Please Read Our Rules Of Use.

The primary focus of Exotic Rescue Forum is the promotion of the hobby of keeping exotic animals, welfare and conservation in the UK and globally. Therefore, any behavior which patently transgresses this primary goal is prohibited. Examples of this type of behavior include, but are not limited to: trolling the boards posting anti-exotic hobby messages, name-calling based on the fact that a person is an exotic keeper, and discussions that incite forum vs. forum or anti-other site sentiments. Violations of this rule will result in one warning, followed by a 1-month ban for subsequent violations.

The forum is divided into numerous subject-specific areas and a general discussion area. It is required that all off-topic discussion be confined to the pub. A small amount of off-topic tangent will be allowed in threads in the subject-specific forums, but threads that wander too far off track will have to be locked or moved. Violations of this rule, while not serious, degrade the effectiveness of the forums for other users that may not have as much time to use them as you do. The first 2 violations will be met with mild warnings. 3-4 violations will be met with stern warnings and post/thread deletion and/or movement. The fifth violation will result in a 2-week ban.

Everyone comes to Exotic Rescue Forum with different and widely varied experience levels, species in possession, and formal education. The disrespecting, "flaming", or general harrassment of ANY user at Exotic Rescue Forum based on their perceived lack of knowledge, lack of experience, lack of formal education, short timeline in the hobby proper, or other such petty reasons will result in a stern warning and post deletion, followed by a 1-month ban for subsequent offenses. If an inexperienced or otherwise ignorant user is truly causing a problem, please report this to the moderators, that's what they are there for.

The obligatory Anti-Discrimination clause: Under no circumstances will discrimination, defamation, slander, or gossip about anyone based on religion, race, color, creed, sexual preference, financial status be tolerated. Any discriminatory remarks will earn you a stern warning and post deletion followed by a 1-month ban for subsequent offenses.

The audience of Exotic Rescue Forum varies widely in age and background. We have many members as young as 12 or 13, and this should be kept in mind when posting material that could be considered to be "adult", "mature", or even "PG-13". Leeway will be given in most cases, as it is not our wish to be thought police, but posts considered to be "crossing the line" between a little adult-oriented fun and mature material is hard to discern. To make this decision easier, please note the following out-of-bounds material:
- overt and/or gross sexual depictions and/or humor
- pictures containing nudity or partial nudity. If you have a link to share, do it in a PM or email
- erotic stories or text
- discussion of explicitly sexual topics... there are PLENTY of other forums out there for this

Any violations of this rule will earn a stern warning, followed by a 1-month ban for subqesuent offenses. If you have any questions about the approriateness of a certain topic, please PM or email it a moderator before posting. In this case, it is NOT easier to get forgiveness than permission.

Absolutely NO flaming, deliberate personal attacks, or excessively antagonizing posts! Any violations of this rule will earn either a stern warning and post deletion, or a 2-week or 1-month ban, at the moderators' discretion. Obviously, harsher infractions will require harsher punishment, so please think twice.

Acceptable language is a very hard line to draw in the sand. Please appreciate that editing EVERY post with questionable language would require the mods to spend a lot of time scrutinizing...which we're doing anyway, but why make our job harder? Please help us out by avoiding the use of the roughest 4-letter words (you know what they are), and any expletives containing explicit references to bodily equipment or functions. Asterisks or symbols ARE NOT an acceptable way of circumventing this rule. We all know what you're trying to say, and it will be treated as such. Posts will be edited at the mods' discretion, should they see any language they deem over the line. Please don't be a baby and complain about it publicly, use PM or email... in fact, don't complain at all, as it is VERY unlikely that you will get the mod to change his/her mind. Repeated warnings will earn you post deletion and an eventual ban, based on circumstances.

The moderators/admins are NOT to be mocked, ridiculed, or called out on the discussion forums. If you have issues with a mod or Admin, take it up in an email or PM. The public disparaging of ANY mod or admin, for ANY reason will earn you an IMMEDIATE 1-month ban, no questions, no discussion. You've been warned.

GENERAL ETIQUETTE
Please avoid posting threads about your latest forum milestone. Any thread announcing your newly achieved rank/title/postcount will be automatically deleted, so don't try to repost them, and don't post asking if the forum's working. Help us out and just don't post them at all. It won't get you banned or anything, but they're annoying... we can all read your title, and wasting bandwidth on topics THAT frivolous is bad business. If you do it continually, we'll find a reason to ban you under another rule...

Please avoid posting threads/posts that are blatantly confrontational, antagonistic, or belligerent. All it will accomplish is getting people to respond to you in the same manner and that's not necessary nor appreciated.

Please avoid obnoxious signatures or "sigs". Please be aware that putting any material in your sig that violates any of the above-mentioned rules of use will subject you to the corresponding disciplinary actions. Also No forms of advertising are permitted on this site within 'sigs' without placing our forum link on your web site, unless I give permission. Only Reptile Rescue's are permitted to display their banners.

Please do not attach pictures that you do not hold the copyright to, without express consent from the copyright holder. If you do have express consent, please state so in the post or the picture will be deleted. If a picture is hosted on the web that you do not hold the copyright to & you would like for users to view it, please feel free to post the URL. Do NOT use the "IMG" tags as that is bandwidth theft. You may post your own pics freely, but raiding other sites for pics and then posting them is strongly discouraged. Please link instead. For forum links, individuals need to make over 20 posts to be placed into the directory.

Finally we forbid anyone to take any material from this board without the permission of Denise. Please enjoy the forum.

The Team of Exotic Rescue Forum.