@Fay I'm not saying that. Giving advice is certainly the point of this forum. And I agree there is very good advice here and I have also learned a lot. But when a person makes their first post just to introduce themselves and gets a ton of unsolicited advice, it can be very off-putting. In the past month, I would say this is the 3rd new poster I have read that has reacted in the same way as this one. If new people are so turned off that they don't return, then they don't learn anything from here.
Also, would people talk to each other this way if we were all face-to-face? If we all met in a Panera and introduced ourselves, would people say "Nice to meet you lvmypiggies. Your cage is too small. Why don't you put them all together? 4 females can live together. Did you check their private parts, pet stores can be wrong? You shouldn't do play dates." NO! You would say "Nice to meet you" and that's it! You would get to know her and understand her pig situation and THEN offer suggestions.
And, what happened to this:
"Please Be VERY Considerate!
Hello CavyChrissy,
You are seeing this message because you are a Cavy Slave member of this forum, that is, you've been online for a while and have been active. And you are seeing this message because you are in the INTRODUCTIONS forum, where usually Newbies post (new to the forum).
We want to ENCOURAGE new people to participate and stick around. Yet, frequently, a new person will post about wanting to breed, buy a pig from a pet store, show, etc., and they are immediately CAUTIONED that a) it's not a good thing to do and b) we frown upon it on this forum.
Yes, we do frown upon it, BUT, we need to give our new members a chance to explore the forum without being put into a defensive or offended frame of mind.
So, LET IT GO. Back off. Encourage them in positive way, but don't dig for dirt. Do NOT ask them where they got their guinea pig(s) so that we can start to get them to see the light right away! You certainly don't need to encourage practices we don't support either, but let them get comfortable on the forum, first.
Your support in making the forum a friendlier place to participate is GREATLY appreciated!"