If you could add any feature to the forum, what would you add?

[Boots]

Now that the photo gallery is online, I thought I would ask what you would like to see added to the forum next?

[abcat1993]

I would like to see the first 3 that are listed, but I would most want a link section, closely followed by an article section. I thought we already had a classifieds section. A care sheet that helps you find out which type of garter you have would also be nice. I know this is a lot, but this is also a relatively new forum. You are doing a great job though.

[Thamnophis]

I voted for caresheets. But only caresheets that are based on peoples own experience. That are the sheets you can learn a lot, especially when they also contain the mistakes you made and how you changed things when you discovered you did it wrong.

[Cazador]

That's a great idea, Thamnophis. Maybe we should just start a series of threads over time that would cover particular items that would be included on a caresheet. One thread might be about heating, the next about feeding, another about moisture, temperature, etc. If we start them all at once, it won't be as thorough. Sounds like a great "series" to cover during the upcoming winter.

In time, Boots could make an "archive" section where particularly useful threads (such as would belong on these care sheets) could be stored, so they don't get lost among the new threads.

[Boots]

I see the articles section seems to be leading. If anyone is interested in writing articles or DIY tutorials for the section, please let me know. It is only through your contributions that an articles section will be worth while for other members.

[Cazador]

I'll write an article, though I haven't given any thought to its topic. I just wanted to let you know you won't be alone in this effort. We should identify and address the most common questions, first. A few that come to mind include: feeding/thiamine deficiency, housing, brumation, breeding, shedding, habitat enrichment, etc. What are the other commonly asked questions?

In order to make this a section that's representative of thamnophis.com, maybe we should post drafts of the articles as new threads before they're finalized. Then we can all have a chance to comment on their content, provide new ideas, and improve their content in a "peer-review" process.

[Cazador]

One article that I'd like to see (but am not qualified to write) would talk about fecal exams in order to identify and treat various parasites/pathogens. It should include pictures of the pathogens under a microscope.

[Thamnophis]

One article that I'd like to see (but am not qualified to write) would talk about fecal exams in order to identify and treat various parasites/pathogens. It should include pictures of the pathogens under a microscope.

That's a good idea, but maybe to difficult for the most. You need a good microscophe, good books, etc.
And for just a few dollars/euro's a vet does this.
But don't get me wrong, it's a good idea, but nos that simple.

For the writing of articles where Boots talked about... that is always a problem. Only one or two people think they can write and the rest doesn't write anything. That's not pesimism, but experience :confused:

I know this from my "work" during some ten years as a translater for the magazine of the European Snake Society, Litteratura serpentium.
Also other Dutch magazines about reptiles know this problem.
Most people are readers... not writers.

What I meant about the caresheets is that people write down what their own experniences are with a specific species. Thus not in what countries they live and so, but more about their behaviour, foodpreferences, temperatures, hibernation, etc.

[abcat1993]

You should put in a testing section and/or a section for miscellaneous things

[Boots]

You should put in a testing section and/or a section for miscellaneous things

I will be adding a test section soon, but it will be so I can test out things without the section being live. Do you mean a section where people can post test posts to see if they can post? Could you also give a little more explaination about having a "section for miscellaneous things".

Jason

[abcat1993]

By miscellaneous things I mean like things that have nothing to do with garter snakes. Just some place to talk about pretty much anything. Although, if you do that, there is a risk that tons of people will come here who don't have or want a garter, but it would still be nice to have a spot to talk about anything.

I forgot to ask, is there a limit on your signature size?

[Boots]

Easily done! I have added "the Garter Snake Lounge" in the general section as a place to talk about anything you would like. Which reminds me, I was going to add a section for other pets. My turtles were upset that the snakes were getting all the spotlight. :)

I believe signatures are limited in the number of characters they can be. I wanted to limit them to three lines, but could not find a good way to do it.

Jason

[abcat1993]

I am glad you made that "Garter Snake Lounge"
Thanks
I also wanted to ask, is my signature okay? It is font size one but four lines

[Boots]

It was a good suggestion, wish I had thought of it. :)

Your signature looks fine. The smaller font really helps to make it not seem over whelming

Jason

[KITKAT]

I would like to see articles about identification of species and morphs, and a small section for species that are commonly mistaken for garters, such as Dekay's.

[zooplan]

I would like a member map, to see where are the greatest density and the "white blotches".

[guidofatherof5]

I second that idea.
A nice flat world map where members could put a stick pin on their location. That would be cool.:)

[Stefan-A]

Yeah, that would be nice and depressing. ;)

[drache]

Stefan - lonely beacon of the entire Scandinavian region, gateway to the great dark East

[drache]

wow - this thread is from '06

[Stefan-A]

Stefan - lonely beacon of the entire Scandinavian region, gateway to the great dark East
Well, stricly speaking Finland isn't a Scandinavian country, but a Nordic one, so I suppose I'm the lone representative of approximately 25.5 million people. ;) Scandinavia would be Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

The truth is that we do have a few lurkers from this region, but I suspect there's a language barrier. At least when I've spoken to local reptile owners, they see the language as a problem, which is something I find completely ridiculous. Most Finns have adequate English skills to at the very least get started.



Yes, this thread is from 2006. I voted for: Article section ( DIY, tutorial, etc)

[PINJOHN]

i think the idea put forward by thamnophis is little short of brilliant.
learning not only peoples hard won knowledge, but also the mistakes they made along the way. a really great idea.

[HazAnga]

What about a Canadian classified section?

[ConcinusMan]

One thing I noticed long ago is that the wiki pages are largely unused. Need more people to fill in the blanks with articles, provide missing species/morph pictures, links to related information within the pages, etc. Also, I noticed that specific species discussion pages were setup but also largely unused.

[mustang]

A MORPH GUIDE complete with photos of every species with every morph....lots of work but it would be sooooo cool

[Stefan-A]

A MORPH GUIDE complete with photos of every species with every morph....lots of work but it would be sooooo cool
Who's going to do it and using whose photos?

[ConcinusMan]

We already pretty much have that Robert, but we need more users to contribute. Many of the pages are blank and/or lacking photos.

It's here: Photographic Library - Caresheets (http://www.thamnophis.com/caresheets/index.php?title=Photographic_Library)

[mustang]

Who's going to do it and using whose photos?
everyone has to help. not just moderators...if everyone searches for a single species and all its most unusual morphs/traits for an hour we could have it all done!

[Stefan-A]

everyone has to help. not just moderators...if everyone searches for a single species and all its most unusual morphs/traits for an hour we could have it all done!
Has to? Count me out.

And whose photos? It's not like we can use photos without the owner's permission.

[mustang]

Has to? Count me out.

And whose photos? It's not like we can use photos without the owner's permission.
well cite the sources geez and let me re phrase it."should help"

[Stefan-A]

Citing sources isn't good enough. We're talking about a very likely copyright infringement here.

[mustang]

well as someone shouted in the ap biology sex lab
"LETS DIVIDE AND REPRODUCE!!!" well do it all with our own pics.....ill get a blue radix (albino X axanthic(or was it melanistic)) and breed it to NOVA steve's red radix! or something like that:rolleyes: more so lets just take more pics of snakes WE SEE!

[guidofatherof5]

well as someone shouted in the ap biology sex lab
"LETS DIVIDE AND REPRODUCE!!!" well do it all with our own pics.....ill get a blue radix (albino X axanthic(or was it melanistic)) and breed it to NOVA steve's red radix! or something like that:rolleyes: more so lets just take more pics of snakes WE SEE!

Sorry, Nova is already spoken this year.
I've got a nice red man waiting for her to come out of brumation(next weekend)

[ConcinusMan]

Citing sources isn't good enough. We're talking about a very likely copyright infringement here.

Absolutely. We all must contribute our own photos and/or ask others to post their own. Any member can write their own articles but must not post photos from the web without explicit permission. Anything worth doing is worth doing right.;)

Speaking of which, I've done quite a bit to the species page and photo library for concinnus. Also working on T. ordinides article and photo library. Now I encourage others to do the same to the sections dedicated to species they are most familiar with.

Red Spotted Garter Snake - Caresheets (http://www.thamnophis.com/caresheets/index.php?title=Red_Spotted_Garter_Snake)

Photographic Library - Caresheets (http://www.thamnophis.com/caresheets/index.php?title=Photographic_Library#T._s._concinn us_.28Red-spotted_garter_snake.29)

[ConcinusMan]

C'mon Steve, the radix page could use some work: Plains Garter Snake - Caresheets (http://www.thamnophis.com/caresheets/index.php?title=Plains_Garter_Snake)

Write something... anything.

Or add some photos of some interesting color morphs here: Photographic Library - Caresheets (http://www.thamnophis.com/caresheets/index.php?title=Photographic_Library#Thamnophis_ra dix_.28Plains_Garter_Snake.29)

Please?

We may not be able to make it complete with every species but with a little work from a few people it could be a lot better.:D

[gregmonsta]

I would like to see options in the classifieds section similar to this - Snake Classifieds - Reptile Forums (http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/snake-classifieds/)
This would give location (region/distance example - where we could specify country also) and would enable pics with the ads.

[mustang]

OH what about A COLERED ENGLISH(ok fine every common language) RANGE MAP OF THAMNOPHIS SPECIES like that one thats not in english that someone here told me bout!

[andycul]

How about a "like" button on posts, similar to what facebook has?

[ConcinusMan]

We already have "rate thread" which hardly anyone uses.


I would like to see options in the classifieds section similar to this - Snake Classifieds - Reptile Forums (http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/snake-classifieds/)
This would give location (region/distance example - where we could specify country also) and would enable pics with the ads.

Don't see what you're talking about Greg. What's different from what we already do?

[gregmonsta]

We already have "rate thread" which hardly anyone uses.



Don't see what you're talking about Greg. What's different from what we already do?

:rolleyes: click on an add and see the pro-forma at the top of each.

[ConcinusMan]

I guess I'm just lucky with the ads I choose to view. had to view a bunch before I could see anything different.

[PINJOHN]

before i get to the point first a little preamble, there must be many people like my self who have only kept normal colored garters, in my case more years than i can remember, in others more recent, however being exposed to all the photos of morphs and naturally occurring but selectively enhanced garters now available one cant help being interested in them, now to the point, there are so many descriptions of these genetic color traits that it makes my head spin, erythristic,
anerythistic, anery, melanistic, albinos , i know very well [ and most people will] that the last two are black and white so to speak, but we have gone beyond that level . with xmas and Nebraska, there are words like [ het for] and so on
i have through time made my self familiar with these terms, but on occasion get a little confused with some and have to look them up from earlier threads
would it not be a good idea to have a list of them that can be refer'd to as needed by new member and dementia smitten oldies like myself

[ConcinusMan]

There is a good source for that I could point you to but every time I've tried to use the wizard or even go to the source of information that explains all of that, I keep getting errors. Site isn't working right but here it is: http://www.geneticswizard.com/

If you click on the "genetics terms" link, it really explains a lot and this is how I got started learning this stuff. Unfortunately, the site isn't working right now. What I don't get is everyone is requesting care sheets. I don't even know why it's one of the choices when we already have it. There really isn't much else to know from one species to another. Most do well if you just follow general garter snake care. We have that already, and we also already have special sections for each species.

Maybe the problem is that it can be difficult to find it?

[PINJOHN]

thanks Richard i now have a place to look up any thing i don't know or have forgotten. but my point still remains we should have our own table of genetic terms why? one of the factors for me is that the quality of a site is judged by the number of things it has to offer, and this site is strong on collecting and swapping information, it surely must be better not to have to go off site to find things out.

[PINJOHN]

thanks Richard i now have a place to look up any thing i don't know or have forgotten. but my point still remains we should have our own table of genetic terms why? one of the factors for me is that the quality of a site is judged by the number of things it has to offer, and this site is strong on collecting and swapping information, it surely must be better not to have to go off site to find things out.

do i feel stupid? i have just found the genetics article on this site!:o dhoo
all i could need to know, and more :o:o:o

[ConcinusMan]

Yeah, it's there. Many of the articles need a lot of work but nobody seems to be taking the time.

[Sonya610]

What I don't get is everyone is requesting care sheets. I don't even know why it's one of the choices when we already have it.

It isn't about species specific caresheets....it is about finding BASIC INFO regarding husbandry and such on the site! When I want to double check what temps or humidity level or types of food are okay I hit the Google. I do not see ANY stickies or main headers on this site that says "here is the best source of important info".

Most all sites of this nature have at least ONE sticky in the main section plus a big header at the very very top of the forum that addresses all of the basic care requirements. The care of the animals is first and foremost therefore the care instructions are extremely prominent on forums such as this.

[infernalis]

Most all sites of this nature have at least ONE sticky in the main section plus a big header at the very very top of the forum that addresses all of the basic care requirements. The care of the animals is first and foremost therefore the care instructions are extremely prominent on forums such as this.

Like this?? or am I missing your point?

http://www.thamnophis.us/forums/care.gif

[Sonya610]

Yes, like that, but something a LOT more prominent. Most of the new visitors to sites like this are people that just got their first garter, or are contemplating it so the basic feeding/care instructions should be very obviously displayed.

Most sites choose to put the caresheets/best practices documents at the very top of the main forum section so it simply can't be missed.

I realize the sub-species care sheets vary, but it might be a nice forum project to compile a single "general" caresheet and then get the input from the most experienced members. For instance I was feeding a lot of Salmon/Trout until some members told me that could be dangerous, especially for babies.

That is the sort of detailed info new people need and they need to easily find it all in one place! I would suggest for instance the basic feeding instructions that include "best practices" additions which say something like "many experienced keepers believe large amounts of certain kinds of fish such as Salmon, Trout, etc... can lead to problems possibly because of....

Some people hang out on these forums for months (or years) when they get a new garter, often times mostly to socialize and post/enjoy photos etc... Others hit the forums once or twice looking for info, they may never register or post, and they may never return. It is important to provide as much valuable info as possible quickly and easily as the lives of these little guys may depend on it!

If the webmaster doesn't have the desire, or the time to compile a doc I am sure some of the regular members would love to do it. Just wouldn't want it turning into a big debate (i.e. I have fed my garter a diet of 100% salmon his entire life and he is fine etc...), just view it from the standpoint of the most "conservative" best practices and state it as such.

[kerensa]

a simple easy to find list of what is recessive and what is dominate for the genetics of each type. I've been hunting thread by thread- have done web searches etc. no such simple list appears to exist. I could easily figure out the squares if I had this info.

:(

[Boots]

That is not really a feature that we were thinking of when we created this thread a while back. Not that it would not be great info to have. You could start by adding it to the care sheets, and hopefully other will help you fill in some details.

Jason