Animal & Habitat Frequently Asked Questions – OERCA | Support

Session & Feeding Management

Can I feed an entire habitat at once?
Yes! Select the habitat you want to feed and navigate to the SESSION section. This works even if there's no Nutritional Plan in place—the food amount you enter will be divided evenly among all animals in the habitat. You can preview the entry before submitting.

What if I don't want to add food in a Session record?
No problem! Simply leave the food amounts unticked or blank. Sessions aren't just about feeding.

Can I change the trainer or session type for one animal in the group?
Absolutely. Head to the DETAIL section in Sessions to customize individual animal data.

What can I record for an entire habitat?

Feeding: Yes, even without a Nutritional Plan
Enrichment: Yes, including overnight or unobserved enrichment
Incidents: Yes, habitat-wide incidents can be recorded
Vitamins/Medications: Coming soon!

What is the "Itemized Notes" section in the SESSION area?
Oh, right - that if you want to add notes specific to only one animal in the group you are recording (as opposed to the Notes up top which are added to every animal in the selected group).

Habitat Management

Can I move all animals in quarantine to exhibit in one step?
Yes! Navigate to the Habitat side, select the habitat, and go to the TRANSFER section. Bulk transfers save you time.

Can I upload habitat images?
Yes, the same way you upload images to animals. Keep your habitat records visually up-to-date.

What does the habitat dashboard show me?
For selected habitat(s), you'll see:

Habitat Activity: Sessions, dives, maintenance, and treatments
Habitat Population: Current vs. target population by species
Operational Calendar: Events planned for the current month
Environmental Results: Most recent water quality, lighting, and sound parameters recorded

Preset Groups & Navigation

Can I create Preset Groups for my habitats?
Yes! Create habitat groups exactly like you create animal groups. Select the habitats you want, click the (+) icon on the bottom-left of the mini-Registry, and name your group.

How do I select a Preset Group I created?
Click the Folder icon at the top of the mini-Registry, then select your group from the dropdown.

Can I share my Preset List of animal groups?
Not yet, but we're working on it! 😊

Can I expand all habitats to see all my animals?
Yes! Click the expand icon at the top of the mini-Registry. Click it again to collapse all.

How do I select all animals in one habitat?
Tick the checkbox to the left of the habitat name in the mini-Registry.

I forgot to select one of my animals—how do I add them?
Click on the animal in the left-side mini-Registry, then click on the section where you're entering data. The menu will refresh and include your newly added animal.

Animal Profiles & Documentation

Where can I record general notes on my animals?
Select your animals and go to the PROFILE section. You'll find the animal Notebook there. Click "Add new" on the footer menu to start a new note.

What is the Animal Profile Timeline?
Timeline shows the selected animal's movement and transfer history—think of it as a personal Registry Activity log specific to that animal.

What's in the Physiological section?
Record body temperatures, respirations, and heart rates for selected animals.

What is Zoometrics?
Zoometrics refers to the measurement and comparison of animal body part sizes and proportions. This is where you'll find BODY WEIGHTS and MORPHOMETRICS.

What do the trend-line graph colors mean?
Nothing. The chart plug-in randomly selects colors to visually differentiate from neighboring charts. It's the trend or bend in the line that's the important part!

Training & Behavior

Can I track new behavior training?
Yes! Here's how:

Create training plans under SETTINGS (gear icon; requires Manager permission) in the Repertoire Library
Click "ADD" at the bottom of the list to create a behavior profile and pyramid
In Animal & Habitat, select your animals and go to PROFILE > REPERTOIRE
Click "Add New" to add the behavior to selected animals
In SESSIONS, click on the Repertoire section to record training progress

Media Management

Can I upload media to more than one animal at a time?
Sure thing! Select the animals from the mini-Registry, then go to PROFILE > MEDIA and upload your images. Whatever you upload will be saved to each selected animal.

Environmental Monitoring

Can I add comments to Environmental Results when it's not an Alert?
Yes! Comments will appear in Analytics Reports and Print Center reports. Non-alert comments will also be editable in the new Edit Center (coming soon!).

Will I see the most recent results when entering Environmental data?
Yes! You'll see a trend graph of the last five results plus the numeric value of the most recent date and result.

Can I group Environmental Locations as a "system"?
Yes, exactly like you did in the legacy tools! Environmental Location Groups work the same way.

I don't see any environmental results in my Animal Home page. Help?
Click "refresh" at the top of the page.

Nutritional Planning

Can I create Nutritional Plans for several animals at the same time?
Yes! When you create a Nutritional Plan and add food items, you have the option to add to "All Selected" or itemized animals from your selection.

Can I update/change the Food LOT across all Nutritional Plans using that food type?
Not yet, but that's coming very soon! (In fact, it's even better than batch updates—we can't wait to show you.)

Treatments & Medications

Can I add enrichment that was left overnight?
Yes! Just set Participation to "Overnight; not observed."

Can I batch record vitamins or medications?
Yes! In the Therapy Plan section, select the dropdown option and choose from "All; Clear; All AM; All PM."

Can I view my recent additions in Habitat Treatments?
Yes! Click on the habitats you need, go to TREATMENTS, and select the History tab to review the last 14 days of treatments added.

How do I record a vet-prescribed habitat treatment?
Once the prescription is made (via Health), the prescribed treatment and amount will show up in TREATMENTS for that habitat. All you have to do is confirm that you added it!

What if I have treatments that are added on a regular basis—do I have to enter them each time?
No! Set them up as "prescribed treatments" in the Health system. Then you only need to tick the box under the Treatments section when you actually add the treatment.

Search & Interface

In the Animal list, can I search by given name?
Yes!

How about Common name?
Yes, that too.

Scientific name?
Of course—we're very scientific around here.

OID?
Not at this time, but it's coming in a future release.

What is the "User Messages" section in the Home page?
Very soon this becomes the "Activity Center" where all your tasks and events will display for the day and week, along with important system messages. For now, it's a placeholder showing system messages from your health or admin team members.

What are the flag and comment icons I see on some animals?

Flag icon: Indicates the animal has a new or changed prescription
Comment icon: Indicates the animal has a new Hot Sheet

Bridging to Legacy Features

I see that "Breakout" and "Inventory" are not available in Animal & Habitat yet—how do I manage that data?
For now, you can still use "Facility >> Breakout or Inventory" on the left navigation panel.

🚀 Coming Soon!

We're actively working on these features:

Vitamins/Medications for entire habitats
Sharing Preset Lists
Enhanced Food LOT management
OID search capability
Edit Center for environmental comments
Activity Center to replace User Messages

Questions? Feedback? Your animal care team is standing by!

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