2. All members must fill out a profile and provide information on how long they have owned land hermit crabs. Providing a skeleton profile is permitted but it does not contribute to the 'community' aspect of this message board, and is therefore discouraged.

3. Slandering, name-calling, and 'flaming' will not be tolerated. Members are expected to treat each other as they would want to be treated. This includes flaming new members who ask questions that have been answered previously. Keep in mind there is a lot of misinformation out there and we don't want to scare new people away from a good site which will help their hermit crabs. Discussions and/or disagreements should be polite. (The American Heritage Dictionary defines "polite" as 1. Marked by or showing consideration for others, tact, and observance of accepted social usage. 2. Refined; elegant.) Individuals who are not polite will both have their messages removed from this forum and will receive a warning notice. NOTE: This is a private, moderated forum provided for the benefit of the public. This is >not< a USENET newsgroup.

4. Discussions covering topics of a sexual nature are totally inappropriate in this forum. Do not post them unless you want your account banned and a complaint registered with your Internet Service Provider. Discussion of politics and religion are also prohibited. The same goes for any remarks made regarding a person's race, gender, handicap, religion, sexual orientation, or political affiliations.

5. Commercial advertisements that are unrelated to land hermit crabs are prohibited. However, the forum may be used by its members to sell used crab supplies or to swap supplies with other members, or by local "Mom and Pop" type pet store owners seeking to advertise that they sell healthy crabs. If you advertise on this site and your business is accused of and subsequently proven to abuse land hermit crabs in any way, its link will be removed from this site and a boycott will be urged by all members.

6. All new members are strongly encouraged to read the hermit crab care information found on hermit-crabs.com, as that site answers many frequently-answered questions on various subject such as the sex of the pet crab, how it molts, what it eats, etc.

7. Site Administrators are to be treated with respect at all times. Site Admins have their own forum where they participate in extended debate about Forum issues. None of the Administrators acts alone, and therefore their decisions regarding what is and is not appropriate are not subject to open discussion/debate. Topics that are closed by Administrators stay closed and are not brought up again in a separate thread. The bashing of LHC Administrators off-site may be factored into Administrators' disciplinary decisions.