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  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

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    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

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    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

Are you a LURKER?

Why I don't post on Fauna

  • I'm new to reptiles & don't want to look stupid

    Votes: 37 16.2%
  • I don't have time to post on forums - you guys need to get a life

    Votes: 7 3.1%
  • You people are mean, rude, or just generally not nice

    Votes: 24 10.5%
  • I posted once, but got ignored

    Votes: 19 8.3%
  • Everytime I think of something to say, somebody beats me to it

    Votes: 35 15.3%
  • I know more about reptiles than any of you people

    Votes: 13 5.7%
  • I want to post, but can't figure out how

    Votes: 3 1.3%
  • I only browse forums when I am bored & need entertainment

    Votes: 36 15.7%
  • I don't know how to post pics

    Votes: 4 1.7%
  • All my reptiles keep dying, and I don't want anyone to know

    Votes: 1 0.4%
  • Other

    Votes: 85 37.1%
  • What are you talking about? I post all the time

    Votes: 34 14.8%

  • Total voters
    229
I tend to post on topics I feel that could benefit from my opinion. Or if I'm inquiring about an animal I might be intrested. The poll doesn't really have a suitable option for me hence me not voteing :) its also hard sometimes because the site isn't always mobil friendly (wich I am ok with and not complaining about) but its still my favorite website, I love "lurking" and educating myself from other peoples posts. Just my .02 thanks to all the mods <3
 
I think whether you're a lurker or not is dependent on how you use the site. In general, I use this site far more for the BOI, window shopping, and selling animals than I do for the forums.

But when I do peruse the forums, replies are often a "I am better than thou art" mentality, and there tends to be a lot of angst and hard feelings that I'd rather not be a part of. If someone has a question, I'll do my best to give them an honest answer, but most of the time someone else has either beaten me too it or some snarky comment has been made that I decide it's best not to fuel the fire.

The kind of mentality I'm talking about can actually be seen with the choices in this poll, which I didn't vote on because I felt people were being led into one answer or another. For example, I would've voted "I don't have time to post in forums", since I'm a graduate student working on my dissertation and I'll be taking my comprehensive exams in a few weeks, but didn't because of the nasty added addendum "you guys need to get a life." That was very unnecessary. I'm not sure where all this sarcasm comes from, but it's very difficult to tell what's a joke and what's not considering how hot headed a lot of fauna members can be. To be an honest poll, choices can't be baited like they are here. It's asking for a false representation of what people really think.
 
Poor Harald, I think part of the reason he's so cranky is that so many people don't get his sense of humor.

I promise to stop filling the fire extinguishers with flammable silly string & to swap the Sterno brand burn gel back to the aloe based gel. But only in the clubroom.

I'm still going to keep filling the soap dispensers with pudding though.
 
At first I didn't want to look stupid by saying something the "experts" didn't agree with.

Now I seem to look stupid on a daily basis... :shootfoot

It's alright though because I'm a jerk in real life. Go figure...
 
There should be a semi-lurker option.

I think I would qualify as a semi-lurker. I post where I have information I feel may help or contribute in a hopefully positive way. I avoid drama and flame wars with a passion. I was real active on here and KS up until several years ago and the "good ol' boys" and the flamers/trolls can make it somewhat undesirable to participate.

I also enjoy posting on "fun" threads as well as my posting on this one. It seems that quite often I'm too late to the party by the time I post. This thread is a prime example as the OP hasn't posted on here since 6/09. LOL Day late and dollar short once again.

I've posted on some threads of recent acquisitions and the posts go totally ignored. This reinforces for me the "good ol' boy/girl" sociology of some forums. Where others who are part of the network can post pic after pic and get numerous responses.

I post on the BOI but very carefully. I primarily post there of positive transaction to help other herp consumeres find their way to responsible breeders/dealers. I also rely on others input on the BOI to aid me in my choices.

So I read a lot, post a little and keep my head low.
 
It seems that quite often I'm too late to the party by the time I post. This thread is a prime example as the OP hasn't posted on here since 6/09. LOL Day late and dollar short once again.
Not at all - This thread wasn't about me....and it is 4 yrs old now. The purpose of this thread was to see what holds people back - we get a bunch of people that regularly visit the site, but rarely, if ever, make a post. I know some are here just for the ads, and others only go to the BOI. Heck, there are people that have been coming here for a couple years that don't even know there are discussion forums on this site.
I might not post regularly in this thread, but I still look at the responses :thumbsup:
 
I was one of the ppl that joined originally for the classifieds. I've bought 5 snakes from this site since my short time of joining. My very first post was a good guy post for one of the sellers I bought from here. I have so far stayed away from commenting in the bad guy posts due to the fact that most get away from the topic & end up a "shouting" match between posters who don't agree with each other. I do love reading those posts tho', it reminds me of a soap opera (sorta' - As the fauna world turns, so does the days of our reptiles' lives).

This is only my personal opinion, not a complaint that anyone here has instilled in my way of thinking, but I felt I didn't really have much of a right to post until I became a contributing member. My reason for thinking on that line is that if I can spend multi-X dollars on snakes, benefiting from this site, but not willing to contribute to help keep it going I didn't have a right to complain or say anything.

I am having loads of fun since I joined the "Hell" group, I love it in there & some of the threads are hilarious! I have posted more in there than anywhere else so far (I know, says a lot about my personality, but at my age...I can handle it).

So far on this forum I haven't felt the haughtyness I do on a few others I belong to. I am not new to the keeping of reptiles, especially snakes tho' I'm no expert either. Some of the other forums think & have said as much that if you are new you must be new to reptiles & your opinions or posts are of no importance. I'm new to all the forums as I didn't have internet in my home for many yrs. after my son left home & just returned to it this yr., hence I have no previous online history. Thank ya'll for accepting me here & I will do my best to not let you down with any negative vibes!
 
I usually browse the classifieds first and foremost.The BOI has been very helpful when considering herps from new sources.I guess i just decided to peep the scene for a while and feel things out (wait that sounds too creepy) I think the term i prefer would be thread stalker LOL .Sometimes issues can be resolved within threads but other times theres just that irresistable "jerry springer" quality that you cant stop watching like a train wreck.
 
No. I'm not a lurker. I'm actually shy irl but here, the basic tenet of the site is to help people make good choices in transactions and not get scammed, with side dishes of forums that provide all sorts of reptile and caging and feeding and reptile health info, and other forums that provide fun, social interaction, and an opportunity to talk about what's important to you.

I think if one realizes the BOI is out there to help the reptile community, it makes it easier to post in those threads. After all, even the shyest of us can still feel good about helping others, and one tends to forget about being shy if one is busy helping someone else.

Of course, it helps that this site has come such a long way in the years it has been here. There are rules and mods to assure that brawls are kept to a minimum. And there are a group of thoughtful, often funny, vocal people that call the site their home, and a community reputation of helping others.
 
Actually, I could pick several of the choices. I belong to a bearded dragon forum and followed a link from it to this site. I don't know much about reptiles, especially snakes, and up to 5 years ago, never thought I'd ever have one in my house. Darn things are addictive!

I've lurked for several years before finally registering. I rarely feel that I have much to add to the threads that I read. Most of my thoughts are almost already put down in a more coherent form by the "Big Boys(and Gals). Any thread with DAND, HHMoore, Lucille, Ridgetop Reptiles, Dennis Hultman, Mystick and of course, Critical Bill (RIP), is checked at least once a day.

I'll probably continue to lurk more than post, but now that I've put my foot in the water and didn't drown, I'll post in a few other places.
 
It seems like when an outsider, someone new, or inexperienced posts sometimes the regulars gang up on them. It seems like a lot of the regulars takes the side of another regular by trusting that what they are saying is true, without looking at all the facts. Boi especially. If a regular is being spoken badly about everyone jumps in and immediately defends them. But if someone unknown is being ripped a new one it takes some convincing to change their mind.
 
new

hi all i am new and i guess you could call me a lurker i have been off and on this site but only recently have i been posting, but mostly looking around and collecting info.
 
I mainly come on here to check out the BOI. I didn't realize until here recently that this was an actual forum as well. If I see something that peeks my interest for a comment I will respond or if there are questions I have I'll start a thread but for the most part I really enjoy the BOI. I am however starting to look thru different threads so I am sure I will be posting more.
Tommy "RRJuggalo" Garrett
 
Not everybody but some of the people on here get a lot of nerve when they sitting behind a computer and post comments that could have been keep to themselves and mess the entire thread up if I have nothing nice to say I dont say nothing I not apart of the reptiles community to make people uncomfortable...
 
I post if I have questions, and I will post classifieds when more stuff hatches. I am not the type of guy who posts pictures of what I have and posting them just to fish for compliments.
 
I always seem to forget what I can and can't post in certain places. I'm quite the forgetful idiot like that. Ask my girlfriend lmao.
On top of that the discussion forums for most of the creatures I can relate to or help with are pretty barren. Dozens of posts in the classifieds, zip everywhere else.
I agree with the guy on page 1 who said it seemed more for business. Seems only the ball python discussion section regularly gets new threads/comments.
Posting kind of seems like a waste of time anymore, 4 or so years ago (when I last regularly logged in here,) it wasn't as bad but as I've been lurking without logging in for the last month or 2 because I forgot my password, it seems as though no one else posts regularly except the moderators and the people selling their reptiles.

That's pretty weak IMO. Maybe its just forums in general dying out, I don't know.
 
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