Medical Forum needed ??

[ChokeOnSmoke]

I think you are making sense Shane and I think its a really good idea

[RaVeNo888o]

wut if you didnt make a whole section of medical forums with differenent categories for different animals.. but had a medical forum under each section of the existing forums. like on under pythons, one under boas, one under colubrids..etc..

[chas*e]

To address the issues of legality and such, I still believe it(the Health Forum) could be done. If a Vet tech or Vet doesn't participate , well so what. We, as members of this Herp site, would contantly be sued for everything from enclosure designs, to selling snakes, to substrate preference....come on this "Lawyerphobia" is getting too much....be positive sometimes

[jay76]

A medical forum does seem to be a good idea, on the surface. However, another approach would be to have certain relatively common ailments listed in a FAQ page or the like to see if people can clear up their own problems. A section for getting rid of mites, a section on what to do for bad sheds, etc. More serious conditions shouldn't be dealt with whatsoever. After all, the answer will usually be "go to a vet", which is what should be done in the first place rather than waiting for someone you don't know and who's never actually seen your animal or its enclosure tell you what to do.

Also, I can't say as I blame vets/vet techs for shying away. It's their livelyhood on the line after all. If someone came along and told me that if I helped someone set up a satellite receiver or put in a subscriber amp I could be sued, or somehow barred from working with telecommunications, I'd be leery of helping others too. Telecom is what I do for a living after all, and it's hard enough finding a job these days without having any black marks on your record.

[Solid Snake]

yea i think its a great idea, it should aslo have stickys to frequently asked quetions like how to get rid of mites.

[ohh_kristina]

What if the forum was named something else besides "Medical Forum"? Would people like eyespy be able to post then? How about "Advice Forum" or something like that - I'm not good at naming things. I think it's a great idea, but I would hate to see people not being able to use the site because of it.

[chas*e]

YA...thats the spirit....!!!!!!.....Vive la Liberte !!!!!

[eyespy]

I wouldn't take the risk personally. Most licensed vets and techs and even the big name breeders don't even post on general forums for fear of liability or discipline from the licensing boards, the more specific towards health-related issues it gets the more dropoff I think there would be. Many of the folks at US Fish and Wildlife Services I work with lurk here and some are even registered members, but nobody is willing to post on the forums as they are for fear of disciplinary action. I think they would be leery of even logging into the site if an message board were devoted to health stuff.

[jay76]

What if the forum was named something else besides "Medical Forum"?

A rose by any other name...

The title is semantics. It's content that matters. Call it opinions, advice or whatever, it's all the same really...

[chas*e]

For one thing I doubt that on any medical diploma on the wall is the name ...Dr Jay76...or...Dr Eyespy..or..Dr Chas*e...lol...Way too paranoid....I understand those persons position(legal backlash from Lic boards), I really do but.....but my point is ...This will be a forum for the members who DON"T have or work in the Vet field...just for us dumbies (who make up 99.9%) on sSnakeSs.com.....we would like to discuss medical problems with our Reptiles without costing us a trip to a Vet. The point is that, a great many medical problems that arise DO NOT warrant a Vet trip or bill.....please no offence attributed to this statement....but it is true...If an animal is sick and needs medical care , I would be the first to advise this, with mine or anyone else's....I am not a Vet nor a tech but there are a great many of us who own and care for more reptiles than any Vet or tech has ever seen. Isn't our input worth something.....

[eyespy]

Sure, but that input already can and does happen in the individual species forums. If creating a special forum is going to scare off the people with the experience to help, that's not a situation where anyone wins. It just becomes newbies trying to help newbies after awhile and a lot of the older reptile forums on the web dropped their health or advice forums for that very reason.

[drewlowe]

The cons outway the pros in my mind. I wouldn't want to lose any of the members here, we already give some basic help. Specially eyespy!!! It's a good suggestion i just don't think it should be done.

[Shane Tesser]

On the flip side... If ssnakess was sued and there was grounds for a law suit (if we are liable we have to pay for the fees)... who would pay the laywer and court fees??? The site is free for the most part, where do you think the money would magically come from to pay for those bills??? Sure its a good idea but im sure Jeff doesnt want to risk losing everything over it.

[chas*e]

Hey Hey...What about losing everything for an ideal....think how popular you would be, people would say.."See that homeless man talking to himself, he lost everything and drinks detergent, but he stood up for what he believes in"....lol

[Jayson]

Medical advice should be left to the vets office. without a vet check/visit no one really can give an educated answer to a problem
Just my thoughts.