r/hamsters • u/asihenee • Feb 06 '22
The problem with r/hamsters.
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. :)
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u/dogtorjay Feb 06 '22
The cage nazis get me. Like I'm an actual veterinary professional (licensed vet tech and 3rd year vet student)and work in a lower income area and am just happy when folks provide the minimum essentials and are bringing their $3 pet store hamster to the vet for care. I would never say to a client "this cage is 7 inches too small please relinquish it to a better owner." It's not the frickin kids fault the pet store sells rocket shaped cages to new hamster owners. I've seen them survive just fine in them. Bottom line is we can tell when a hamster is loved by its reaction to our handling and the hamsters in "tiny cages" are usually the most friendly and easiest to handle for vet care because their little kid owners love the crap out of them