Creating accurate animal profiles
Build one reliable identity record for each animal so care, Housing, breeding, lineage, health, sales, and reports connect to the correct subject. The guided form separates information needed now from useful details that can be added later.
Before you begin
- An active PMA organization and at least one usable species choice.
- Keeper access or a management role with permission to create animals.
- A known reference code or a deliberate plan for PMA-generated identity.
- Evidence for any genetics, lineage, acquisition, hazard, or Housing details you intend to record.
Interface walkthrough
These annotated interface maps describe the current PMA controls. They do not replace a real record review in your workspace.
Complete the fields that distinguish this animal before adding optional history or advanced breeding evidence.
These choices improve daily workflows but should remain blank when the correct value is not yet known.
Record only supported facts. Uncertain genetics and parents should stay unconfirmed or unresolved.
Step-by-step workflow
Choose the species
Select the active Species Intelligence profile or the best supported species identity. Do not select a similar species merely to continue.
Enter a durable identity
Add the animal name when used, a unique reference code, sex, and operational status. Confirm the code is not already assigned.
Record dates and acquisition evidence
Use the true hatch or birth date when known. When only an estimate exists, preserve that uncertainty in notes instead of presenting the date as exact.
Assign current Housing deliberately
Select the real current Housing record only after confirming the animal is there. Leave it unassigned when the destination is uncertain.
Add daily-care defaults
Set feeding interval, preferred food, mass and length preferences, and other defaults that PMA can use to reduce repeat entry.
Add genetics and lineage at the right certainty
Use structured genetics for supported traits, preserve possible-het probability, and connect sire or dam only when the relationship is known.
Review hazard and visibility
Confirm venomous or other hazard designations, add a clear profile image, and review the completed record before saving.
Expected result
The animal appears once in the collection with a unique identity, supported species, appropriate status, and enough operating context for care workflows. Optional unknowns remain visibly incomplete rather than being guessed.
Safety boundaries
- Do not merge animals because names look similar.
- Do not invent sire, dam, hatch date, sex, or genetics to complete the form.
- A display morph description is not automatically verified structured genetics.
- Venomous and hazard designations must never be removed merely to reduce warnings.
- Moving an animal in PMA should reflect a real confirmed movement.
Troubleshooting
The reference code is already used
Open the existing match and determine whether it is the same animal. Create a new distinct code when it is not.
The correct species is unavailable
Open Species Intelligence and add or request the correct profile. Avoid using a placeholder species that would change care or genetics behavior.
Housing is missing from the selector
Confirm the Housing record is active, belongs to the current organization, and is an operational Housing type rather than only the top-level facility.
Genetics are uncertain
Preserve the source wording and use the appropriate uncertain state. Do not convert a possible or reported trait into confirmed evidence.