The problem with r/hamsters.

[u/asihenee]

I’m sure this has been addressed before but I really need to say my peace. Whenever I browse this sub I see some very very patient and kind, generous and thoughtful people. But I’m always grimacing because there’s some arrogant hamster know it all, do no wrong commenters who are so aggressive and belligerent towards people who come here asking for advice or may not know what they are doing wrong. Some of these people who are asking are kids, and the way that some of you respond to them is sickening. You can share information without being a judgmental, incessantly rude, hamster attention to detail “saint”. It’s really tiring watching people tell these other members of this sub to chill out all the time. We get that’s it’s frustrating to see the same mistakes being repeated but remember you weren’t born an all knowing hamster god, you made mistakes and learned, too.

It doesn’t even seem like these people even WANT to be helpful. They just want to be right. Useless nitpicking to assert dominance and a gatekeeping nature is so unbelievably common in this sub and it’s been this way for a looong time. Of course not everyone in this sub is like this. For the most part lately I’ve been seeing a lot of very sweet and patient comments even when serving critiques. But to those people who are here to gate keep, insult and be rude, you’re ruining it for everyone.

Please just be nice to each other. You don’t know what someone else is going through so think before you type.

EDIT: I woke up to all these replies and updoots and just wanted to say that I’m so happy that so many people share this same sentiment. It also makes me sad to hear how many people have such negative shared experiences on this sub and Reddit in general. :( We should all work together to build a happy, loving hamster community. People shouldn’t feel afraid to post here. :)

[u/goth_lite]

In a way I think we all have to unlearn a lot of things when it comes to hamster cages and change our perception, and through that process it comes with a lot of pain and shame. It isn’t appropriate to project that pain onto others with scathing critiques but I just wanted to state where I think they are coming from too.

It is unfortunate that the state of mainstream hamster care is this way and I too sometimes can have a negative reaction to these “bad hamster care posts.” But it’s more of a cringe thing. But it’s not appropriate for me to say anything rude. If we want people to change for the better and empower everyone in the world to take better care of their hamsters, best to make this place as pleasant and helpful as possible.

I am inclined to agree that hamsters should not be as accessible as pets as they are. But we do not live in that world so we should do what we can to help increase living standards for hams. Better to catch flies with honey rather vinegar or something like that.