# Keeping collection records



## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

I'm sure that there is a large number of froggers keeping detailed records on the frogs in your collection. I'm trying to figure out what is the best way of doing this. I'm thinking spreadsheets is the way to go, but maybe somebody could give me a bit of insight on their methods. Maybe if you have an example of yours or what not would be helpful to take a look at.


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## sounddrive (Jan 4, 2007)

i dont know if you looked into the twi/asn but if your frogs are registered you can print it out or store it on you computer. this has worked great for me.
View attachment male imitator.pdf


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## bellerophon (Sep 18, 2006)

what exactly are you trying to keep track of? offspring, lineage, behavior, breeding habits, husbandry etc...


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

bellerophon said:


> what exactly are you trying to keep track of? offspring, lineage, behavior, breeding habits, husbandry etc...


All of the above. I haven't joined TWI/ASN yet for various reasons...although I've read the mini handbook and other reading available about it. It appears that once registered my animals will have some record keeping through ASN. I would also like to start something up personally just to keep a better track of my animals. I know from past experiences that once you get behind it's hard to remember and find things that you've set aside for future documenting. I could pretty easily come up with a basic form myself, but I'm sure that there are others that have much better ideas then I do about these kinds of things.


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## NathalieB (Apr 23, 2007)

I am currently making my own program to store all possible information on my collection.
the gui-design and reporting-part is taking much longer then expected so it will be a while before it will be finished.

the idea is to give people the possibility to store as much information they want in a "standardized" format and to allow people to share this information with others. (I'm trying to have the program exchange information through peer-to-peer services, so no server or online storage space is needed).
In the first instance people will be able to make reports on their own collection (anual reports, basic statistics on whole collection or by species, ...) in pdf or html format. Later I want to add a more advanced statistical part (or easy-export for use in statistical software like SPSS)


The program will allow you to store and look-up information by Frogs (species, morph, offspring, ancestors, previous owners, log of special events, sickness, …), Feeding regimes (feeder insects, supplements, …), Tadpole regimes (specifics on water, temperature, lightning, feeding, morphing times, …), Tanks (lightning, temperature logging, humidity logging, plant list, technical information, …), ...
it visualizes the linage of the frog (in both directions, showing a tree of ancestors and a tree of offspring) and I am working on an algorithm to check how close two frogs in the database are related.

It is a school project so I am toying around with object-oriented databases and normal relational databases, but as soon as it is finished (before the end of the year or I fail ;-) ) I will make it available to everyone.

I am making a multi-language interface so that it could be used by anybody.

since it's not finished yet, now would be the time to tell me if there are features that you would think are essantial to a program like this ;-)


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## dwdragon (Aug 14, 2008)

The ability to mark certain parts of your collection "private" so they don't upload with everything else. This is the first thing I hear from breeders when they explain that they don't register their animals through TWI / ASN or Frogtracks. They like to keep record of their entire collection but do not always want everything they have out there for anyone to see.

Even though I don't have frogs yet (I know I'm going to type this 1,000,000 times in the next year while I'm waiting...) I would definitely be interested in seeing a program like this as I think it would be great if enough people participated.



NathalieB said:


> I am currently making my own program to store all possible information on my collection.
> the gui-design and reporting-part is taking much longer then expected so it will be a while before it will be finished.
> 
> the idea is to give people the possibility to store as much information they want in a "standardized" format and to allow people to share this information with others. (I'm trying to have the program exchange information through peer-to-peer services, so no server or online storage space is needed).
> ...


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## NathalieB (Apr 23, 2007)

dwdragon said:


> The ability to mark certain parts of your collection "private" so they don't upload with everything else. This is the first thing I hear from breeders when they explain that they don't register their animals through TWI / ASN or Frogtracks. They like to keep record of their entire collection but do not always want everything they have out there for anyone to see.
> 
> Even though I don't have frogs yet (I know I'm going to type this 1,000,000 times in the next year while I'm waiting...) I would definitely be interested in seeing a program like this as I think it would be great if enough people participated.


yes, that's already one of the important points i thought about from the beginning of the design process.
next to being able to choose what you share and don't share I am looking for a way to remove all references to people so the data can still be used for statistic purposes without people knowing who owns which frogs. (that's also one of the reasons I try to share data over peer-to-peer. no server logs and you don't know if the data you get from me is my data or data I already got from someone else through p2p)


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## chesney (Jan 18, 2007)

I write the info on the side of the tank with permanent marker. It wipes off easily with magic eraser.


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## skylsdale (Sep 16, 2007)

dwdragon said:


> The ability to mark certain parts of your collection "private" so they don't upload with everything else. This is the first thing I hear from breeders when they explain that they don't register their animals through TWI / ASN or Frogtracks. They like to keep record of their entire collection but do not always want everything they have out there for anyone to see.


A couple things in regards to accessioning/registering frogs in ASN:

1. We have tried to maintain as much privacy as possible within the network. When you register to be a steward, you are given an ID number, and it's by this ID number that you register all of your amphibians under. No other steward is able to determine who has what unless you willingly inform them of your ID number. As things stand within ASN, if you want to obtain/trade/work with a certain animal...it needs to happen the "old fashioned way": put a request out to all stewards and those interested will contact you. Even in our updates of accessioned species, we have kept it as just that: an update of specific species that have been currently registered--ID numbers are left out.

2. In large part, the point of ASN is for your collection (or at least those amphibians that you have accessioned) to be readily viewed. By this I mean that all amphibians accessioned under ASN are simultaneously entered into the ISIS database, which is a database that various zoos, aquariums, and botanical institutions have access to in order to find out what institutions are working with what animals in order to determine who they need to contact/work with for their own breeding programs and animal management. By accessioning your amphibians with ASN, you are making them visible, so to speak, to these institutions and keepers.


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

Lisa - I've done that way in the past. I didn't really mind going that route personally, but I'm trying to make my rack look a bit more clean. I've actually considered using a label maker for this instead.

Nathalie - Sounds like you've got a good program in the works. I look forward to seeing it when finished. 

Lee/Ron - I just need to get off my lazy butt and sign up. I fully support the efforts of ASN and look to finally join and help out. Until then I guess I'll just make up a basic spreadsheet and keep records that way.

Thanks for the help.


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## bobberly1 (Jul 16, 2008)

I love to hear about all of the programs being made for this. We're doing Excel in school and I think this could be used easily.


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

Sadly I can remember all 50 tanks and what is from where. I did make labels at one point but stopped.

I do hope to register my collection in the future but so far just have not had the time.


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

Back when I was originally in the hobby in my early 20's I did the same Kyle. I want to try and have some sort of records this time around since I am wanting to take a more planned approach to my collection. I don't plan on working with a huge variety of frogs and want to have a small and organized collection.


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## Corpus Callosum (Apr 7, 2007)

Aside from what has already been mentioned, I use Sunbird (or the Thunderbird plugin Lightning, they are both the same Calendar program but Sunbird is the standalone version) to track my feeding & supplementation cycle, morph dates, and other notes about my frogs. I keep my notes color coded so I know which frog they're talking about. Then I have another color that I use for births when a frog morphs out, and another color for random events like when I hear a frog calling for the first time, etc. It's easy for me to load up the program since I have a computer in the frog room, so I can just jot down the notes of what I fed that day and such. Then later on if I want to refer back to the info for accessioning into a larger database (like ASN or frogtracks) or if I'm just selling a frog and I forgot how old it was, I just check the calendar.


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

That sounds pretty interesting. Is that a free program? I refuse to use Thunderbird anymore even though the problem I once had with it I'm sure is fixed. Sunbird sounds like a good option.


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## Corpus Callosum (Apr 7, 2007)

It's free and open source, try Sunbird if you don't want to bother with Thunderbird.


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## Nick_ (Mar 24, 2008)

jubjub47 said:


> I'm sure that there is a large number of froggers keeping detailed records on the frogs in your collection. I'm trying to figure out what is the best way of doing this. I'm thinking spreadsheets is the way to go, but maybe somebody could give me a bit of insight on their methods. Maybe if you have an example of yours or what not would be helpful to take a look at.


 I consider this to be helpful to all critter lovers....
Metzcal Herp Software

I've used this software for almost a year now, and love it. I use it for invertibrates, leopard geckos, and soon for frogs. Its freeware so no worries. I know people from afew different websites that have used it since it's release (ie virus free). It isnt quite as pleasing to the eye as some progs, but it is by far the most functional one for free....actually I found it more functional than a couple that I paid for. Takes a while to figure it out, but very detailed records can be kept with it. Hope this helps.


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## rmelancon (Apr 5, 2004)

dwdragon said:


> The ability to mark certain parts of your collection "private" so they don't upload with everything else. This is the first thing I hear from breeders when they explain that they don't register their animals through TWI / ASN or Frogtracks. They like to keep record of their entire collection but do not always want everything they have out there for anyone to see.
> ....


FrogTracks allows you to mark anything you enter as private or public, so you can mark everything as private and no one will be able to see what you have.


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## jubjub47 (Sep 9, 2008)

I signed up with FrogTracks tonight Robb. I'll try and get my animals into the system this weekend.


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## Bcs TX (Sep 13, 2008)

I logged on to Frog Tracks registered one breeding group (very painfully due to the timeouts). Be sure to have all info handy and type FAST.


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## bobberly1 (Jul 16, 2008)

That Metzcal software is awesome! Thanks for the tip-off.


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## rmelancon (Apr 5, 2004)

Bcs TX said:


> I logged on to Frog Tracks registered one breeding group (very painfully due to the timeouts). Be sure to have all info handy and type FAST.


I apoligize for that. The server is basically run out of my house for the time being and depending on other network activity there can be problems. I would like to move it to a more stable connection and server but because of the use of a database, this does not come cheap.


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## Nick_ (Mar 24, 2008)

bobberly1 said:


> That Metzcal software is awesome! Thanks for the tip-off.


 Thanks, I love it.


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