Hello !.........goodbye...

Originally Posted by bitsy

Must admit I don't remember seeing threads with wrong or dangerous advice that have gone uncorrected. I've always thought that the members of this board generally make sure that things like this are dealt with, rather than left unchallenged so that beginners are led astray if they trip across the thread later. I know if I find something like that, then I'll give an alternative opinion. I don't think giving questionable advice is necessarily limited to new owners, either.

Yes, we can get asked the same basic things time and again and I don't always answer if I'm just passing through. But if I have time to do so, then I will. I'll occasionally point people to the Search function, but it tends to be for issues where there are many potential answers and one question/thread is unlikely to give them all the available options. In fact I've done it tonight for someone trying to find a lost hatchling - a trawl of old posts might give a useful measure of how successful certain techniques have been in the past. You won't get that depth of view just from answers on one current thread.

The posts that worry me are from people who arrive with "I just bought a Corn - tell me how to look after it", or "I want to breed Corns - tell me how to do it". I realise that people end up with surprise rescue snakes sometimes and urgently need a quick fix reply on how to get it set up, which is a bit different to planned ownership. Folks write books filled with what an owner needs to know, so expecting a message board to take on that role, isn't that realistic. I'll happily help out someone in an unexpected bind, but I tend not to respond to those who just haven't thought it through. I'm not their spare brain.

Bitsy,
Will you be my bestie?

I tried to use the search function a couple days ago to look up and old thread so i will use this as an example.

I wanted to look up King Ratsnakes. Now, when i typed king ratsnake (or king rat snake) into the search function, i came up with EVERY thread that had king, rat, or snake in the thread, which is A LOT. (including this one). The only problem with that is i wanted to find the thread talking about king ratsnakes and i still found no info on the subject under question. Therefore i gave up and started a thread cause i knew they could point me in the right direction. So, at least i tried the search function, but it doesn't work for everything, especially commonly used words lol. I think fresh info never hurt anyone but it isn't that hard to try the search function first and see if finding anything is possible because a lot of the same questions are asked over and over. I think it is just a problem with the super new noobs cause they just don't know where to start, but i would rather have them ask then not find out at all. Just my $0.02

Originally Posted by SamanthaJane13

...She probably held his hand when he had to pee.

I still can't find anyone to do this for me ^^, some people are just born with a golden spoon i guess lol, I wish i was that lucky

The only problem with that is i wanted to find the thread talking about king ratsnakes and i still found no info on the subject under question.

Searches including common terms are going to bring up lots of dross that you don't need - that's the same with any search engine. When I entered "King Ratsnake" in the Advanced Search, I got a page of mainly unrelated threads, but two that were directly about King Rats (admittedly, one was yours!). A search facility doesn't remove the need to do a little work. In any case, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask a question *after* you've tried Search and drawn a blank as you did, especially when searching for something that isn't likely to crop up on the board too often. You made it clear in your post on the subject, that this is what you'd done- it looks like you had a positive response rather than being told to go and search again.

As I said, I tend to only refer people to Search when they'd benefit from a more in-depth view than they'd get from one thread. I suspect the search term "escape" (my last use of the technique) might bear a bit more fruit!

Bitsy, why are you awake at 2:52 am? You must be on the other side of the world or something.

You wouldn't believe my excuse, but anyway, I just can't sleep. That's why I read this whole thread....LOL.

I'm in the UK and it's late morning here!

Not sure if this thread makes great reading for the sleep-challenged. How about some nice relaxing progression threads? They always put me in a good mood!

Originally Posted by Nanci

WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did TTT think this site was mainly about talking about cornsnakes???

Betsy, you called me Susan...

And I've been called Nanci several times. Pay it no mind. I don't.

Originally Posted by bitsy

I'm in the UK and it's late morning here!

Not sure if this thread makes great reading for the sleep-challenged. How about some nice relaxing progression threads? They always put me in a good mood!

Well I hope your morning is going well...

I guess I'm not the only one awake early. Susan just posted. Anyway, this site has been intriguing me for the past couple weeks. I think it's because I love ratsnakes, and corn snakes are ratsnakes; because it's almost winter and I always have lots of time on my hands in winter; and because I find the people here intriguing, although there is usually a generation gap or two...

Awake? I've been at work for half an hour!

We're two hours behind you Floridians. What are you doing at work before the sun comes up, Nanci? LOL!

Playing Words With Friends and posting on CS.com I mean getting my schedule ready for when radiologists arrive at 0800! (Lots of computer and paperwork...)

LOL!

Aaaaaah, you youngsters. Always spending your time working at something constructive...

I gotta work in the yard in a couple hours. We have a water leak. Checked all the irrigation lines yesterday. Did a lot of digging to make sure where everything was at. Now I know it's in the main line from the road to the house. Hope we get it before I have to take out a loan...haha! Have a great day, but don't work too hard....