I’ve been joining various Facebook groups for Hermit Crabs, and many are helpful and kind. However, some are rude and some have bad apple members. This is not helpful to crab owners seeking help.
With the end of summer (even during summer) people are bringing home hermit crabs they purchased or won, or something their kids really wanted and bought. Especially those on vacation. Store owners sell them, quickly, using gimmicks like “Free Crab with cage purchase” or “Buy two crabs, get one free” type deals. The cages are small and portable. They’re sold bad food and told all the water/humidity a crab needs is in a sponge. Veteran owners know this is horrible advice.
Eventually some crab owners decide to look up information on their little buddies and find out to their horror…everything they were told is wrong! Of course Facebook is a big and attractive platform to many, so the hermit crab groups get flooded with the same questions. It can be tiring, I agree. But they’ve come for help and to hopefully change to give their hermit crabs better lives. It’s important to support that initiative and while answering their questions politely, teach them where to find care guides and navigate the files usually found in each group.
However, some groups admins get very nasty and rude when answer inexperienced crab owners’ questions. Some even go as far as banning the new owners without helping them, no reason why. This discourages people. It’s not helpful. Creating a negative and elitist environment scares people away from proper care.
Again, I know answering the same questions can be tiring. You feel like people aren’t checking the files or reading other posts of similar questions. But you have to remember we all come from different walks of life and we’re all learning. Some people might not be as computer savvy as you – some of the people asking for help are kids.
If you’re going to be an admin of a care group for living things you need to address issues with patience and kindness. I know there are trolls and rude people, I’m not talking about those. With so many different personalities online you need to carefully gauge interactions accordingly, but when asked for help try to give everyone a chance to learn.
Sincerely,
The Crab Maid
The Crab Maid 