A message to all please read, etiquette to others.

I've been working on this post for quite some time and I think it finally needs to be said and noticed. Just a big thing before anyone says anything I have been part of the groups that I'm referring to.

We all come here to learn and help our beardies. Maybe some of us are here to help others, maybe some are just bored and come here others are here because they are worried. We all gotta that everyone is a person and can be wrong. We can always be at fault. People get the wrong information sometimes and we almost outcast them from here saying "OH my god you complete 1diot, why are you doing that you are going to kill your beardies OMGWTFBBQ." Please be more polite to them. You gotta remember alot of these people went to the pet store where in all honesty these people should be more educated in the pets that they sell. You also got to remember they only get a slight bit of training before being put on the floor to make the company money.

Now in all honesty if you came on here and just bought a dragon from the pet store where these "knowledgeable" people told you to buy all the right things and here you are showing your dragon and just giving your set up and all of a sudden a flame war starts saying "Oh my god you need to change that quickly, if you do not your dragon will DIE!!!!!?!?!." What would your honest opinion be? I would think that you are freaking insane and need to go to a mental hospital. We need to act more polite to others, when I came here looking for help because I was so worried about my swatke I was met by Drache613 who without a doubt was so polite and helpful to me and so many others here that she saved my dragon who is now just so healthy it's scary.

Everyone we need to make sure we greet all people with politeness and not go off on them. In all honesty when I saw dragons sleeping on each other I thought it was cute but after more knowledge I found out not good at all. People think like people and think animals are their own children some time. We think they need friends as well and want to rush out and give them company before some of us do research. And here you go to a pet store and they have dragons together and say "oh they are so happy together." Please do not rush to these two smilies and press them adequately like this , it does not make you seem smart and just very trigger happy. Try to inform the person of the consequences and that anything could happen. Try to reference other incidents on this website so people can see that it does happen.


So final word everyone, lets start changing, lets keep people here, lets tell other beardie owners to come here to get the right knowledge. We all know this is the best place to come if we are looking for help and lets make sure we spread the word.

Thanks for reading.

I couldn't agree more with what you wrote. I know people have the best of intentions but sometimes it comes across wrong. I know that I have felt like I have had to justify things in my pictures that may or may not be right or wrong prior to posting the pictures.

Sooo just think of how things you write would hit another person or how it would hit you if you read it.

Can't we all just get along?

I must say I agree, though.

I first came here in Oct of 2006 when I bought Jojo. Like said,the petstore gave me all the wrong info.When I came here I was only greeted with polite ppl giving me the CORRECT info.I did not experience any hostility at all.I think overall most of the members here are very helpful and patient

I also think that it's really hard to read feeling behind a post. It may be read as harsh when in actuality the poster didn't want it to sound harsh.
When I first became a member, there was this one member who was soooooo mean and impolite. She had been here for a long time and I guess she felt that everyone should already know what she knew....but isn't that the reason most of us came here to begin with? We needed to learn. Well, she wasn't having any of that and she was just a hateful person. She did alienate a lot of people. Since she's left I haven't seen anyone of that calibur (she was bad with a capital B) but I have seen some rudeness and pushy responses which is why this thread is such a good one. Hopefully, everyone who reads your thread will take a bit from it and try to put themselves in the readers shoes and think before they hit that submit button! One can hope, anyways! :lol:

Thanks for starting this thread, what a good idea. I know you put a lot of thought & time into it and that is appreciated. It is true that it's very hard to word things politely sometimes but if everyone re-read their posts before hitting the "submit" button, they may realize that they could have worded things a little more politely. We are all here to help or to ask for help because we love beardies. So, giving examples of what we've experienced in nice way rather than stating "you NEED to do this or that", would make them more receptive to the experiences we're sharing and perhaps change their minds on things. Where would our beardies be without this forum? I don't even want to consider answering that question. So, let's all work together in keeping this forum nice & calm which will help encourage members to post about any concerns/questions they may have without them feeling that they will be ridiculed in any way. :wink:

Great post and very well said, I agree completely. This is one of, if not the most, informative sites available on the internet regarding Bearded Dragon care, husbandry and advice etc. Sometimes things can become a bit harsh or heated when it is a sensitive subject or topic. However most if not all of us are here for the same reason we care about our Dragons and want to care for them the best we can. I really like this site, don't post often but stop by and read several times a week. I am very glad to have access to all the information and knowledge available to me here and look forward to stoping in whenever I can to read and interact with all of you.

Chris

I don't post all that often but I lurk on the regular and have learned so much from this site and the people who are kind enough to offer their advice. But, when I thought my Harley had yellow fungus a while back, I chose to contact Tracie privately and ask for her help instead of posting my concerns publicly and allowing everyone to chime in. The reason for doing it privately through PM's as opposed to a post in the "Health" or "ER" section was for the very reasons the original poster pointed out. During my lurking, I've seen quite a many new beardie owners get tossed about, grilled and verbally bashed by knowledgeable well meaning people who are sincerely trying to help this new owner but are going about it in entirely the wrong way. And in the end, all they managed to do was alienate or scare away the new owner they were trying to help which, doesn't help at all.

I'm not the poster girl for patience as I have very little and when I see someone doing something that's potentially harmful to an animal, it's knee jerk to want to go on the offensive but it's not the right way to handle a situation, particularly a situation such as the one often found here--a new owner giddy with excitment over their brand new beardie who wants nothing more than to do the right thing but was given a fount of BAD information before they left the pet store.

I also agree that more times than not, the one trying to help didn't intend to be rude but typed words don't exactly relay the emotion intended so it's hard to tell. It's a fine line but taking an extra moment to reread what you've written before it's submitted would make a big difference and may spark more participation from users who are lurking in the backgound.

Very awesome thread Poison! I could not agree more!

When I came to this site I found a thread about my little 2-headed miracle boys. Actually that's what caused me to join. I've been bashed all over the Internet for doing nothing other than trying to share and look for help. It was not the nicest of threads at first. Fortunately I was determined to set people straight on the harsh and mean things that were being said. As I really needed a awesome community like BD.org where I could find help and support. Luckily by sticking around most of those people that were bashing me for having Zak-n-Wheezie did come to me an apologize. It was that experience that convinced me from that point on to do my best to greet every new-comer as we can not help anyone or their beardies by chasing them away. :wink:

I sometimes wish that in the "Introduction" forum that people were not allowed to ask questions instead let it be just that and introduction where we can welcome the new comer. So if someone asks questions that you feel your answer will upset them or be to overwhelming don't answer just say, "Welcome Aboard. We can not help those that truly need help if we don't make them feel welcome.

Good post. When I got Sunny at the pet store, I got a lot of BAD information. I almost lost him because I had the wrong bulb. My vet said that he was lucky to be alive!!

And I also was told to use the calci sand. :x Grrrr

But with the help of everyone on this board, Sunny is healthy and strong at 1 year old...and the love of my life!! :love10:

I have been involved in a few different boards...Cockatiel...Dachshund...and by far, this Beardie site is the nicest. I don't ever see anyone yelling at each other or insulting each other. It is really nice to come here to share stuff and to learn stuff. And now, with my year's experience, hopefully I can help someone who was like me...told the wrong info.

Thanks Beardie Parents!!! You are a great group!

I just have to say THANK YOU for all the level-headed responses here. I have seen this same type of good-hearted post go very wrong on other boards!

thank you for this post. since i joined this forum earlier this year, i have been amazed at how nice everyone is to each other. for the most part, even when verbal debates are occuring, they are genuinely civilized responses.

once in a blue moon, you see an abrupt response from someone. but as it has already been pointed out, perhaps the emotions are misinterpreted by readers.

I also agree with this post. When i posted my frist topic on here about my two beardies fighting the first response i got was a message that said "Well they shouldnt be housed together in the first place" That was it. just a cold sentance that did not offer any advice on how to fix the problem. Luckily for me amazingly polite and smart people came along and helped me out. I want to thank them for their patience. I know that it is probably hard for them to post replies for all of the new people that have the same problems. I have learned alot from them and now i can help others!

Great post! I totally agree, though I have been lucky and don’t recall ever being made to feel stupid or inferior on any threads I have posted. When I came here I was having problems with Thor (who has since passed on). I was doing a few minor things wrong, but was corrected with kindness and consideration. Thor’s problems went on for several months, during which I was touched by the kindness of those who posted to my threads in the ER. I felt like they were genuinely concerned about Thor and me, as if we were a part of their family. For those who helped me and made me feel so welcome, I can never thank you enough.

I agree we have to be very careful about how things are stated on here. I recently replied to a thread in a very quick and emotionally charged way and it turned out that I had misunderstood the intent of what was going on in that thread. It was a reminder to me that while posting on internet forums you have to be able to read between the lines and try not to jump to conclusions. Overall, I think this is a wonderful site for information and care practices. Our goal should definitely be to welcome people with open arms and kind words to encourage them to stay so we can help them and their BD’s. I don’t know what I would have done without the members here when Thor was sick, and I would like to believe that everybody who comes here can have the same experience I did.