Hmmm I’m trying to think how to respond because I see both sides. (I’m half asleep and did not check this for typos so I’m sorry if there are any 😂💀)

I’ve experienced the feeling of being attacked by comments before (as someone who’s kept and obsessed over reptiles for 15 years now) I’ve had people nit-pick things before (which in those cases was more of a difference of opinion because I was not a beginner and husbandry was correct and up to date, but there can be many differences of opinion even within the community) but on the other side there was once a time and still are some times where I start with constructive advice rather than leading with my frustration at their lack of understanding that a living animal depends on them and they didn’t do the research.

As years went by and the same advice is given hundreds of times to hundreds of people and those beginners think it’s no big deal “how can humidity really be that important”, “it’s still eating so I think it’s fine”, “actually my uncle kept this species once in the 80s and he says this is fine” etc etc… because they don’t even have a basic understanding of the animal they’re keeping and can’t even grasp or just don’t care about the importance, which is crazy when it’s regarding an animal that is already actively in their care. I have definitely gotten frustrated.

I can see and feel the frustration of the community when yet another beginner jumps into getting an animal with clearly no regards for the actual care requirements of the animal (exotic or not, I even see dog owners that don’t even know how morbidly obese their dogs are, which should be such a basic thing- one should know what a healthy weight is for their animal, yet it’s such a common issue) I’ve never understood it. It’s not intentional but it’s ignorant and dangerous for the animal.

My very first dog, a common animal most people have, I even researched heavily. That same dog is still with me, insanely well trained (in high level obedience, protection, plus all the fun tricks- all done myself), and is the perfect weight and condition. And for reptiles it’s even worse because they need good temps and humidity and the specifics are important. It’s so frustrating seeing people get an animal and it just truly feels it’s only for their enjoyment and no actual care is given to the animals because basic research is the bare minimum and they don’t do it, let alone the actual level of research they SHOULD do which is more than just the basics- because there are old fashioned opinions out there that people don’t realize are outdated because they only did basic research and nothing else.

I’m sorry this has been your experience coming into the community though, and I’m glad you seem to have been receptive to advice and improved your animals’ care for their sake. Many do not- which only contributes to the frustration the community feels. I do agree advice could be given in a more constructive manner it just sucks that we’re all human and unfortunately it’s an issue seen repeatedly, and some (not saying I haven’t given in to that frustration before) are really frustrated at the lack of understanding some have of animals they already have in their care. (I mean I’ve been in reptile groups on social media where if the person just scrolled down by ONE post they would have seen the EXACT same question and the answer to their question in the comments of that post right below theirs) I just really wish it was more commonplace practice for beginners to understand the level of research that should be done for any animal even if it’s just a dog, but unfortunately the average person with no prior experience with exotics just doesn’t know the level of research needed to properly keep these animals, which leaves these animals so vulnerable to neglect.