Why can't we all get along?

[Rnd210]

Look, I know I have recieved one infraction do to acting like a moderater ( I didn't even realize at the time that I was) but I was being a mother and trying to protect or give a child some advice as to not post certian things, apparently it was more that I worded it wrong.

I hold no hard feelings towards the moderaters as I know they were doing their job. Look, everyone has a job to do, rules and guidelines that they need to follow that pertain to their speciffic job duty. If more poeple would look at it this way then their would be no need for the "Why can't we all get along" forum or the "The Moderaters or so mean" forum. There are many other forums that does not even have an area for these complaints. So consider yourself lucky to be able to complain and guit knocking the Moderaters for doing their jobs.

This forum could and probably would be really bad if it wasn't for them doing their jobs correctly.

To all the Moderaters Thank You for doing a wonderful job with this forum and site!

[blackarrow]

Originally Posted by sdpiggylvr

I've obviously turned people against me, and that's not what I wanted.

No, really, it's not personal. Because someone doesn't agree with something you say doesn't mean that person is against YOU. Disagreement doesn't mean dislike, or at least it shouldn't.

[princesspoppy]

Originally Posted by sdpiggylvr

Fudgenrolo, not everybody I didn't feed exactly what I was supposed to before I found this site, and I still don't. I feed Oxbow pellets, Tim. hay, and mixed vegetables, but not the "one cup per pig daily" rule, because that is excessive in my opinion as the guinea pigs are veyr small animals and do not need that much. .

Without sounding pompus or harsh but don't you think you should be feeding the correct amount of veggies.

Originally Posted by sdpiggylvr

Blackarrow - I'm not offering excuses for people who don't take the time to learn about a guinea pig, but at least they do when they come on here! not start a fight.

It doesn't look as if you are. (since you don't feed whats recommended in a Gps daily diet)

[sdpiggylvr]

Poppy, please! My guinea pigs are healthy with the diet they get! Don't go against me like this, it doesn't feel too good. I am sorry if you disagree with the way I take care of my guinea pigs, but as far as I am concerned they are fine and a little less vegetables is not going to kill them.

[princesspoppy]

Originally Posted by sdpiggylvr

I've obviously turned people against me, and that's not what I wanted. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have posted this thread.

Not at all. Every one has an opinion. It's what makes us all unique.

[angiekay]

Originally Posted by sdpiggylvr

I've obviously turned people against me, and that's not what I wanted. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have posted this thread.

I agree, I also apologize and shouldn't have posted here either. Did not mean to offend anyone, and I'm sorry. I do NOT want to be on anyone's bad side on this forum.

Opinions, everyone has them, that's a freedom that some take out of context.

[Ly&Pigs]

Originally Posted by trump_cinnamon

I do think the mods are harsh. There's no question about it. They may say "it's for the good of the site!" I'm not buying it.

Do you know what it takes to run a forum of this size on a daily basis? My guess would be that you don't. There are so many things that we mods have to do and contend with each and every single day. It's your personal opinion on whether you think we are harsh or not. Sometimes we have to be depending on the situation.

Originally Posted by trump_cinnamon

However, there are some rules, (or should I say laws?) that tick me off. Such as the "no more than 3 smilies per post rule". Say I posted something 6 paragraphs long. I would want to set the mood for each paragraph with a smilie, but can I? NO! Of course not! I will get a rude PM saying I broke the rules. Lovely.

There are quite a few rules such as that one, which are just unnecessary.

This is an adult based forum. It is not a cotton candy, fluff filled kiddie forum. We have many of the rules we do so it doesn't turn into one. It's often hard reading through posts with tons of smileys/emoticons, symbols, signatures, and other unnecessary stuff. Actually we've eased up on smiley usage these days you can now use up to 3 smilies/emoticons in a post and we won't infract. However, symbols are still not allowed.

While you may think some rules are unnecessary, we find them quite necessary and the forum would soon go downhill quickly without many of the rules. We know firsthand as we've tried it before.

Originally Posted by trump_cinnamon

And the mods always post with a certain hint of superiority. Like, "I'm better than you, my name is written in green. Whatever I say goes. Even if I am wrong. I don't care about your opinion."

But I don't know what it is about the mods! When she became a mod, she started talking like all the other mods. It's like they are all talking in a monotone.

I don't think I am better than anyone else and I do care about opinions but when those opinions refer to bad advice or reflect poor care, I am going to correct the information. If you are going to make blanket statements like this then you need to link to threads where such is going on. I'm not quite sure what you mean by the "monotone" comment either.

And did you know that when you say "mods" and you aren't specifying a specific one, you are lumping us all together into one group and that would include the forum owner as well.

Originally Posted by sdpiggylvr

...but it does kind of aggrivate me when I get a PM saying I did something wrong. It's usually about something I wouldn't have even thought would be against the rules, and that annoys me a little bit.

Originally Posted by sdpiggylvr

I understand the rules clearly and I follow them.

If you have read all of the rules, policies and guidelines then you shouldn't be receiving infractions for rule violations.

Originally Posted by sdpiggylvr

I feed Oxbow pellets, Tim. hay, and mixed vegetables, but not the "one cup per pig daily" rule, because that is excessive in my opinion as the guinea pigs are veyr small animals and do not need that much.

Why do you feel it's excessive other than they are small animals? Do you know why we recommend the minimum of a cup a day? It's to meet their nutritional needs for vitamins and minerals. Will they survive with less or none? Sure but they can also suffer health problems over the long term.

I also see you are getting very defensive when people post their own opinions in regards to things you are posting.

I think everyone should take the time to read this thread if you haven't already or re-read it again if it's been a while.
Can't We All Just Get Along

[sdpiggylvr]

Ly&Pigs, I posted this thread merely to state my opinion and hear others' opinions. I have nothing against you or the moderators, as I have said. I appreciate their presence and know that it's a safe forum with them, but sometimes the "moderation" is a little annoying. But when all is said and done, I would rather have you guys here than not. You help keep the forum the great place it is, and that is important to so many people here.
I do know and follow the rules as best as I can, but everybody makes mistakes and it is sometimes unclear as to if different things are allowed or not.
Actually, now that I think about it, what I feed daily actually does amount to about a cup daily. But honestly, I think it's a little unnecessary to feed them the variety and amount that is recommended. I feed usually about two-three different vegetables, about a cup daily, more or less; a piece of fruit. It gets expensive quickly to feed guinea pigs a cup daily, though. And I'm very apprehensive to buy several kinds of veggies when they are going to spoil in a few days anyways. I still try my best.
Thanks for moderating and reading my thread. (Please don't be offended.) Thanks again!

[Seonta]

Even when I was PMed by a mod for something I said, I did not blame the Mods.

If you are on here to discuss your animals or learn how to treat your animals appropriately, then you will learn to just read. I do not blame the Mods for wanting to keep the place tidy to give it a bit of a professional feel... after all what adults are going to want to stick around if it looks like the place is ran by a bunch of teenagers and children? Also they need to correct members that post the wrong information regarding the care of animals because if a passerby who is just scanning the site reads it and do not read the posts after it they might think the first speaker is correct and then mistreat their own animals by accident.

I believe the mods are fair and they will hear you out if you do not explode at them. When a person is corrected over and over they should learn to change their behavior and start posting correctly. It is no different than putting a child in a corner. Yes you are taking offense to it but most children scream and cry about being in the corner too until they learn to accept it and learn that this is their reminder to what is appropriate.
The Mods could make a public example out of you and post your names on a big thread listing the mistakes people do- THAT would be cruel/mean/etc.

If you are having trouble with many of your posts being attacked for capitalization and punctuation then try to make your posts in microsoft word or another writing program that will flag your mistakes.
As for you smile faces, lack of appropriate guinea pig food, and the other things you may have been called out on- Remember that you are responsible for your actions and the effect it has on people around you, animals you care for, and the way you are perceived by the internet world.

Do not make yourself or this forum look incompetent.

[Ly&Pigs]

Originally Posted by sdpiggylvr

Ly&Pigs, I posted this thread merely to state my opinion and hear others' opinions. I have nothing against you or the moderators, as I have said. I appreciate their presence and know that it's a safe forum with them, but sometimes the "moderation" is a little annoying. But when all is said and done, I would rather have you guys here than not. You help keep the forum the great place it is, and that is important to so many people here.
I do know and follow the rules as best as I can, but everybody makes mistakes and it is sometimes unclear as to if different things are allowed or not.

Step into our shoes for a moment. It's not always easy moderating a forum of this size. Do you think we love handing out infractions? I can't presume to speak for the other mods but for myself, the answer is no. I honestly don't like giving infractions but as part of being a moderator, I was tasked with doing it when needed. There are a lot of little things I let slide. But other things I just won't let slide because then others will start doing the same and then the forum ends up a mess. People don't often understand what it's like being in our shoes and dealing with the many things we deal with. Personally, I've been called probably every name in the book and then some plus have had many derogatory comments made about me.

I also wanted to mention that if you are unsure of something (whether something is allowed or not or rules) you can always private message one of us mods and ask.

Originally Posted by sdpiggylvr

But honestly, I think it's a little unnecessary to feed them the variety and amount that is recommended. I feed usually about two-three different vegetables, about a cup daily, more or less; a piece of fruit. It gets expensive quickly to feed guinea pigs a cup daily, though. And I'm very apprehensive to buy several kinds of veggies when they are going to spoil in a few days anyways. I still try my best.

But you still didn't answer my question. Why do you feel it's unnecessary to feed the recommended amount? I also feel I need to mention that 2-3 veggies isn't enough of a variety. If you aren't able to give enough veggies and a large variety don't you think that's doing a huge disservice to your pigs? They rely on you to provide them with the essential things they need, a variety of veggies in the recommended amounts is essential to their overall well being and health.

[MissFormosa]

The three smiley rule is in place because the rules clearly state that you can only include three pictures to a post. The smileys are considered a graphic.

I find it unfortunate that people come here looking for answers and they don't like what they hear and leave. I always hope that they will be able to put their anger aside and find the answers they need from somewhere in order to provide the best possible care.

I wish that some disgruntled members could take the disagreements they may have on this forum and use it as critical criticism. It is all for the benefit of the pigs and that is why we are all here.

I also enjoy the forum being moderated. It takes out a lot of the unnecessary garbage. This makes things easier to read, find, and tolerate. The mods are doing their jobs. You can't ask more than that from them.

My attitude about the whole thing is that if you don't like it and can't follow the set rules, then maybe this isn't the best source for you to find information.

Where ever you go, there will be rules and authority. Follow it unless you have a good reason to question it and you have valid facts to back up your argument. Anything else is complaining, whining, and whimpering and no one is going to have the patience to deal with it. Simple as that.

[Aquena]

Originally Posted by Fudgenrolo

Well I've said this before but I'll say it again!

I'm a member of several forums. Some of them I don't really go on hardly at all these days as the mods are so busy being 'nice' to members they don't correct things that are blatently wrong - important things that will have a serious impact on the lives of the animals the forum is supposed to be there to offer good advice on! For example; a hamster forum I use never corrects people that use tiny cages for their hamsters such as a Hamster Rody for a Syrian - which may mean nothing to non-hamster-people - but it's way, way too small for active rodents like Syrians.

Yet; instead of saying 'It's too small. It's cruel and you need to buy another cage for the well-being of your hamster' - they say things like 'well I've used one of those before and it's not too bad. Maybe you might want to upgrade but if you can't it'll be fine' when it won't be fine!!

I was having a discussion on another forum today and the girl on it was feeding massive amounts of horrible mixed food to her rabbits. So I commented on it saying that pellets should be fed and in far smaller amounts. A mod comes on and says 'well it's not ideal but it'll probably be ok' - it's not ok!!

Animal care forums should be about the welfare of the animals and not about tickling forum users ears and playing to people's egos.

Yes there are ways of putting things but if someone is here then you can reasonably assume that they have already had *ample opportunity* to research via the internet and indeed via this forum so there is really no excuse for people coming here and posting (sometimes almost proudly!) about how their cage is too small but it'll be ok for now right? Everything this site is about says 'NO!' it most certainly is *not* ok! But people want to be told something different?

I have little time for people that don't research when they have access to the internet. Ignorance is not an excuse. I've researched extensively on every animal I've ever had - before the web that was via books - but how grateful I am for websites like this!! Thanks mostly to this forum; my Guinea Pigs have a wonderful life - a roomy cage, pleasant, comfortable bedding (that doesn't have to be thrown away every week!) and good nutritious food. I wouldn't have had a clue without this website.

So thanks to the mods for doing what they do.

Thank You. Back in June, as a first time Guinea Pig owner, I did what many people unfortunately do: I went to a pet store, picked out my piggies, bought the cage and supplies, even a book on Guinea Pig Essentials, set up the small cage and THEN went on the internet and found this site (thank God)

Maybe I would not have realized (right away) the importance of having a LARGE habitat for my piggies, foods to avoid, and other concise directions if it were not stated here so directly and clearly. When the Mods and other owners correct us, we learn and other people reading posts will learn too.

I am glad there is no chat speak, and people should spell and punctuate correctly - it avoids misunderstandings.

The mods have to draw the line somewhere, think of this site as a textbook for learning. It is good the mods keep this professional and concise.

[trump_cinnamon]

Originally Posted by Ly&Pigs

Do you know what it takes to run a forum of this size on a daily basis? My guess would be that you don't. There are so many things that we mods have to do and contend with each and every single day. It's your personal opinion on whether you think we are harsh or not. Sometimes we have to be depending on the situation.

Actually, I am a mod/ admin of another site, thank you very much. It seems to run just fine, and there are no mods running around crazily enforcing smiley and color rules... Just saying.

[Seonta]

You join a club, it has rules, you are removed from membership if you break them. Doesn't matter how crazy the rules are. You hired on a job and they say you can't wear anything red... you wear red and you're fired. You take the position/job/membership/etc... you should be aware of the rules and you should follow them. I don't care what the rules are. You join, you follow. That's the way it goes.

[sdpiggylvr]

Okay, to answer your question about my guinea pigs' diet, Ly&Pigs, I honestly don't know why I feel it's unnecessary. Maybe because they are such tiny animals it seems over-the-top to feed them a whole cup per day. Rabbits need 2 cups of vegetables per day, but many people don't feed that much because rabbits have been proven to live healthy lives without having veggies. I know the guinea pigs aren't rabbits but it's a similar concept, to me. I do feed them veggies daily, so it's not like I'm doing a "huge disservice" to them. The veggies I feed them amounts to about a cup per pig.
What I feed my guinea pigs is what I feed my guinea pigs. I'm sorry, but they're just guinea pigs and 1 cup of 2-3 veggies as opposed to 1 cup of 4-6 veggies is not going to kill them! Don't get me wrong, I love guinea pigs and consider them a member of the family but I don't feel the need to feed them a huge salad of several different kinds of veggies. I do feed them about a cup of veggies with 2-4 different kinds and they are perfectly healthy. Period.

[Peggysu]

Originally Posted by sdpiggylvr

I'm sorry, but they're just guinea pigs.

I hate when people say this. To me they are not JUST guinea pigs, nor is my dog JUST a dog. Seriously, they are my family and give me much joy. they deserve to be happy, they didn't ask to be taken care of by you.

As far as veggies go, they will eat all of it. It's not like they will eat a little and waste the rest. What a poor life. Veggies are a healthy part of their diet and also play into their environmental enrichment.

[juliaaa]

Originally Posted by sdpiggylvr

Okay, to answer your question about my guinea pigs' diet, Ly&Pigs, I honestly don't know why I feel it's unnecessary. Maybe because they are such tiny animals it seems over-the-top to feed them a whole cup per day. Rabbits need 2 cups of vegetables per day, but many people don't feed that much because rabbits have been proven to live healthy lives without having veggies. I know the guinea pigs aren't rabbits but it's a similar concept, to me. I do feed them veggies daily, so it's not like I'm doing a "huge disservice" to them. The veggies I feed them amounts to about a cup per pig.
What I feed my guinea pigs is what I feed my guinea pigs. I'm sorry, but they're just guinea pigs and 1 cup of 2-3 veggies as opposed to 1 cup of 4-6 veggies is not going to kill them! Don't get me wrong, I love guinea pigs and consider them a member of the family but I don't feel the need to feed them a huge salad of several different kinds of veggies. I do feed them about a cup of veggies with 2-4 different kinds and they are perfectly healthy. Period.

You are doing a huge disservice to your pigs by simply having the mindset that "they're just guinea pigs". Because "they're just guinea pigs", does this mean that they're less important to you than say your dog or cat would be? That simply is not fair. And how would you like to only eat 2 or 3 different foods for you entire lifetime because your parents felt it was "unnecessary" to give you more?

[Heady]

I also have to say that I'm glad the mods are here and I'm glad they do the job they do. It's nice to be able to read at my normal speed without having grammatical mistakes or chat speak interrupt that flow. While I find smilies useful to convey the tone I'm using, I'm glad there is a limit of 3 because people would go nuts reading my posts spattered with smilies.

I've already made a few mistakes in my posts and I found it helpful to be called out on those mistakes. I don't understand what people mean by the pm thing but I still appreciate it when the mod will quote where I messed up and point out my mistake. It's the only way I'll learn.

When I first came here, I would read certain posts and feel that maybe people were too hard on those targeted, but really, it's similar to a parent scolding a child. It shouldn't have to be placated and I think they get the point across in a tough love sort of way. It's not personal, it's just how it is. And being straightforward like that allows other people to understand that the advice given was the wrong advice.

I can't imagine referring to any of my animals as "just a" anything. Really, nothing against you because some view animals differently than others, but if I welcome an animal into my home, that animal becomes my family and it is my goal to think and treat it as such. Even though some people view animals with the "just a" idea in mind, that doesn't necessarily always make them poor caregivers. My father-in-law is the perfect example of this where he does right by his animals, but at the end of the day, to him they are just animals.

I will admit, and some of you know, that I was doing the veggie thing all wrong and when I posted my concern about how to do it right, I received a lot of terrific advice that I am definitely going to follow. My issue wasn't that I wasn't feeding enough, but that I wasn't giving enough variety and thankfully people were willing to point that out to me and offer great advice on how to fix that. I completely understand the reasons and benefits of offering a bigger variety of vegetables now, so my next course of action is to remedy that today.

If someone on here points out that you're not doing something right or offers a way to better what you are doing, I would take the advice and go with it. When I read that you weren't very concerned about the vegetables because of the size of guinea pigs, it made me think of babies and children and how they tend to require more nutrients and a larger variety of nutrients than adults do. Since my animals are my babies, I think of them as such (even if they're old, they're still my babies) and treat them as such. Granted, the animal may be an adult, but since, throughout their lives, they rely solely on us to give them everything they need, then we step up and do that for them.

This is one of those forums that the advice given isn't the kind to take with a grain of salt. People know their stuff here and if they question what you, I, or anyone else does, it's with good reason and good intentions.

[Ly&Pigs]

Originally Posted by trump_cinnamon

Actually, I am a mod/ admin of another site, thank you very much. It seems to run just fine, and there are no mods running around crazily enforcing smiley and color rules... Just saying.

Maybe that's because the site you moderate does not have rules against those sort of things. We like the rules we have here, they work for us. Like I mentioned before, this is an adult based forum, not a kiddie playground.

Originally Posted by sdpiggylvr

Okay, to answer your question about my guinea pigs' diet, Ly&Pigs, I honestly don't know why I feel it's unnecessary. Maybe because they are such tiny animals it seems over-the-top to feed them a whole cup per day.

Size has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Originally Posted by sdpiggylvr

I'm sorry, but they're just guinea pigs and 1 cup of 2-3 veggies as opposed to 1 cup of 4-6 veggies is not going to kill them! Don't get me wrong, I love guinea pigs and consider them a member of the family but I don't feel the need to feed them a huge salad of several different kinds of veggies. I do feed them about a cup of veggies with 2-4 different kinds and they are perfectly healthy. Period.

Apparently you don't feel they are part of the "family" if to you they are "just" guinea pigs. How would you like it if your parents started feeding you only 2-3 things every single day and the same thing day after day? Wouldn't you get bored of that after a few days? I bet your health would also suffer because you would not be getting all the vitamins and minerals you need.

Cavies are constant foragers. Their wild cousins eat many types of things in the wild and that's one reason why variety is very important. Another reason is to keep them from getting bored with their diet and yet another reason is to provide them with essential vitamins and minerals.

[CavySpirit]

Originally Posted by trump_cinnamon

Actually, I am a mod/ admin of another site, thank you very much. It seems to run just fine, and there are no mods running around crazily enforcing smiley and color rules... Just saying.

Does the forum you are a 'mod/admin' on have over 13,000 members and is for a social cause that can spark controversy with a strong mix of adults and kids? Do other living soul's lives depend on the quality and accuracy of the posts on your forum?

Personally, I would never allow a teen to moderate much less administer any forum, much less this one--just saying. Thank you very much.