New Subforum

[Katrina]

Hi everyone,

We've decided to create a new subforum to the General Discussion Forum. This subforum will be a "Frequently Asked Questions" kind of place. The thought is that some questions come up very, very often... but the more often you answer them the less effort you put into each response and sometimes people just skip over those types of threads after seeing so many. So we'd like to have a readable subforum with all the basic questions, so newer members can hopefully find and read those first or else can be pointed in that direction to get some detailed answers.

This isn't meant to squash all newbie questions by just giving them a link or else saying something like "Read this". We don't want to discourage questions, but we do want to make the basic info readily available. So (ML, this means you!), if you are referring to this section still be friendly and give some advice but also let them know about this resource. No one word answers or just a link that would make a newbie feel dumb or unwelcome!

The plan is that only mods will be able to add to the forum, to keep the "chattiness" or off topic stuff out of there and to kind of screen the advice given. However, everyone is welcome to participate and give input, just please either PM a Mod something to add to an existing thread in there or else start a thread over here and if it is useful we will move it over.

Thoughts?

Also, help us come up with a list of Frequently Asked Questions to cover (and please help write advice for those sections as well!).

So far:

Pooping / not pooping
Handling / taming
Eating greens
Food and pictures of meals
Hiding all the time / new BTS

What else? And ideas or suggestions are very welcome!

[Nae]

I think it would definitely be handy, although to be honest most of the info is in the care sheet

What is and isnt mouth rot would also be a good one...

[Fatal_S]

Sexing. Photo of a sperm plug.

[NennaMeerkat]

I personally think it is a good idea. Then new members (or guests) can go on the subforum to easily and quickly get the information they are needing and looking for. Though I don't think the pics of eating would go with it very well (even though they are popular )

Also to add to your list:
Housing (bedding tank size ect)
Heating

[Katrina]

I think it would definitely be handy, although to be honest most of the info is in the care sheet

Yeah, but this could have its advantages because it would be easier to search and we could also get multiple opinions. I might tame a bluey differently than someone else, but if the end result is the same then there really is no difference and some ways might work better for others... So this could give lots of different ideas and it also gives people a chance to give their thoughts or input. No one has updated the caresheet in a long time, but if you think something in one of these threads isn't quite how you would do it you could do a little write up and help others out without having to type it up every single time the question pops up!

[Nae]

I think it would definitely be handy, although to be honest most of the info is in the care sheet

Yeah, but this could have its advantages because it would be easier to search and we could also get multiple opinions. I might tame a bluey differently than someone else, but if the end result is the same then there really is no difference and some ways might work better for others... So this could give lots of different ideas and it also gives people a chance to give their thoughts or input. No one has updated the caresheet in a long time, but if you think something in one of these threads isn't quite how you would do it you could do a little write up and help others out without having to type it up every single time the question pops up!

Hmm...True~ And I guess it would also help to get info out for the Aus species

[xxmonitorlizardxx]

Questions I am frequently asked:
"Is it a boy or a girl"
"Why won't he eat"
"Why hasn't he pooped yet"
"Why won't he stop hiding"
"What type is he"
"What should he eat"
"Does he need UVB"
"Can I feed him mice"
"Why did he bite me"
"How can I "tame" him"
"How fast do they grow"
"Which kind should I get'
"Is chicken(and other frozen meat products) ok to feed"
"Calcium with or without d3"
"Are crickets/mealworms ok to feed"
"Should I use dog or cat food"
"What brand of dog/cat food should I use"
"Can I use sand as the substrate"
"Why is the substrate getting in his eyes"
"Should I feed in a separate tank"
"How do I breed them"
These are just some of the questions I can think of right now...

[Katrina]

Ok, well for experienced members who feel like they can answer any of these questions please go ahead and write something up and post it in the General Forum. It would be great if people have time, so please feel free to do a write up or add something to someone else's. I will create the subforum and maybe once people have a chance to add stuff I'll move the threads over. Start with the basics please.

And if people have really great photos like the recent awesome ones of a hemipenis, if you don't mind sharing them, please add them here or email / PM them to me and I'll make sure they go up in the appropriate thread.

Please keep these threads info only, comments or off topic stuff will be deleted out.

[Fatal_S]

Not sure I understand the last part. Do you mean if I post something on poop here, with the goal for it to be used in the new forum, no one should comment? If that's it, kay. However, like with my recent taming rant, I like to think of it as a good base, but would appreciate comments on things I may have missed or been incorrect on. Would those types of comments be okay?

Not sure I'm explaining right. If I post something in this forum, I'd think of it as a draft. Other people help me refine and expand it, then I submit it for moderator approval for the new forum. Then once it's in the new forum no one can comment there, but if people want something added it can be redone and resubmitted to the mods to replace the old version?

[Katrina]

Sorry - what I meant was, please don't put comments in like "Good post" or "What about if XXX?" kind of thing. No comments on pictures etc. Just keep all content related to the subject.

If people want to add to your poop thread with other relevant poop advice then that is great, just don't derail it or add useless content.

If it gets moved over and people want to add to it, just PM it to a mod or post something in the GDF and ask that it be added to the thread in the questions forum and I can combine them.

This is what I'm thinking at least... if it doesn't work or people have better suggestions then please let me know!

[Fatal_S]

Oh, you're moving entire threads over! I didn't realize that. I was thinking the threads here were a reference, and the final cut would be put into the FAQ forum. Got it now

[Katrina]

Oh, you're moving entire threads over! I didn't realize that. I was thinking the threads here were a reference, and the final cut would be put into the FAQ forum. Got it now

I think so....

If that doesn't work, we can reevalutate. And once a thread is moved I can always add to it... I just don't want it to be chatty or for there to be bad advice in there, so this is kind of the quality control process.

[amb44]

From a newbie's perspective, the basics on brumation would be helpful, as I have been reading back through the forum extensively and was still confused on this topic. I'm talking about a FAQ covering some of the following points:

- when the first brumation can/should occur (to clarify, by 'can' i mean when it occurs in nature ie. more of a technical answer; 'should' i am basing on the answers recently given to me ie. that my skink is 6 months old and may not have enough weight on to safely make it through brumation, so the advice given was to keep his heat on for this winter to build condition)
- how long they can/will brumate for
- addressing the lack of appetite that seems to regularly occur after they wake up
- the role of heat in preventing/inducing brumation
- addressing the semi-brumation state where the skink slows down and the appetite decreases, although they don't disappear for months

and anything else that somebody with more knowledge can think of.

Amy

[bella3]

Being a newbie and all I know that at first I had a lot of questions about if the water can go a couple days without being changed. That may seem really obvious, but I really didn't understand that at first, so maybe that is something that you may want to include?
I also think that including something about heating is a good idea, because that was another area that I had difficulty understanding...how long are the lights on? Do I need UVB? How long is the UVB light on?
Things like that. I think that this is a great idea.

[WanderingChai]

Some more ideas:

DIY projects
Feeding questions(cat/dog food, cook/raw, etc)
"He's been here for 2 days, why doesn't he love me" questions
Boy/girl
Identification photos and characteristics to look for.

[Jeff]

Would it bee possible, instead of moving whole threads, to just move a particularly good post over by itself? Then if another good post was made on the original thread, or at a much later time on another thread, It could be added to the original good post as a reply/alternate opinion. This would keep trivial posts and blatantly wrong information out of that area.

[Katrina]

Would it bee possible, instead of moving whole threads, to just move a particularly good post over by itself? Then if another good post was made on the original thread, or at a much later time on another thread, It could be added to the original good post as a reply/alternate opinion. This would keep trivial posts and blatantly wrong information out of that area.

Yep, that works too. Good idea. We (Mods) have a "Copy" tool we can use to copy posts over and then we can prune out any trivial posts.

[Scotts1au]

Keeping blueys outdoors

[Katrina]

Lots of great ideas but so far only Mel has written anything!

We have threads on diet, brumation, handling and IDing gigas species up there, please feel free to contribute. Even if you are fairly new, preparing a healthy meal and then taking some pictures to show new members and explaining the ingredients would help. Or if you make large batches of food and freeze it, a little how-to would be helpful for new people. Please keep this in mind when you're next preparing food or something.

[bella3]

The new FAQ section is going great! I really like it, and read all of the threads. To elaborate on what Kat said I think that it's a really good idea to have a section on food, and how to make a healthy, balaced meal. Maybe some idea's for eclosure's or something might be an idea. How to "decorate" one including the hides and such. Also, some people make their enclosure's so instructions on that might be nice. Just another idea.