Just some notes here..Tarantulas bite humans defensively, not maliciously. Physical damage, vomiting, headaches, muscle aches and cramps are all things I consider harmful affects to humans.
That is correct in referring to old world tarantulas which contain potent and medically significant venom. But new world t's do not carry medically significant venom and is known to be weaker than that of a bee. Either way it's good that she refrains from handling as long as it's for the right reasons and not from common misconceptions
Unless there's an allergy..
100% agree. I try and do this any chance I get. Some are receptive, some not so much. Not going to stop me from trying though. After all, it is the animal's well being that I am most concerned with.
They never said you offended them. They were making a point and expressing their opinion, just like you were.
Except for Psalmopoeus..
I mean, people declaw cats. For using their claws to do things that are entirely expected and predictable. Cat behaves like a cat and the response is shocked pikachu face and a procedure that causes pain at the time and drastically increases the chance of arthritis in the related joints.Some
The spider no longer be able to eat.
I can't find the other responses, maybe they got consolidated into this one comment.
But I avoid ants because Ive got enough to go off of. for the length, i am trying to sound nice on the internet when few words do trick but would definitely come across as mean. And I can't control how you receive it but I hope the amount of time I spent writing it does convey a genuine desire to be nice. Because I come from a world where women only serve to bring each other down and I strive to be different and will always call that out when I see it. But two women talking about something they are passionate about seems to give the illusion that they struggle with interpersonal communications and people love it 
We get labeled as as emotional but only because men don't count anger as emotion. I am sensitive to it, that is a result of my experiences of being hated because of the way I look or for being seen as competition. You know that crap starts in elementary school. Bullying. And if I ran into another lady keeper I would feel a sense of comradary because we are far and few between. Because I don't know about you but I've been playing in the dirt and with bugs since I was a little kid and paid my dues being forced to wear dresses (trust me there is no competition if you hate to play with humans like me, have them, I don't want them lol) and I will always build the people up that care about the things I care about. You know who wins? The things we care about. 
What an eloquently diplomatic clarification of your position.I can't find the other responses, maybe they got consolidated into this one comment.
I believe she is the perfect keeper because she has had the spider for a year, kept it alive and doesn't handle it.
I only googled ingredients in tarantula venom and bee venom. In exactly 2 searches you will find the same words. I told you I didn't know what they meant. It would be enough for me not to want to say it's safe or fine. It's just the bare minimum due diligence I did before I opened my mouth/started typing to see if they had anything in common. But if you explain your logic too maybe we can clear that up.
It doesn't matter what big word you expose the human body to, the body can react to it. People can experience an allergic reaction to whatever body says it can, and to the extent it wishes, and maybe differently as it sees fit. And unless we know exactly which ingredient that the lady at the grocery store is allergic to in bee venom, then we can only look at the entire ingredient list. Is that fair? And let's say she did not have a history of anaphylaxis. Whew. That would be a huge red flag warning. If she has a epi pen then I'm not the smartest person to worry about it. Another red flag. I'd probably tell her to ask her doctor first. It's waaay above my pay grade. But thankfully I would never be talking someone into holding their tarantula at the potential detriment of both of them, or telling anyone that anything is safe. I don't even recommend OTC treatments off or on the clock. It's not in my protocols so the law won't protect me. Not even Tylenol. Because it's not in my drug box. Unsolicited advice that I know a teeny bit about scientifically...At the bare minimum id be afraid of someone googling and finding me wrong. But just basic allergies.... We ask every patient what they are allergic to and what happens when they are exposed. WHY? It matters! Not asking is negligent.
The truth is we could spend hours of research determining things like if venom a digestive enzyme or a paralytic agent, we would need to research all the ingredients, and then research the human body as well as the immunological responses each human *could* have, what repeated exposure does as well, and then run the numbers against a new allergen being exposed for the first time. You can't forget that no matter what research we all do or what has been done already, we still can't research enough to predict what is going to happen to an individual when exposed to allergens. But sorry for lack of better words no smart person could say it's not possible.
I will speak more to you saying there is no way there could be the same reaction but I'll be honest there is a ton of room to misinterpet so please forgive me if I'm way off. You mention potency, not as strong right? If it's not the same ingredients in bee venom, would potency matter? I might have scrolled over something mentioning bee venom is more potent. I just didn't open to see if it means it's the same ingredients just more, or the "effect" was more potent. And what is the effect of venom? Google says it's a paralytic agent. I recall from bio that the first step in human digestion is salivation. It's the saliva then mastication that starts to break up the food. We have thumbs and a brain instead of venom to immobilize. Maybe I'm wrong with the analogy.
Unless you meant same reaction like same allergic reaction. Hives, swelling, itching...well that's mild.... difficulty breathing, wheezing? Mild or not, you surely aren't saying someone can't experience those things if exposed to tarantula venom...or even setae... Or any other agent the body recognizes as foreign and triggers an immunological response. You learn this in bio, again in A&P, and then our vocational training in the medical emergencies section. But we have that extra training that should give us pause before we put a safety label on anything, plus a whole chapter on medicolegal. You say you are an EMT so that now makes you an expert witness if you use it to qualify yourself. That's the trust the public puts in you too when you announce your credentials.
Just one dumb anecdote but when I get bit by one ant, it makes the inside of my ears itch as well as my throat, so bad I'm practically swallowing chips whole. Ants. There was this one time as a kid I got bit by hundreds at once but I don't know if that has anything to do with it, it was so long ago. I just know what happens now. Within a minute or so. When I get stung by a bee, after about 24 hours it turns into a red golf ball sized hot lump, that lasts and itches like crazy for two weeks. I have no qualms about picking up a hurt or drowning bee because they are arguably the most important creature on this planet because I am an idiot but I also have no reason to believe a bee sting will mess me up like that. It's not a factor in why I don't hold my tarantulas. The only reason I do is if life saving interventions are required, and shoot, I expect to get bit and only focus on not reacting to the bite, so I don't do any more harm. Same reason I waited to get old worlds. I wasn't ready to not react to a spicier bite
I'm sorry for the long reply, I started this a few hours ago and I'm having to write with many disruptions at work so I'm sorry if I'm all over the place. I was not put off by your rebuttal(s) I just had a very busy day yesterday. I will always advocate for the animal. I am just as guilty as keeping them in captivity but I can only justify for one reason...it's that I can keep them safe from HUMANS. Otherwise I am just keeping them for selfish reasons, where they are unhappy and not living their best wild life.
One thing that I find unfair is your delivery about this woman, you came to the internet and said bad things about her and then people laughed. And someone even commented about her coming here. Because she's not holding her spider that she's kept alive a year. Well that would be classy of her if she doesn't to repay the libel. But the internet is forever, and is a character attestation in lieu of everything other way you could portray yourself. If you didn't "face palm" to her face then is this not just middle school bullying? I am trying to empathize with this woman but also point out that she may have not spread her misinformation on the internet as facts, and even further, didn't trash on anyone that didnt know better or disagrees. I would believe everything you said as long as I cant poke one hole in it and try to invalidate your position and credibility. Like venom digesting versus venom still being there. Did she face palm too? And get a confab to make fun of you? Is she just misinformed too? That is what I find ironic, the delivery (what you wrote and the tone you intended) and the person delivering sounding misinformed and advocating the thing we don't advocate here ...holding, and everyone hopping on the bullying bandwagon.
But that's just my way of thinking and calculating and confirming my sources. That's also a really good way of accepting future advice and how I vet the people I seek knowledge from. They're here. And anyone that disagrees with those people just doesn't know the facts yet, is too ignorant to comprehend or just has the attitude of not caring because their way is the right way. That's just me being extra though. I am so confused to see people here making fun of someone for being afraid to handle their tarantula. And to not tell you that the digestion starts in the mouth, not the fangs which really just hold the prey but can deliver venom, a biologically scarce defense mechanism. Otherwise fangless Ts could not survive off cricket soup?
If you read this far I am sorry
I guess if I had a friendly request it would be for you to consider, to be considerate, you didn't have to make fun of her or even make the post, but if you do feel the need, be 100% accurate or you look silly too. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Otherwise it's an ironic soapbox where someone is hated for no good reason. Please don't encourage people to handle their tarantulas, it only puts the tarantulas at risk and potentially humans too, especially if they have some medical risk. Something doesn't have to be medically significant to still pose a risk to affected population. But if you start advocating that people handled their old worlds, I love watching people learn from their mistakes
Aaahhhh why are so many of you just focusing ok the handling part??? So frustrating!! NO....the bottom line is that this woman is under the impression that her tarantula will lose its venom at some point or very well be under the impression that she can get her t defanged so that it will no longer be venemous. This woman is being sold incorrect information and when I tried to educate her on tarantula venom she was very dismissive. Did any of you even see the part where I mentioned to her that spiders are meant as display pets anyway??? Never once did I encourage her to handle her t. I was focused on the fact that she was 1. Comparing tarantula venom to that of a bee's venom which are two completely different things and 2. She's waiting for her t to stop being venemous. The very last thing I said to her after she informed me she knows nothing about the animal is that she should probably so some research on it. Ugh! So frustrating lol
