TortKeeper App

[fritzgerald]

Hey everyone, big update on this project. It's been about a week since I posted and a LOT has changed. Feel free do delete the previous thread and I'll post everything here instead.

I thought maybe a new thread was warranted with all the updates and changes that have been made to the app I'm creating. I actually decided on the name TortKeeper, bought the domain, and got all fancy with it. The UI has been completely redone, it no longer looks like it was built in 5 minutes (@Yvonne G , dark mode actually looks good now, and light mode is still there for you along with a few more light/dark options. "Sand" is probably my favorite light theme.).

Here's a rundown of what it can do at this point:
Dashboard
- Overview of all your tortoises with stats at a glance
- Upcoming and overdue care tasks so you know immediately if you missed something
- Weight trends, activity frequency, mood distribution, and top foods charts
- Live sensor readings if you have MQTT sensors set up

Feeding & Meal Plans
- Log every feeding with foods from a shared community database (you can add your own too)
- Meal planning so you can plan out the week ahead of time
- Feeding history with charts to see patterns over time
- Eventually I want to add the variety warnings I mentioned before (flagging too many brassicas, etc)

Health & Growth
- Weight and measurement tracking with growth charts over time
- Growth milestones to mark the big moments
- Health logs for observations, symptoms, vet notes
- Vet directory where you can save vet info and leave reviews for the community

Activity & Diary
- Daily logs for behavior, mood, activity level
- Historical charts so you can spot changes over time
- This is the part I use the most personally, just quick notes about what Pip was doing that day

Care Tasks
- One-time or recurring tasks (soak every 3 days, clean enclosure weekly, etc)
- Priority levels and due dates
- Notifications through email, Pushover, or ntfy so you actually get reminded even if you're not on the app
- Shows up on the dashboard and on each tortoise's detail page

Enclosures & Sensors
- Track enclosure details, equipment, substrate, cleaning schedule
- Live MQTT sensor integration for temperature and humidity (this is the nerdy part)
- Historical charts for conditions so you can see if temps dropped overnight or humidity is trending wrong
- Respects your C/F preference in settings

Other stuff
- Multi-tortoise support, everything is tracked per tortoise but you can see it all together on the dashboard
- Photo gallery for each tortoise
- Settings for temperature units, date/time format, timezone
- Light and dark mode
- Works great on mobile

It's still in development and I'm sure there are bugs I haven't found yet, but I've been using it daily for Pipsqueak and the core stuff is solid. I'm looking for people who want to try it out and tell me what works, what doesn't, and what features you'd want to see. You don't need any technical knowledge to use it, just make an account and start logging.

URL: https://www.tortkeeper.io
Demo Account:
- User: demo
- Pass: demouser
** Or create your own account and just use it since it's pretty slick

If anyone has questions about it or runs into issues just reply here or PM me. I'm also open to feature suggestions, the feeding variety warnings are still on my list and I have a bunch of other ideas but I'd rather build what people actually want to use.

Sorry @Yvonne G , I took all the screenshots in dark mode. But! I did throw on an extra one in the "Sand" light theme with the different themes displayed in the top right corner.

 

[fritzgerald]

Some of the roadmap ideas I'm actively working on or want to build eventually. No particular order.

- Feeding variety warnings: The app would track what food groups you're feeding and flag if you're leaning too heavy on one type and suggest alternatives. Basically taking the advice people here give and building it into the app so you get nudged automatically.

- SensorPush (and additional IoT sensors) integration: MQTT works great if you use Home Assistant but I figure most people aren't running that setup. I've seen SensorPush recommended and used around here so that's next on the sensor side.

- Environment alerts: Automatic notifications if temperature drops below a threshold you set, humidity gets too low/high, sensor goes offline, etc. The sensor data is already there, just need to build the alert rules on top of it.

- Vet visit reports: Generate a summary PDF of your tortoise's recent health data, weight history, feeding logs, etc. that you can bring to a vet appointment instead of trying to remember everything.

- Species care profiles: Preset care guides and recommended ranges for common species so when you add a new tortoise it can set up suggested temp ranges, feeding guidelines, and care task templates automatically. There is A LOT of good guides and information here that I plan to incorporate in to build this out.

- Community features: The food database is community fueled and a community built vet directory with reviews is in there, but thinking about ways for the community to contribute more (food reviews, care guides, enclosure setups).

- Better mobile experience: Future plans are to build Android/iOS mobile apps for it.

- Shared household access: Multiple people being able to manage the same tortoises. For families or breeders who have someone else helping with care. Currently, your tortoises, enclosures, logs, etc. are all tied to your account and only accessible by you.

- Breeder tools: Clutch tracking, incubation logs, hatchling records. This is further out but I know there are breeders here. So hopefully I can get some ideas from seeing posts here.

- Plug and play integrated controller: This is a FAR FAR out plan but the idea is to build a standalone smart controller with all monitoring, timers, sensors, etc. built in that can integrate directly into your account. Again, this is a LONG way out idea, I'm still working on building my controller that DOESN'T plug and play connect to it.

If there's something you want to see that isn't on this list, let me know. I'd rather build stuff people actually want than guess.

 

[zovick]

Some of the roadmap ideas I'm actively working on or want to build eventually. No particular order.

- Feeding variety warnings: The app would track what food groups you're feeding and flag if you're leaning too heavy on one type and suggest alternatives. Basically taking the advice people here give and building it into the app so you get nudged automatically.

- SensorPush (and additional IoT sensors) integration: MQTT works great if you use Home Assistant but I figure most people aren't running that setup. I've seen SensorPush recommended and used around here so that's next on the sensor side.

- Environment alerts: Automatic notifications if temperature drops below a threshold you set, humidity gets too low/high, sensor goes offline, etc. The sensor data is already there, just need to build the alert rules on top of it.

- Vet visit reports: Generate a summary PDF of your tortoise's recent health data, weight history, feeding logs, etc. that you can bring to a vet appointment instead of trying to remember everything.

- Species care profiles: Preset care guides and recommended ranges for common species so when you add a new tortoise it can set up suggested temp ranges, feeding guidelines, and care task templates automatically. There is A LOT of good guides and information here that I plan to incorporate in to build this out.

- Community features: The food database is community fueled and a community built vet directory with reviews is in there, but thinking about ways for the community to contribute more (food reviews, care guides, enclosure setups).

- Better mobile experience: Future plans are to build Android/iOS mobile apps for it.

- Shared household access: Multiple people being able to manage the same tortoises. For families or breeders who have someone else helping with care. Currently, your tortoises, enclosures, logs, etc. are all tied to your account and only accessible by you.

- Breeder tools: Clutch tracking, incubation logs, hatchling records. This is further out but I know there are breeders here. So hopefully I can get some ideas from seeing posts here.

- Plug and play integrated controller: This is a FAR FAR out plan but the idea is to build a standalone smart controller with all monitoring, timers, sensors, etc. built in that can integrate directly into your account. Again, this is a LONG way out idea, I'm still working on building my controller that DOESN'T plug and play connect to it.

If there's something you want to see that isn't on this list, let me know. I'd rather build stuff people actually want than guess.

It all looks pretty nice to me. Congrats on the creation!

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

@mojo_1 and @Alex and the Redfoot might be interested in this.

 

[mojo_1]

I'm liking the progress. Looking forward to the SensorPush addition

 

[fritzgerald]

It all looks pretty nice to me. Congrats on the creation!

Thank you!

I'm liking the progress. Looking forward to the SensorPush addition

Thanks. I don't have one to test with so I'm kind of flying blind with only the documentation. If anyone wants to chime in with models they use, I'll pick some up.

 

[mojo_1]

Thank you!


Thanks. I don't have one to test with so I'm kind of flying blind with only the documentation. If anyone wants to chime in with models they use, I'll pick some up.

These are the things I use.

https://amzn.to/4u0LEBG

https://amzn.to/4tYYeS5

 

[fritzgerald]

These are the things I use.

https://amzn.to/4u0LEBG

https://amzn.to/4tYYeS5

Ok, good, you use the gateway also. The gateway would be needed to integrate them. I wasn't sure if anyone actually bought it also or if they were just using Bluetooth. I just ordered a gateway and HT.w. Should be here today between 2-6 so I'll start working on getting that going and writing up a guide on how to set it up. I only work on it in the evenings during the week so it may be about a week before it's done.

 

[mojo_1]

Ok, good, you use the gateway also. The gateway would be needed to integrate them. I wasn't sure if anyone actually bought it also or if they were just using Bluetooth. I just ordered a gateway and HT.w. Should be here today between 2-6 so I'll start working on getting that going and writing up a guide on how to set it up. I only work on it in the evenings during the week so it may be about a week before it's done.

I'm in no hurry. I'm working out of state probably till July or so. I haven't been home since the end of December.

 

[fritzgerald]

I'm in no hurry. I'm working out of state probably till July or so. I haven't been home since the end of December.

Oooph. That's a long stretch away from home. No worries, they're out for delivery right now and it's on the roadmap so may as well do it now.

I'm also building out DB tables at the moment, of species and subspecies so they're searchable and selectable instead of having to type it in. Should keep it consistent rather than having random entries, and make it easier when linking care guides and pre-filling recommended environment settings.

 

[mojo_1]

Oooph. That's a long stretch away from home. No worries, they're out for delivery right now and it's on the roadmap so may as well do it now.

I'm also building out DB tables at the moment, of species and subspecies so they're searchable and selectable instead of having to type it in. Should keep it consistent rather than having random entries, and make it easier when linking care guides and pre-filling recommended environment settings.

Awesome! Can't wait. I am away from home for long stretches. But I always have eyes on Mojo.

 

[fritzgerald]

Awesome! Can't wait. I am away from home for long stretches. But I always have eyes on Mojo. View attachment 398850View attachment 398851

Haha I do the same. I keep the camera on at my desk while at work.

SensorPush is done. It polls the API every 60 seconds (which is a limit set by SensorPush).

Anyone want to buy a G1 Gateway and HT.w sensor? Only used for a whopping 2 hours.

 

[mojo_1]

Haha I do the same. I keep the camera on at my desk while at work.

SensorPush is done. It polls the API every 60 seconds (which is a limit set by SensorPush).

Anyone want to buy a G1 Gateway and HT.w sensor? Only used for a whopping 2 hours.

Return them to Amazon.

 

[fritzgerald]

It's been a little while since updating this thread but there's been a lot of progress on the app.

SensorPush is now integrated and works for live sensor readings and auto tagging health logs with the current readings.

Food database now searches USDA when entering a food so it can pre-populate information some of the information for you.

Vet directory is built out and prefills information via Google Places API.

Vet visit reports can be exported to PDF from the Analytics page.

Health analytics page to view data and trends across a single or multiple tortoises. Also has an optional AI Insights that can be enabled in settings (disabled by default).

Care guide system is built but I don't have any care guides created yet.

Some other minor things here and there, general cleanup and fixes.

Next in line is Shared Household access (multiple accounts linked to the same tortoise(s) and enclosure(s)) with different access level roles. You can share access with friends/family who also take care of your/their tortoises, or to a care giver or pet sitter so they can log things for you without being able to destroy your set up. Building out species and age specific care guides (this is going to take a lot of research here and a lot of time though).

Also started on the integrated controller today as well. Starting with 4/4 and 8/8 demos. The idea is for the ability to use any type of sensor in any of the 4/8 sensor ports with 4/8 plugs configurable to whatever you want (heat, lighting, timer, sunrise/sunset, always on, etc). Just set your input/outputs, set your desired environment, and let it go. Self contained and fully standalone or integrated into the app. No more mixing and matching sensors, timers, thermostats, etc.


I also want to give a big thanks to @mojo_1 for all his feedback and bug reports.

 

[mojo_1]

I think the App is great. I look forward to all the updates and new features. Thank you @fritzgerald for building the App.