Notekeeping. Tarantula Journal?

[WhereIsMyOBT]

Does anyone keep a journal to note when they acquired a certain species, their characteristics, keep track of a species' molt cycle or some subparticular notes like unusual behavor and feeding cycle? I've recently collected my twentieth species and have started to lose track of some details of a molt cycle or even the days I acquired my little guys.

I'm going to start keeping a journal of all this information on my collection. I've got some old moleskins lying around.
What kind of journals and notes do you keep?

 

[Kitara]

I use the app. I've still go the old one and I don't remember what the new one is called so I'll let someone else post the info or the creator who I believe is still around. That said, I just log the feeding because I like to go "OMG it's been 3 months since this one ate!". I log the molt so I can say, "OMG it's been SOOO long since this one molted" and I log the date I got them. The molting and feeding is literally just one or two clicks so takes no time at all.

 

[viper69]

Many people.

I use a notebook it’s faster and it doesn’t crap out or break etc

I keep date fed, molt dates. Anything else is a waste of my time.

“another day the T stood on 4 legs....today it hid for a week”

Like that stuff is as exciting as watching paint dry

 

[mack1855]

Really ,just get a address book at Staples and write down events....purchase date/molt date.This is pretty straight forward.That will keep molt,and I can feed in XXX amount of days.
Pretty darn simple,just like the husbandry.I actually don't even do the feeding dates anymore.

 

[viper69]

Really ,just get a address book at Staples and write down events....purchase date/molt date.This is pretty straight forward.That will keep molt,and I can feed in XXX amount of days.
Pretty darn simple,just like the husbandry.

In my early days I used to note date and how many crickets were eaten. It never served any purpose, I stopped.

 

[Poonjab]

I tracked a rotten tooth. Until it was yanked

 

[BoyFromLA]

I simply keep track of molt dates.

 

[LaughingLunatic]

I simply keep track of molt dates.

View attachment 382538

What's with the molting schedule of the 3rd listed B. schroederi ? Molted once a month for 3 months then didn't molt again for another 8 months ? Is that normal ? Is that like a transition from sling to juvie ?

 

[BoyFromLA]

Is that normal?

Well, personally I do not molt. Thus I do not know if it is normal or not. However, I am certain my tarantulas know better / more than me for sure.

 

[dman13760]

i use an excel spreadsheet to track molts, feeding, and any other weird things I notice

 

[scottbot84]

I note significant events in a rite in the rain notebook. I keep several inverts other than T's, but even so it'll be awhile before I fill it. I usually note things like date of acquisition, losses (deaths), and significant events like fasting, molts, etc.

I otherwise have a basic feeding and maintenance schedule on my calendar to remind me, but it's not something I adhere to strictly.

 

[joossa]

Yep. I'm a data guy, so I love tracking data and that kind of stuff. I have a composition book. I keep track of:

• Feedings: date, took food/didn't take food, how much, what kind of prey
• Water Dish Cleanings: date, refill or full clean
• Misc Observations: molts, changes to enclosure, any interesting behavior worth noting

I simply keep track of molt dates.

View attachment 382538

Very interesting to see the number of months between molts for some of those indivuals jump from a month or two to many, many months as they got older.

 

[Ungoliant]

Does anyone keep a journal to note when they acquired a certain species, their characteristics, keep track of a species' molt cycle or some subparticular notes like unusual behavor and feeding cycle?

I have a spreadsheet in Excel that contains a master list with acquisition dates, prices, and sources plus a tab with key dates for each tarantula (molts, rehousings, etc.).

 

[The Grym Reaper]

I use the Exotikeeper app

 

[LucN]

Never truly took notes, however, I've written down the dates when my Ts were initially acquired, so I can give a tentative age for them. Other than that, molting events were documented on the various message boards which I've hung on for over a decade now. The only other event which I've documented was my experiment in feeding superworm beetles to my Ts and noted how they reacted to it. That can be found on these boards. Perhaps I should attempt to take notes on feedings and molting. It wouldn't serve much of a purpose, but it would give me something to do and keep track of.

Eventually, I would hope to have a nice varied collection and have notes on whom molts more frequently and such.

 

[Frogdaddy]

I use the ExotiKeeper app. Works great, keeps track of EVERYTHING.
I've seen specialized Tarantula journals/notebooks for sale on Amazon. They have places to record molts, feedings, etc. Pretty cool if you're old skool and want to keep a paper record.

 

[viper69]

I use the ExotiKeeper app. Works great, keeps track of EVERYTHING.
I've seen specialized Tarantula journals/notebooks for sale on Amazon. They have places to record molts, feedings, etc. Pretty cool if you're old skool and want to keep a paper record.

Never searched on Amazon!

 

[TheHound]

Exotikeeper looks quite like the Tarantulas app, which makes sense as it's by the same guy. I guess better suited to those who only keep Ts and not other exotics.

At the moment I track feeding and moults via an Excel calendar. Might have a fiddle with one of these apps to see how they may improve things, if at all.

 

[The Spider House]

I use excel for
Purchase date
Scientific/common names
Sex
Life stage (slings through to mature adults)
Arboreal/Terrestrial
NW/OW
Moult date
Notes
Etc.

Separate tab for breeding info and deaths (including any known reasons)

Pivot table to summarise the current spider count (see below for an example of pivot table)

 

[CommanderBacon]

I used to keep feeding/molt/acquisition notes in a little notebook, but now that my collection is much larger, I purchased a cheap refurbished child's Android tablet so I could use the Tarantulas app. I recently was prompted by the app to migrate to Exotikeeper, which is the newer version that supports notes for my other inverts and my herps, as well. It's a more robust app that functions a bit better imo.

It was worth the $30 for the tablet so I could use the app. Also, since it was made for children, the tablet is pretty hardy, which is nice because I am clumsy. After I feed all of my spiders, I chill on the sofa and review the app to make sure I didn't accidentally miss anyone. It's nice because it keeps track of past molts and is easier to keep tabs on the last time I fed my larger specimens, since I've moved them to one monthly feedings. The only downside is that the camera absolutely sucks, so I have to transfer photos to it via a sharing app.

Conveniently, Exotikeeper backs up to my Dropbox, so if the tablet dies, I can just get a new one and have access to everything. It's also much smaller than a notebook would be, at this point, and I can update it quicker.