Feeling discouraged.

[Reesy]

When I first started coming on this site everybody seemed to be so helpful. Now as time has gone by I feel like the little guys'gals like myself are being left by the wayside. I don't have any fancy snakes but I still love them just as much as I would if they were spyders or pieds. I am a breeding for the first time and I am full of questions and anxieties over this. I have recently posted several topics without getting any response so my questions remain unanswered. I once believed that this site was the most informative and helpful on the web. My beliefes or beginning to waiver. I have noticed a certain click on this site and am wondering how this could be. Shouldn't this site be more about the pros helping the newbies. I have raised some of my snakes for over 4 yrs without any complications but now have rescued a little one and she has some problems I need help with, I'm feeling like nobody cares because she doesn't have fancy genetics. "Oh, it's just another normal, not worth anything anyway".

[JLC]

I'm feeling like nobody cares because she doesn't have fancy genetics. "Oh, it's just another normal, not worth anything anyway".

I can absolutely assure you that this is not the case. This site is all about the normals and the new keepers who need help the most. I, for one, get a great deal of personal fulfillment by helping out, and I'm quite sure I"m not the only one. However, occasionally threads DO slip through the cracks. Maybe the people that would normally answer weren't around or able to reply when it was posted, and it slipped far enough beneath new threads that they didn't see it. The holidays are upon us and a lot of us are extra busy and not online nearly as much as we usually are. If a post doesn't get the attention you need it to within a day or so, go ahead and bump it back up. That's usually all it takes.

There are things we can't control. We can't control other people's personal perceptions of the world around them. If someone comes here looking for rudeness, they're sure to find it, for instance. Even though 97% of the content is not rude at all. We can't control groups of people who have built a history together and keep them from posting in like manners so that they don't appear "clickish".

The staff here (and a LOT of the membership community) works extremely hard to keep the site friendly and open to everyone who needs it. But when hundreds upon hundreds of people use it every single day, there's only so much we can do. We can't customize the overall atmosphere to meet every single individual expectation. Threads will occasionally slip by unanswered. Folks do sometimes get a little impatient, snappy, or downright rude. Groups of people form friendships and respond to that friendship and history when they participate together.

There are other sites out there that you might look into. I don't know...maybe something smaller would be a better fit? A lot of members participate in multiple sites because every site is unique and each one meets a different need. But it's my hope that you'll stick around through the inevitable bumps in the road...because things almost always smooth right back out again.

[PitOnTheProwl]

This is what it is like on most message boards.
I hate to admit it but there are some people that only want to benefit and not contribute.
Then there are those that just have "smart" answers that are of no benefit to anyone.
I try to help when I can but I have only been into snakes for a couple of months and have many questions too.
I am just use to how people can be because I have had several boards that I either monitored or membered on for Bully breeds and there are a lot of people that talk a good game just to say they are a member and they want to "help" but then do nothing.

In short, I feel your pain.
Web searches seem to be my best help lately.

[PitOnTheProwl]

ps, there are 2 other reptile boards i joined, and this one is by far the most informative and active.

[anatess]

Sometimes people don't respond when they know the answers are on the "stickies" or the caresheets. It gets a little monotonous to answer the same questions over and over.

I've never felt like anybody look down on normals over here. I just finally got my very own normal this year and I was so excited about it - but, he is having problems. He was hatched on 7/31 and right now is still only 69 grams. I'm afraid he won't make it, so I'm not getting too attached to him. It's going to rip my heart open if he doesn't make it as it is.

Normals are what usually gets people started in the hobby. It's a very important part of this community. Also, every big breeder have their big normal girls that are an integral part of their breeding programs. And the adventurous breeders have their normal dinkers that they love to breed out to see if they can produce a brand new morph.

So yeah, we love normals.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Sometimes people don't respond when they know the answers are on the "stickies" or the caresheets. It gets a little monotonous to answer the same questions over and over.

I understand that (more than most), we get the same questions over and over on Texas Kayak Fisherman. Sometimes several times in the same hour BUT this is when/where we guide people with their interests.

I tend to pick and choose what I say because I can piss everyone off really quick when I type what I really feel

[mainbutter]

If you had questions about crested geckos, you would have at least gotten a response from me. Not all of us have kept ball pythons for 10 years and have a collection of dozens upon dozens of snakes.

Also keep in mind, not everyone here is capable of answering all your questions. Some of your posts are best answered by 'take her to the vet'. I don't know if there are ANY active members here who are vets. Getting a sickly, underweight, underfed, dehydrated ball python (regardless of whether it is a normal or super duper candycane laser explosion pikachu) isn't formulaic. Diagnosing any secondary problems/illnesses caused by dehydration, starvation, and cold is also difficult at times.

Sometimes most people here just don't know a good answer to your questions. Don't let THAT make you feel like you're being ignored.

[wilomn]

Yup, six weeks is a long enough time to have run the entire gamut of this site.

Uh huh.

You may, perhaps, just possibly, want to give it a few more days before you decide that your initial impression was erroneous.

I haven't seen any of your threads asking questions. It's entirely possible that I am not the only one. Don't be afraid to bump a question a time or two but, if you don't get an answer after asking a time or two, it may be that no one who has read your query has an answer.

If you stick around you'll see that there is a lot of help available here.

[rabernet]

I will also echo that normals are just as beloved as the mutations here. Some of my favorites in my collection are my big normal girls that I lovingly raised from wee babies to the big lovely girls they are today.

A ball python is a ball python is a ball python - they just have different paint jobs.

[Big Gunns]

Big Gunns has the solution for all your troubles. After every post make sure you say. "I'm Big Gunns biggest fan". This works every time.

Don't worry...people know you've been neglected. They'll help you now.