I understand what you’re saying. But the truth is no matter how long someone has been in this hobby they are still learning and at one time were new as well. And if they truely loved the hobby then they wouldn’t tear people down for being new and asking questions. And I also think if this hobby is something you really enjoy then you shouldn’t let a few keyboard warriors ruin it for you. There are negative people everywhere but for the most part I think this is a good community. Most people here are willing to help and answer questions from what I’ve seen .
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Well said Greg. If you are here and part of the community be a positive member. Learn as much as possible and share what you’ve learned with the new people that will be joining for years to come, do not provide the same negativity that you may or may not have received. Do not let anyone’s negative comments stop you from wanting to be a part of the community, as I’ve said before there’s some great people here that are willing to help. Enjoy the hobby, community, and most of all these amazing animals!
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I deleted Facebook because of the same issues. All I ever really did on there was utilize BP groups, and 90% of EVERYONE in those groups was a know-it-all a-hole.
Sad that people feel the need to belittle people into having no interest in the hobby anymore.
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I come from the pre-faceook, pre-youtube era when all reptile discussion was done within a few key online forums. Back then forums wouldn’t do well if it wasn’t populated by experienced/helpful individuals and moderated with competence. Now we have an abundance of facebook groups that become popular regardless of competent leadership and moderation. They are often not a positive place to learn and share ideas. Morph market completely refined the entire online reptile selling/buying process and created this great place to interact with excellent moderation. There are still great forums out there, like bp.net, but most don’t seem to be very active. Hopefully we will see a shift of people frustrated with the way facebook groups are run to places like this and a return “back to the old days” where we can help people and share ideas respectfully.
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I’m really sorry to hear about that, I really mean that. Those kinds of people arent worth your time and they dont add anything good to this community. People like @stewart_reptiles and @john are extremely friendly and knowledgeable and will gladly answer you anytime and they are the people I like associating myself with on this forum. My experience on this forum has been nothing but amazing and I hope you experience the same thing!
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If you read back to some of the post, the moderators seem to be a problem. I don’t post much on the forums, but the few times I have it was the same 3 replies by the same 3 moderators. The worse part was the information they gave me wasn’t even the information I asked for. They seem to be the know-it-alls around here.
Obviously, this is a throw-away account - I really with I would have done the same at the bp dot net forum.
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I don’t know about friendly. I asked a question about UK vivarium manufacturers and got red flagged for being off topic…
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I have to say, I’ve had trolls and know-it-alls trying to bring me down on occasion when I’ve asked for help, and frequently just been outright ignored, on fb and forums alike. I remember one well established local breeder insisting to me when I was pretty new that you can’t get a visual recessive from pairing two hets (for the same recessive gene), and talking to me like I was an idiot. Luckily my knowledge of genetics was good enough so I knew not to listen. But when I was starting my pairings during my first year I reached out to a few pros by email and Facebook (pretty well known people in the hobby) to ask for some guidance, and they were kind enough to take the time to give me friendly advice and encouragement. I’m far from a long-time breeder and still have a lot to learn and a long way to go, but I have made it as far as I have thanks in part to those kind people who see this hobby for what it really is: something to be passionate about and share with like-minded people.
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@sundown your post was about Death by Coconut. How is this applicable to the forums? Maybe it was an accident, but this is the thing that got removed. Also I see you made another post about UK Vivariums which did not get flagged.
When the mods enforce the guidelines on the forums, and don’t put sugar and roses on it, that doesn’t mean they are being unfriendly.
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Haha although I dont like when people post unnecessary things on here you kinda have to agree that death by coconut is a funny way to go out
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@john the Coconut post was one I was told to send as a" ticket to join". Obviously it was re posted in error while unsuccessfully navigating the site. Surely the overlords recognise their own entry requirements? . My most humble apologies. Let’s hope that no other new members make finger fumbles.
I haven’t had any bad experiences on this forum. In fact, this is the only place I visit to talk about reptiles. I made the mistake of trying to join reptile facebook groups… All I saw were people trying to show reptiles and their set ups proudly (as you should because its fun to share with others) and all they recieved were negative comments about how they are hurting their animals. It was CLEARLY not the case, reptiles are very hardy resilient dinosaurs after all! Its ridiculous. Not only were new owners terrified thinking they were killing their reptiles, but it seemed that other “wannabes” were satisfied with arguing about who knows more. It drove me to the point that I dont use facebook anymore. This is the only forum I actually feel welcomed to even leave a comment. Within the bad there is always good and I have met so many wonderful people through this hobby! I am so proud to be apart of it! It all depends on where you decide to involve yourself. I suppose some places are more toxic than others.
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I’ve been booted from every Facebook group. Mostly cuz I don’t cater to everybody, and say exactly what I’m thinking. Most moderators can’t handle the truth. So I got the boot. But, oh well, I lived before these groups. And, I’ll live without them. But you’re right about Facebook groups. You ask something about humidity, you get a dumb answer like, this is a pic of my 12 gene BP enjoying perfect humidity. I want to say, that’s not what they asked, stupid. Sometimes I do, but mostly try to hold my tongue as long as I can.
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I honestly experienced that too. The point of the hobby is to not only give your reptiles a safe, healthy and happy environment but also for you, as the owner, to be excited about providing, caring and loving every second of it! Some people can be so condescending to beginners and its so discouraging but I promise its worth it. If you do your research and you feel confident in what your doing, your already doing a great job! Welcome to the community! 
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I agree that there are many elitists out there and also breeders who dont want new breeders coming in. Their behaviours also made me feel unwelcome, but I just decided to leave the fb groups and focus on what I want to do, I’m not in competition with anyone and just want to do my own thing, create beautiful animals… life is too short for all the negativity.
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