Newcomers with questions...

[Animal Mother]

I've noticed recently, since I started visiting this site on a daily basis, that a lot of people seem to jump right in without much thought.

Some give off the impression they are wanting quick fixes, answers to questions that are already posted, many, many times before and wouldn't be hard to find, with little effort put forth.

I hate to say it, but if someone's not willing to put forth the effort to do the research to find the answers to their questions, I seriously doubt they are willing to do the routine maintenance it takes to keep a ceph pet.

I know it's not neccessarilly the case with every single person that asks the basics. It's just something that concerns me.

 

[monty]

yup, that's a real concern, but it's not clear how best to handle this... I think you've been great about being friendly and respectful. Unfortunately, that sometimes leads to frustration and burnout, but I try to always keep in mind that the person deserves the benefit of the doubt, even if they seem to be going in half-cocked. Some great contributors to the site have started out that way... although others who start out that way continue to be frustrated and frustrating...

 

[Brock Fluharty]

I agree, but the best thing to do is probably just direct them to the articles for keeping a bimac, and then other articles. I really feel sorry for some of you moderators and administrators. All the spam, and people just jumping in, and you are always the ones to direct them to where they need to go.
I think I speak for every TONMO'er when I say that you all do a wonderful job, with your cephs, and with the forum.

Brock

 

[Nancy]

This is a problem that we've had since the beginning of Ceph Care -people who want to be given all the answers rather than reading the articles and learning. Colin and I felt that it was insufficient to simply provide quick answers, like Animal Mother observes. Would-be ceph keepers must dig deeper and learn the hows and whys of successfully keeping an octopus or cuttlefish. It's more work, but ceph keepers need to understand more than the basics before they begin.

Many of these newbies take the challenge and learn, and go on to become successful ceph keepers. And yes, there are a few that don't want to bother learning on their own. We try to be polite to everyone and support them, but we need to refer these people to the articles and other resources (like the stickies on equipment and protein skimmers). We appreciate your suppport in this.

And thanks for the kind words, Brock.

Nancy

 

[UNMC2010]

cont'd

First of all I want to thank everyone on the forum again for being an unbelievable resource and for being so kind. I am one of the rooks, but I did read as much on this site as I could before I purchased an octo and I have been very successful so far (knock on wood!!). I have tried to say thanks after many posts, as I do (as do many others) appreciate all that this site and its members have to offer.

However, I definitely see where you guys are coming from. I know that it is frustrating to see people act irresponsibly, especially when it involves another life!

Being a med student I have been experiencing non-compliant patients more and more. This is very frustrating for me, as I work very hard to do my job the best I can and have sat through way too many classes just to be totally ignored. If I were to act too sternly with these people, however, they may be less likely to actually get better.

I think the way the moderator's have handled this website (for what I've seen) has been awesome. As long as people are aware of the correct way to do things and are nudged in the right direction, you are doing well.

Also, many people don't know about this website and get terrible info from local stores. I know when I was inquiring about getting into this, I was given tons of advice, most of which was worthless. Luckily, I researched a little on the web and ran across your site. Living in NE, it is difficult to find a group of people knowledgeable about cephs. So if I hadn't found this site I would have been scrambling on false info. In my opinion, a great number of people don't bother to do actual research until they run across trouble. This could explain some of the newbies (no disrespect, I just like the terms newbie and rook!) posting in a hurry without reading other posts.

I realize that I may be making excuses for people, but I have to give people the benefit of the doubt (being involved in medicine) in order to avoid strangling people!!

I'm sorry for being terribly long-winded but wanted to chime in. Once again, I can't thank you enough for all the help. I would have been probably failed in my attempt to keep my octos without the info on the site!! I also don't mean to act like I know it all, as I am new to all of this.

The first time I asked at a local store, a guy tried to get me to order a blue-ring from him exclaiming, "They are so cool and they are even poisonous, even deadly." I just don't understand the desire to have a deadly pet!! That is the last thing I want to worry about.

Thanks again,
Garrett

 

[Colin]

Well, as Nancy has said, we have always encouraged people to do the research required before getting a cephalopod as a pet.

We have always stayed away from the instant gratification nation!

Thanks for all the kind words and one of the best things that I can hope for; is that all the members try to help the newer members in pointing them in the right direction. Even if it is just pointing at articles or suggesting looking at past posts - it all helps, so thanks from me too