Care sheets?

[EulersK]

A special section for beginners would be nice, i only hope that new keepers will use it, instead of posting right away. Even when i've referred to links, there are only a few who actually read the info in the link.

Many people want to be spoon fed, unfortunately. On more than a couple occasions, I've had a new hobbyist PM me for advice. I give them a link to read with everything they need to know rather than typing out an essay myself, and they turn around to post the same question in the forums. How many threads do you see asking for help on a rosie when there is literally a sticky dedicated to that one species?

 

[Andrea82]

Many people want to be spoon fed, unfortunately. On more than a couple occasions, I've had a new hobbyist PM me for advice. I give them a link to read with everything they need to know rather than typing out an essay myself, and they turn around to post the same question in the forums. How many threads do you see asking for help on a rosie when there is literally a sticky dedicated to that one species?

Or say they read it and still posting questions of which the answers are right in the link...
Maybe because of the exotic nature of these animals, new keepers think that general care has to be specifically tuned to their circumstance, which, like Coldblood said, could vary a little from country to country or state to state.
But i was a little exasperated when i saw a question for GBB care coming up three times in one week. I answered the first time, but for the two other questions i was like 'well darn it, i just typed the whole thing out for that other poster!'
Same with the G.pulchripes or A.avicularia. I like to help people, and i like tarantula, but to answer the same questions over and over is a bit frustrating.
Which is why maybe a general care info could come in handy to refer to, like your series or Viper96's post on Avics.

 

[clive 82]

It would make answering beginner questions easier if we had a sort of basic list, although i use EulersK's AraneAid to help out, and Viper69's thread about Avicularia a lot.
I don't know if we can all agree to the same basics though.
A special section for beginners would be nice, i only hope that new keepers will use it, instead of posting right away. Even when i've referred to links, there are only a few who actually read the info in the link.[/QUOTE

I agree that care sheets usually do not go into that amount of detail. However, what I don't understand is why so many new people end up with such horrendous enclosures when a ten minute google search comes up with the information that I found. I understand that some people will follow pet shop advice, which is where I feel the most misinformation is given, but I literally spent five minutes finding the information I posted above in four separate care sheet links.
There is no excuse for people to make it onto this forum with a beginner species with no substrate, soaking wet substrate, tall enclosure, or with a sponge in the water dish or no water dish at all.
Add into the mix the number of good videos out there, some of them produced by members here, and the basic set up for the vast majority of the beginner species is easy to find outside of this forum.
Statements like 'all care sheets are garbage' are not accurate at all. They aren't all garbage and if you spend a bit of time researching you will find the information that you need. People need to be resourceful and do some research. Then, they can come onto a forum like this one and fine tune the details that care sheets omit. I've seen plenty of new people who have done just that.

I think a beginner section would be handy but I also agree that a lot of people may not use it & you would still see the same questions popping up.
As EulersK said some people want to be spoonfed rather than search the forum for answers?

 

[Andrea82]

Quoting is hard...are you Ab-ing from your phone too?

Yes, they would probably ask the questions anyway, but at least members could point out to a thread. I think.

 

[clive 82]

Quoting is hard...are you Ab-ing from your phone too?

Yes, they would probably ask the questions anyway, but at least members could point out to a thread. I think.

No I'm using my laptop but my internet connection is terrible at the moment.
I suppose at the end of the day asking questions & advice is sometimes the best way to learn & that's one of the things I love about keeping Ts, you never stop learning.

 

[cold blood]

I live in the north too...
Do you keep yours differently? Do you keep your G.pulchripes differently?

Absolutely i do, in fact i do things very differrently with all my ts in the winter than i do the rest of the year.

For smithi and pulchripes spring through fall theyre kept bone dry with a water dish....however in winter when its really dry, i pour 12oz cups of water onto the subatrate from time to time, and its dry in days. If i did that in summer, it might take over a month to dry and i may be doing a re house because of all that moisture that lingers in a higher humidity setting.

For ones requiring moisture in spring or summer i may sprinkle a couple ounces of water every 2-3 weeks...in winter i will be pouring 12-16 ounces of water in every week...do that in summer and i have a frog enclosure...in winter its an ideal habitat for many ts with dry air and artificial heat sources.

Someone in a humid year round climate like the Phillipines may keep them virtually dry year round as the natural humidity is enough with a water dish....so get advice from a successful keeper in a differrent climate and their learned methods might have that person starting a "my dying t thread.

 

[Python]

It's also possible that some new people are using the questions as a way of not only introducing themselves, but also a way to get involved with the community and let people know what they have. For a newbie, breaking the ice might not come easy and the easy questions might just appear to be the most painless way for the poster. Sure, it gets old seeing the same old questions day after day, but really, when was the last time someone asked a question that hasn't been asked before? It doesn't happen often with a membership that numbers in the thousands and spans the globe. Some people are trolling, true enough. That's to be expected. Care sheets might cut down some of the repetitive traffic but people asking the same old same old is here to stay. Still, I think it would be a benefit to have care sheets here. It certainly couldn't hurt

 

[Ungoliant]

A special section for beginners would be nice, i only hope that new keepers will use it, instead of posting right away. Even when i've referred to links, there are only a few who actually read the info in the link.

That is a problem everywhere. It doesn't matter how well you write the manual -- some people just won't read it before asking questions. However, the manual can still be useful, because instead of answering those questions repeatedly, you can direct them to it.

Maybe because of the exotic nature of these animals, new keepers think that general care has to be specifically tuned to their circumstance, which, like Coldblood said, could vary a little from country to country or state to state.

I think it's partly because there is a fair amount of crossover between the tarantula and reptile hobbies. A lot of new tarantula keepers have previous experience with exotics like reptiles that have more demanding care requirements, so they assume the same will be true of tarantulas.

 

[clive 82]

That is a problem everywhere. It doesn't matter how well you write the manual -- some people just won't read it before asking questions. However, the manual can still be useful, because instead of answering those questions repeatedly, you can direct them to it.

I think it's partly because there is a fair amount of crossover between the tarantula and reptile hobbies. A lot of new tarantula keepers have previous experience with exotics like reptiles that have more demanding care requirements, so they assume the same will be true of tarantulas.

I see this all the time in my LPS, they keep their Ts like you would keep a Brazilian rainbow boa for example.