What is the point....

[sunshinegeckos]

oh sorry the uhmm alright after me stating that was sort of a clue that you thought differently. If you dont want people to assume stop making snide little comments and come out and say what it is you mean.

 

[Wild West Reptile]

You guys should go get drunk like me!! It's way more fun to be drunk and post! Oh damn, I am on timeout, wasn't supposed to post. TTY next week.

Christina, turn off your computer. It's not worth it. There will always be someone who will try and argue. Let it go! Have some liquor like me! The gecko forums drunk guy!

 

[sunshinegeckos]

You guys should go get drunk like me!! It's way more fun to be drunk and post! Oh damn, I am on timeout, wasn't supposed to post. TTY next week.

Christina, turn off your computer. It's not worth it. There will always be someone who will try and argue. Let it go! Have some liquor like me! The gecko forums drunk guy!

lol I think I will just go to bed. I am done and I have nothing left to say. I have said enough. Good Night

 

[Russ S]

poop

Put a cork in it.

 

[Syn]

oh sorry the uhmm alright after me stating that was sort of a clue that you thought differently. If you dont want people to assume stop making snide little comments and come out and say what it is you mean.

No thank you, I think I'd rather make a new thread about it and do so passive-aggressively. :main_laugh:

If I don't want people to assume? Snide little comments?
:main_laugh::main_laugh::main_laugh: Oh boy, don't you have somewhere to be?

"I think I will follow you out of here. It is bed time. Good Night have fun without me"

 

[fl_orchidslave]

Christina, we see new hobbyists come on here asking questions. They truly need our help. It doesn't take long in watching their posts to determine their level of commitment to the well being of their geckos. I think the worst thing we can do is to see a post that is outright incorrect advice and not step up, and if nobody else has, I might. If they don't want to listen to good advice, it becomes obvious rather quickly and I don't waste my time posting to them in the future. A lot of folks here know a lot of stuff, and along with it, there's going to be differences of opinion. People with experience know the difference between fact and opinion.

A lot of times I just shake my head and move on.

 

[MiamiLeos]

i LOLed at this thread. Christina I'm sorry your thread got sort of hijacked with nonsense. Some people just like to argue for the sake of arguing. haha

 

[M_surinamensis]

That got a few pages longer.

As a generalization, I'd just like to respond to the idea that there is more than one right way... that's often true about many things, different techniques, different approaches, different schools of thought. It's also not true about some other things, there are some posts that are made which are objectively wrong.

I'd cite some examples, but it's generally as easy as looking at my post history, since I tend to bring it up when I see them in unambiguous terms.

As to the four pages of the stuff that seems to be going on here surrounding some specific thread, I'll choke back on my inclination to dissect it at length and just leave you all with a reaction photo. Nathan Fillion was kind enough to have the same reaction I did while reading this.

poop

I'm with Robin on this one. Poop indeed.

 

[sunshinegeckos]

Christina, we see new hobbyists come on here asking questions. They truly need our help. It doesn't take long in watching their posts to determine their level of commitment to the well being of their geckos. I think the worst thing we can do is to see a post that is outright incorrect advice and not step up, and if nobody else has, I might. If they don't want to listen to good advice, it becomes obvious rather quickly and I don't waste my time posting to them in the future. A lot of folks here know a lot of stuff, and along with it, there's going to be differences of opinion. People with experience know the difference between fact and opinion.

A lot of times I just shake my head and move on.

Your right and I need to remember that. Yesterday was a bad day lol

 

[animeavatar]

It is their fault if anything happens to their pets. They were given free help(aside from electricity bill LOL) and they refused to take it. Some people are worse. I've seen too many people go and get a pet they have no clue about( especially turtles). Sure turtles are cute when they are small but a pet is a commitment. You as the owner should do everything you can to make your pets' life as awesome as possible. I don't consider my pets my pets. They are family. If you don't know what tap water conditioner is then don't get a turtle( the latest thing I witnessed was someone asking the petstore guy if the water in the bag was okay to use).

 

[KelliH]

Is this directed at me Kelli? I try to learn from as many sources as possible. I have learned a lot from members on this forum and am very glad I found this forum. I dont just take one source on the internet for fact. I try to find out as much as I can from as many sources as possible. Unfortunately with some things only one source is possible. I try to only give advice when I know something about the topic(which is why you will rarely find me on the breeding, egg incubation or hatchling care forum unless I am asking a question)

No, it wasn't directed at anyone in particular at all.

 

[KelliH]

:smoking:

 

[Russ S]

:smoking:

Kelli, you are awesome.
Love ya.

 

[sunshinegeckos]

Kelli I was just making sure. I didn't think it was.. Love the picture

 

[M_surinamensis]

I'd cite some examples, but it's generally as easy as looking at my post history, since I tend to bring it up when I see them in unambiguous terms.

Case in point...

If you don't know what tap water conditioner is then don't get a turtle

There's a great deal of variety in both tap water and turtles, but with a very small number of exceptions among both, tap water conditioner is not really necessary to keep turtles.

Some few species of turtle are hypersensitive to contaminants, as well as other aspects of water chemistry, and do require calculated manipulation of the conditions in which they are kept in order to remain healthy.

Most turtles are sufficiently hardy so that normal dosing levels of chlorine or chloramine and the common ranges of aspects like pH and hardness aren't going to have a significant impact on their health. Most turtle enclosures will not have a biological filter bed sufficient to keep up with the rate at which waste is produced, so the nitrogen cycle isn't really a concern either.

Some tap water will have properties that push it outside the range of what is healthy, massive doses of chlorination agents, extreme water chemistry, toxic levels of metals and so on. The thing here is... if the water is actually that detrimental to the health of most turtles, a little sodium thiosulfate and blue dye is not going to fix it.

I'm not saying water conditioners should not be used, they do have some benefits under most circumstances... I am just saying that they should not be looked at as an instant-fix for tap water problems or as being a vital piece of necessary care information for keeping turtles in captivity. Consequentially, a knowledge of water conditioners or the choice to use them should not be considered the defining difference between educated expert care and ignorant neglect. Especially when the person doing the judging doesn't know what they do and how they do it, themselves.

On the other hand...

the latest thing I witnessed was someone asking the petstore guy if the water in the bag was okay to use.

That's actually a pretty intelligent question to ask, for a couple reasons.

Most importantly, pet shop water, as with pet shop everything, has a higher than average chance of functioning as a disease transmission vector. It's a side effect of high stocking densities and rapid overturn of stock; lots of animals coming in, lots of animals going out. While better shops will take steps to inhibit the transmission of any illness causing organisms, these steps are not 100% effective; quarantine procedures, disinfection of tools between uses, housing different shipments in separate enclosures even when the species/ages are the same... helpful but not certain. So pet shop water has a higher than average chance to be harboring disease agents, bacteria, parasite larvae, even viral loads. Limiting an animal's exposure to it, even by a small amount, is usually a smart move in species which are not at high risk of acclimatization shock. Doubly smart if there's any chance that quarantine is going to be inadequate or absent and the new animal will be in contact with existing pets.

Secondly, the small volume of water that an animal is transported in will become saturated with animal waste. Especially in species, like most turtles, which will defecate or urinate as a stress response. It may still appear clear to the naked eye, but water with an animal in it is becoming fouled pretty much constantly. There's really no benefit to adding that water, and that waste, to the enclosure. It just means that the water in the tank or bin or tub is that much less clean and ideal that much quicker.

So... smart question. Good question. Solid question. Not remotely evidence of uncaring ignorance or some astonishing lack of knowledge. Condemning the person asking that question and making assumptions about them... well, I'll just let you work that part out.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

I think one of the most frustrating things for newbies is getting a bunch of ambiguous and conflicting information. In most cases if there is enough research done, intelligence and common sense is all that's needed to wade through all the "poop" and come up with the best possible answers to the most common questions. I also agree that people should not respond to posts if they do not have the answers, or if the answer is obvious.

On the flip side, it is frustrating for the more experienced keepers to continue answering the same questions over and over, especially if whoever asked them argues or refuses to take the solicited advice. But, we veterans must remember that in reality we cannot tell anyone what to do or not to do... we can share our own experiences and make suggestions. Ultimately, we have no control over what people do with this information, but we can diplomatically and respectfully correct inaccurate statements and cite the reasons why it is incorrect.

On a forum-based information community, it's often difficult for new people to the hobby to tell who is more experienced and credible. Just because someone has a couple of reptiles, a catchy name, and a website, doesn't necessarily mean they are experts qualified to give advise. Just sayin'...

 

[Russ S]

On a forum-based information community, it's often difficult for new people to the hobby to tell who is more experienced and credible. Just because someone has a couple of reptiles, a catchy name, and a website, doesn't necessarily mean they are experts qualified to give advise. Just sayin'...

Another thing you can't rely on for experience level is post count.
I see tons of people that haven't been a part of forums very long that have incredibly high post counts. But if you look at their posts, it's mostly "Oooh, pretty" type posts.

 

[Sunrise Reptile]

"Have a smoke and a pancake..."

 

[animeavatar]

They also asked if they could put the turtle in with silders and other types. The petstore said yes but I'm not sure about turtles but I know that most animals( different types) shouldn't be kept together. They were just teens( or young people) that thought the turtles were cute. A group of friends encouraging a girl to get a turtle( because hers died I think). I doubt the girl tried to figure out what was wrong. I hate it when people go and be like " Oh! This animal is sooooo cute! I should get one right now!" Without even researching. Apparently my cousins get pets without properly researching the care. Their mom freaked out when I said that one of their pets needed at least a 10 gallon. They have a halloween crab, betta fish and a goldfish. They think a 10 gallon is big. I can give them mine if they'd like but I doubt they'd take it.
And thank you for teaching me something new!
It was a softshelled turtle.

 

[robin]

i love you blue <3