need electronics to help me remember when to feed who)
-watering
-molt and DLS length.
-change of substrate(generally only happens during rehousing)
-sperm webs
-pairing
-egg sac and yield of eggsack.

I have 36 Ts at the moment. I like keeping this kind of history as if I ever had to sell any at least I can sell it with a full service history. I can imagine this will become tedious as my collection grows and I might start looking at different methods instead of manually entering the info into a mobile application I am currently using, possibly QR codes printed and stuck onto the Ts enclosure to quickly add feeding/watering.

IHeartTs · Feb 16, 2015

I keep feeding info (how many prey a week for the adult size), humidity (how much water to pour in and how often), molts, premolt, DLS, subfamily, genus, species, climate, region of natural habitat, NW/OW, AB/TR, sex, age (sling, juvie adult). A lot of the info kept is for my bf so he knows what to do when I'm not around, which is basically give water and feed. I do humidity and other feedings etc.

just1moreT · Feb 16, 2015

I Keep MM molt dates on container ,and when my MF molts ,I look at my hoard daily more than once ,and go by eye on the feeding ritual.

edgeofthefreak · Feb 16, 2015

With only 4 arachnids in my collection, I use an Excel spreadsheet to track molts and feedings. I record the date and a brief line of comments. I don't keep DLS though, and that's something I should consider adding in.

I like to keep it simple, and I also lose track of time fairly easily. The spreadsheet is on my phone, but I can access it anywhere through OneDrive.

freedumbdclxvi · Feb 16, 2015

Nothing for my inverts. I only track my snakes.

Biollantefan54 · Feb 16, 2015

I feel like the odd one out, I don't track anything, I keep the molts for fun but don't track them. I don't even feed on a specific day. I just look at it and see if it looks hungry lol.

Poec54 · Feb 16, 2015

Biollantefan54 said:
I don't track anything, I keep the molts for fun but don't track them. I don't even feed on a specific day. I just look at it and see if it looks hungry lol.

Same here, I have a box full of molts. I also feed and water when they need it, no set days. When you have a lot of slings you have to be flexible; if you wait a day too long, you can start losing them. I do most of my work with them in the evening, as that's when they're the most active and I can see who's out and hungry.

Biollantefan54 · Feb 16, 2015

All my animals are in my room, I have to go through my room to get to basically any other part of the house, I look at them quite often so I know who needs what.

Hanska · Feb 16, 2015

I can hardly keep track of how many spiders I have at any given time. Nothing on paper/file.

IHeartTs · Feb 16, 2015

Biollantefan54 said:
I feel like the odd one out, I don't track anything, I keep the molts for fun but don't track them. I don't even feed on a specific day. I just look at it and see if it looks hungry lol.

Thats how I feed. I just have the amount of prey the spider should have a week since we haven't started a roach colony yet. One of my irminia slings is kind enough to place the uneaten prey on its web outside the burrow. Im such a spaz about the molts lol. I need to know how much they grew, when they'll molt, blah blah blah. we all have our OCD thing I guess.....

miss moxie · Feb 16, 2015

I have a book for my Ts. I keep track of a few things--

When I got them. (When I open the box if they're shipped, not the purchase date.)
How much I paid for them.
When they molt.

In the future I plan on tracking--

How much I sold them for.
Breeding date.
When a male matures.
Egg Sack Info (date laid, pulled, yield, etc.)

Ahaha, keeping track of what you've spent on Ts...

It's like a horror story!

BobGrill · Feb 16, 2015

Nothing. I used to keep molting records but not anymore.

Graeboe · Feb 16, 2015

Poec54 said:
I keep an inventory by species, genus, and subfamily, and within each: slings, juveniles, subadults and adults by sex (when known). I have too many to track molts, but that could be a handy thing to know sometimes. The

There isn't much point in tracking feedings because it's discretionary. Cricket/prey roach size varies so much (an adult female cricket has far more bulk than an adult male) and when you're feeding immature crickets, a week's difference in a cricket's age may mean the cricket is 50% or 100% larger, and who measures and weighs their crickets? Because appetites and feedings are also effected by day/night temps, that needs to be recorded too, and who's doing that? You can keep detailed, meticulous records of your spider's feedings, and they're pretty much worthless to anyone else because of these factors. But if you want to indulge the inner bookkeeper in you, go for it.

Then don't forget to track the crickets/roach sex, molts, and what your feeding them as well lol

Squidies · Feb 16, 2015

I suppose technically I keep track of molts since I take pictures whenever they do vs. when I first purchased them, but I don't really count that as 'data'.

Ellenantula · Feb 16, 2015

I like to know when they ate and molted last. Beyond that, not that concerned.
I feed whenever I think they're hungry or if I think their abdomen should be bit bigger.
Writing down the meals just lets me know when they last ate so I can determine how long a fast has been going on (it's not because they are on an feeding schedule).

awiec · Feb 16, 2015

Just molt records which most of the time I can tell who is in pre-molt just by looking at them. But the data is mainly helpful for other hobbyists who ask for growth rates which I can provide for them. I imagine when I start breeding later this year I'll keep track of maturing dates, egg sac dates etc.

Poec54 · Feb 16, 2015

Ellenantula said:
Writing down the meals just lets me know when they last ate so I can determine how long a fast has been going on (it's not because they are on an feeding schedule).

And then what? Consult a dietician?

As long as their weight is good, it doesn't matter how long it's been since they've eaten. We don't know what the eating and fasting triggers are in their habitats (temps, humidity, rain, day length, scarcity of prey, etc).

What data do you track in your collection

Arachnopeon

Arachnoemperor

Arachnoprince

Arachnosquire

Arachnobaron

Arachnobaron

Arachno-titled!

Arachnoprince

Arachnoking

Arachnoemperor

Arachnoking

Arachnobaron

Arachnobaron

Arachnoprince

Arachnoprince

Arachnoknight

Arachnopeon

Arachnoking

Arachnoprince

Arachnoemperor