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Speak Up or Keep Quiet?

H

HappyHillbilly

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Hi there!
I've got something buggin' me that I wanted to get some opinions on.

If a person posts photos of their reptiles to show them off and their reptiles are obviously in poor health (fat, skinny, or whatever) is it not our responsiblity to say something about it? I don't think we should blast the OP right off the bat, but put it in a nice manner.

Let's face it, there are quite a few people that just don't know what they're doing or know what a healthy specimen of their particular reptile should look like. Some people think small snakes should be skinny and big snakes should be fat.

What gets me is when I see several other forum members reply to the photos of an obese snake with comments of "Beautiful snake!" or "Nice photos!" and not one mention of the poor health of the poor animal.

For the record, I haven't seen anything like that here at Fauna, but I've seen it on a few other sites that I'll not mention by name.

Should we keep quiet and not speak out? One of the main reasons I participate in forums is to try to help better the lives of reptiles, not pat their keepers on the back for merely (and sometimes, barely) keeping it alive. I want to spread knowledge. Another reason I participate in forums is to learn. Some of the things I've learned on some forums I could've gone the rest of my life without ever needing to know (I'll not go there).

So, what's your take?

Thanks for sharing, and caring.

Have a great day!
HH
 
Just remember that no good turn goes unpunished......... :ack2:
 
LOL! Ain't that the truth!

Six "Atta boy"s and one "Pretty snake. Do you realize your snake is......." and guess who's Bad Bart.
 
Happy Hillbilly said:
Have a great day!
HH
Click to expand...

I was skimming along, saw HH, and thought you were talking to me, lol.

back on topic
It's hard to point out things like that without either offending somebody, or coming off like a :censored::censored:. For some reason, that classic faux pas just entered my head - asking, or commenting about a woman being pregnant...then getting the look and hearing the (angrily spoken) words "No, I'm just fat"
 
hhmoore said:
I was skimming along, saw HH, and thought you were talking to me, lol.

back on topic
It's hard to point out things like that without either offending somebody, or coming off like a :censored::censored:. For some reason, that classic faux pas just entered my head - asking, or commenting about a woman being pregnant...then getting the look and hearing the (angrily spoken) words "No, I'm just fat"
Click to expand...

I am so doing then when I am big and preggo. Either that, or I'll get teary eyed and say it is an inoperable tumor.

But to the other HH, I have approached people in super sugar-coated PMs before. Typically, I've been told to go take a flying leap but I have also had a few people seem genuinely interested in figuring out if there was something they could do better. I know I have learned some valuable things from being approached discreetly online by those much more educated than myself.

I think approaching them that way decreases the odds that they'll be defensive out of embarrassment from being called out in public, and will also avoid the standers-by calling you out for being a douchebag.

Any way you do it, though, you have to be prepared for the very real possibility that you WILL come off as a douchebag. Nobody likes being corrected by strangers or being told they're doing a crap job of caring for an animal they are proud of and are getting positive feedback on.
 
Ha! Yeah, the ol' "pregnant or fat" ice breaker. Works every time (Doesn't it Jessica?).

It is awfully hard to not be offensive in situations like I mentioned, no matter how you word it. Jessica, you make a good point about PMing the person. If I address situations like that I always try to make it clear that I surely don't mean to be offensive, but that doesn't always work. After all, we've all got a bit of pride. Even me.

Sometimes, on some forums, I feel like something needs to be said for all to see as we know there are usually 10 times more people silently reading in the background. With one of the most popular myths being that heavy-bodied snakes are supposed to be fat it's hard for me not to try to inform as many people as I can. Seems like most of the "Nice snake!" comments come from inexperienced keepers, too.

I'd much rather make a friend than an enemy, but I'd also rather someone have a healthy snake that lives a long life than die unnecessarily. Danged if you, danged if you don't, 'eh?

I think that sometimes we can get desensitized on forums. I always try to consider the other person's feelings, thoughts, etc, but sometimes I almost expectthem not to take things personal.

Thanks to all of you for taking the time to share your thoughts. :thumbsup:

hhmoore said:
I was skimming along, saw HH, and thought you were talking to me, lol.
Click to expand...
Ha! Ha! Well, from this point on, when you see me sign my posts just smile and know that I thought of you because I'm sure I will after you having said that. LOL!

Later!
HH
(No, not you, Harold.)
 
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