My little rant......

I am seeing a disturbing trend going on in the forums as of late.....to put it suscinctly: Newbies giving other newbies bad advice/information. IMO, this has to stop.

I hope I do not convey an image that I think I am "holier than thou" or "better" than anyone else.....I am just very concerned that some of the members here may not be getting the proper help they need from the proper sources. I can think of several instances (I won't name names) where advice that was given was extremely erroneous to the extent that it was potentially dangerous for the animal(s) involved and whoever decides to follow said advice.

I am not the most knowledgable person in the world nor do I see myself as the end-all, be-all of herp keeping. I just see something that bothers me, so I'm going to voice my opinion about it. We all are here to learn....and that process is interrupted when certain individuals take matters into their own hands and throw chinks into our smooth sailing here.

I realize that many of us here are eager to learn and share our new-found knowledge with others....this can be a great thing if properly harnessed. If handled improperly it can be diastrous. OK,. thats my rant for the day.....thanks for reading, lol.

[maniac]

This is obviously a public forum. Maybe instead of people taking it as advice they look at it as a second opinion... People say what they believe and even though newbs give other newbs advice some are still more expeierenced then others, Its pretty obvious you are more expiernced then most of the people on this forum and can look down on most of our mistakes and correct them as you see fit to your expierences. It is always good to have a correct opinion and maybe instead of looking at it as newbz giving other newbz advice, its a little bit more safer for the forums to just look at it as a "been there done that" situation and if you know what to do you might as well share your expierences in order to help somebody who is not as familiar with what you have already done (ie: cage setups,lightings, etc etc..).. people like you David have good use in these forums.. And thats making people like me or anybody else more aware of problems that might happen and aware of problems that I myself might have coming to me.

[Marla]

I think if n00bs come looking for advice and get input from 4 or 5 people (as is typical here), and all but one are giving the same advice, the n00b will go with what the majority are saying unless s/he really didn't want advice in the first place. We all know that there is more than one way to approach just about every aspect of husbandry and still get it right -- for example, getting humidity right through water dish type and size, a mister or humidifier, live plants and misting, a humid hide, etc. All of those work and all are safe for the snake and keeper, so it's a matter of what works best for a given situation.

I think we should save the extreme reactions for when keepers are doing something unsafe for the snake such as using an unregulated, unmonitored reptile heat mat, or having an exposed heat source inside the enclosure, and otherwise just approach things in a friendly way, such as "I used to do that too, but I get much better results since I switched to doing this," or "My ball python has become a regular eater for me since I replaced his thin cardboard hides with heavier, more secure hides."

In other words, it comes down to there's a lot of ways to skin a cat and you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.

[The_Godfather]

I think a good husbandry debate is always welcome, I think it is insane to expect all people to follow a single train of thought as far as husbandry goes. And most "newbies" giving advice learned it from others, crappy husbandry advice spreads like wildfire as we all know.

I just hope that in 99.9% of cases where bad advice is indeed spewed there is 10 times as many people with the correct advice to counter it.

Advice is a good thing, bad advice is a bad thing. But bad advice that goes uncountered in a herp forum is terrible. People like you David keep the good advice flowing over the bad, which keeps everything in check and the proper husbandry known.

[RPlank]

I am seeing a disturbing trend going on in the forums as of late.....to put it suscinctly: Newbies giving other newbies bad advice/information. IMO, this has to stop.

I agree with your line of thinking, David, but the question may become "Who is qualified to dispense advice, and not considered a n00b?" I don't think we can make such qualifications, as we don't know everyone on the site, their experience or maturity level, or their level of prior research. Ultimately it is the individual keepers responsibility to corroborate independently the advice they have been given with other sources.

I, for one, will never tell someone, "You are not qualified to give advice." That is not my call to make. If people come here asking questions, anyone is entitled to answer, even if they are wrong. Other members of the site can post more appropriate answers, and the original poster can decide which advice they want to follow, if any.

[JLC]

I have to agree with Randy. It's the keeper's responsibility to cull through all the advice they get and figure out what is best. I don't even own a ball python, and yet I frequently give advice on keeping them. Am I too newbish to do so? No one has yet complained about the advice I give. Yes, I sometimes see a "newbie" giving advice to questions asked...and sometimes that advice is questionable. And if you're seeing that, too...that means something is working RIGHT...because you are there to step in and offer something better. In the end, it's up to the person who asked the question in the first place to decide what makes the most sense. It's not up to us to decide who should and shouldn't be posting advice....because if it were, then I doubt I would make the cut.

[gozetec02]

If no one gives advice then how are people supposed to learn from each other. People usually come here in despiration to find an answere to their particular problem. If someone gives advice that may not be fully correct but maybe partialy then its up to the more experienced keepers to intervene not to correct the person. The person who posted the incorrect information can deduce for themselves what is the right thing to do. Looking at other posts and such people get that AH HA feeling or enlightened to correct any problems that they have.

These posts are not to just answer one question at a time. For example lets say someone has a question about humidity. People then respond to that question and often times the string tends to wonder on to other aspects of husbandry. When someone comes across this string they learn from the posts writen by many people. In other words we are here to work together to help people. Even though there are some inexperienced keepers here imagine how much they are learning just by going through one of these strings. If people take offence to being told that the husbandry methods they are using are dead wrong then they will be very rulectent to change. We cant make everyone happy all the time but here the well being of the critters are the first things on our minds and not to worry if we hurt someones feelings.

Read this if you need to be reminded why we are all here. I made this post not too long ago. http://www.ball-pythons.net/PNphpBB2...ic-t-2907.html

[QuenteK25]

In the end, it's up to the person who asked the question in the first place to decide what makes the most sense.

I have to disagree with that statement a bit. If someone is coming to the forum to get some advice then they obviously don't know what to do in the case of whatever they are asking about. If it is left up to them to decide "what makes the most sense" they may not choose what is right.

Example - It "makes the most sense" to feed live since that is what snakes eat in the wild. Yet that is a horrible idea. I believe all are entitled to give advice on what they feel qualified to do so. BUT when someone gives incorrect advice it SHOULD be pointed out as incorrect by a more qualified keeper so that the member asking the question doesn't choose the wrong advice by the simple idea that it is "what makes the most sense"

I'm not saying NObody should give advice......and I know you all will agree with me, there are some members here who just have no business telling other people how to care for their animals when they have little to no idea how to do so themselves.

And Kent brings up an excellent point......how is a newbie supposed to know what advice is good and what isn't? They have to go by what we say......and if someone tells them not to use tongs when feeding because they're "sissy" or some other BS like that.....what kind of impression is that going to leave? Whether we like it or not, we have a major responsibility by posting on these forums.....we have alot of influence over what other herpers do, especially when they come here looking for help.....we should always try our best to point them in the right direction(s).

[Wizill]

i read more idiot advice on this herp forum than any other i visit. and i mean that with the upmost respect.