where to draw the line?

[briarpatch10]

When it comes to kids say 14 and under, what species {if any} do you think kids should not be allowed to own?
Not talking just about "smart" kids, maturity level comes into play with this one.



IMO all old world with medically significant bites should be a no go.

 

[LV-426]

IMO as long as you do your reasearch and plan ahead when you have to manipulate Ts(changing substrate, enclosures, etc) no T should be a problem except something that requires special care like a T blondi.

 

[seezilla]

IMO all old world with medically significant bites should be a no go.

+1 from me.

I think that I would only let my daughter --who now has her first T as of last week-- have one of the starter Ts. (E. campestratus, G. pulchripes, G. rosea, B. smithi, B. Emilia, G. pulchra or one of the more docile avics) But that's just me. BTW, my daughter is 8 and I have let her handle my G. rosea and my G. pulchripes once or twice. She is very careful and very gentle with the Ts. I am very proud of her for absorbing the information I've learned over the last three months and has been passing it on to her friends, some of which have decided to learn about Tarantulas as well because they hear Riley talk about how cool she thinks our Ts are.

 

[dannyboypede]

im thirteen, and my comfort level ends right before pokies and psalmos. im not gonna get any of those for a few years and once i get a lot of experience with meanies and arboreal t's. also, pokies are expensive, and if one died under my care it wouldnt make me happy. M. balfouri too, i just couldnt take that risk financially.
what do you mean when you say, "Not just talking about 'smart kids', maturity level comes into play with this one?" do you mean physical maturity?
just my 2 cents,
Dan

 

[briarpatch10]

I mean emotional maturity

 

[dannyboypede]

oh. ok. i see! yeah, im not ready for pokies! i try to avoid the hospital.

 

[Kathy]

Ditto on the old world. That was my first t I rec'd as a gift, and as an adult I wasn't prepared for it. Worked out okay, but I have to agree with the rest, no h. macs or pokies....

 

[billy28]

I'm 14 and I can handle pretty much anything. I'm very cautious

 

[2oCHEVYo0]

lol, kinda makes me laugh! my bro got his first tarantula at age 13 or 14 and it was a P. Cambridgei. it's just funny to think back to those days when he would hold charlotte and she would throw up a threat pose. he always thought it was cute and that it liked being pet on the butt and that's why it did it. now we just talk about how lucky he was that he didn't get tagged!!! also the fact that now looking back, charlotte didn't get to live quite as happy of a life that we had all thought

and no offense kid, but not being able to cover getting an expensive t as a kid? i would think as a child, that is all you would have to spend your money on... not like your paying bills or nothing, so go out and get the expensive ones while you still can! i'm 21, and i still cannot stomach the fact that a p. met is gunna cost me close to $200 just for a 1" sling. COMPLETELY REDICULOUS!!! I cannot afford that right now, and probably will not be able to for quite along time seeing as how I'm just starting back to school and what not.

just my .02

 

[NikiP]

lol, kinda makes me laugh! my bro got his first tarantula at age 13 or 14 and it was a P. Cambridgei. it's just funny to think back to those days when he would hold charlotte and she would throw up a threat pose. he always thought it was cute and that it liked being pet on the butt and that's why it did it. now we just talk about how lucky he was that he didn't get tagged!!! also the fact that now looking back, charlotte didn't get to live quite as happy of a life that we had all thought

and no offense kid, but not being able to cover getting an expensive t as a kid? i would think as a child, that is all you would have to spend your money on... not like your paying bills or nothing, so go out and get the expensive ones while you still can! i'm 21, and i still cannot stomach the fact that a p. met is gunna cost me close to $200 just for a 1" sling. COMPLETELY REDICULOUS!!! I cannot afford that right now, and probably will not be able to for quite along time seeing as how I'm just starting back to school and what not.

just my .02

Maybe the person knows their parents cant/wont buy a $200 spider?

 

[JimM]

Very few 14 year old's have the attention span, dedication, sense of responsibility that would make a tarantula a good idea. I don't consider them expendable animals, and given what I know about kids in general, and their priorities, I almost never recommend them for kids of this age.

Some kids (usually girls) are an exception to this - but most of the time it's a bad idea. Whether or not the kid you're thinking of is one the few who is responsible enough, only you can determine.

Just keep in mind that with some species, you're talking about an animal that can live for 35 years. You have to consider this on one hand, and the fleeting attention span of your average young person on the other.

 

[briarpatch10]

Very few 14 year old's have the attention span, dedication, sense of responsibility that would make a tarantula a good idea. I don't consider them expendable animals, and given what I know about kids in general, and their priorities, I almost never recommend them for kids of this age.

Some kids (usually girls) are an exception to this - but most of the time it's a bad idea. Whether or not the kid you're thinking of is one the few who is responsible enough, only you can determine.

Just keep in mind that with some species, you're talking about an animal that can live for 35 years. You have to consider this on one hand, and the fleeting attention span of your average young person on the other.

well put:clap:

 

[dannyboypede]

id beg to differ. most of the people i know, who are under and 14, have long attention spans and will spend hours doing something they enjoy. i spend most of my time watching my t's and pedes. it is kind of unfair that teens are viewed as lazy and irresponsible. yes, it does depend on the person. a person of any age who isnt interested in spiders is probably not a good person to be selling a t to. this is not just my 2 cents, this is the hidden truth, and a truth i am willing to defend. we (14 and below) have interests, and we should be allowed to explore those interests within reasonable limits. it is not fair that we should be denied a *safe* experience because kids are viewed as irresponsible "in general."

of course im not advocating an eight year old have a pokie in their room, but im just saying that sometimes individuals need to be looked at as such. i take offense to being part of a false generalization pertaining to the attention span of my age group.

thanks for reading my essay,
Dan

p.s. JimM, please don't take this personally

 

[billy28]

id beg to differ. most of the people i know, who are under and 14, have long attention spans and will spend hours doing something they enjoy. i spend most of my time watching my t's and pedes. it is kind of unfair that teens are viewed as lazy and irresponsible. yes, it does depend on the person. a person of any age who isnt interested in spiders is probably not a good person to be selling a t to. this is not just my 2 cents, this is the hidden truth, and a truth i am willing to defend. we (14 and below) have interests, and we should be allowed to explore those interests within reasonable limits. it is not fair that we should be denied a *safe* experience because kids are viewed as irresponsible "in general."

of course im not advocating an eight year old have a pokie in their room, but im just saying that sometimes individuals need to be looked at as such. i take offense to being part of a false generalization pertaining to the attention span of my age group.

thanks for reading my essay,
Dan

p.s. JimM, please don't take this personally

Very well put

 

[briarpatch10]

I think Jim was talking more about long term commitment { in some cases 30+ years}rather than a couple of hours playing playstation

 

[briarpatch10]

oh. ok. i see! yeah, im not ready for pokies! i try to avoid the hospital.

p.s. pick a side and stay with it. defend what you want to but stick with it...its the mature thing to do !

 

[dannyboypede]

my side is that we shouldn't look at the situation in a general way. if billy28 can handle pretty much anything, then we should respect that within reason. if i can't handle pokies and i don't feel comfortable with them, it doesn't mean i shouldn't be allowed to have t's in general. what you quoted simply furthers my argument that we are individuals and not all lazy kids that are exactly the same. I'm defending the individual teen/kid, and i have not strayed from that position as of yet.

--Dan

 

[Pociemon]

my side is that we shouldn't look at the situation in a general way. if billy28 can handle pretty much anything, then we should respect that within reason. if i can't handle pokies and i don't feel comfortable with them, it doesn't mean i shouldn't be allowed to have t's in general. what you quoted simply furthers my argument that we are individuals and not all lazy kids that are exactly the same. I'm defending the individual teen/kid, and i have not strayed from that position as of yet.

--Dan

As i read it, Jim did not mean you are lazy, just that most people that age dont commit to things longterm. My kid have had 1 snake, 2 frogs and 1 T, and he have lost interest after around 4 month with each animal. He is your age. Longterm is years, not months. I fail to see where lazy comes in the picture here!

 

[briarpatch10]

the point to the conversation is that children should not be allowed to own a critter of what ever kind that is able to give a medically significant bite.
And that there is a 30+ year commitment with fem tarantulas ...99.9% of kids are not able to make. What do you do with your T's when you are in a universtiy, in the armed services, when you marry and your wife say's no way to tarantulas. You cant see past the end of your nose and 30 is old... Things change always do and when your 14 and under you cannot commit to this kind of ownership. I didnt say you were lazy I have a 9 year old that runs circles around me. you are just too young to keep a spider that can put you in the hospital...read the first post again, you will be tested later!

 

[JimM]

I think Jim was talking more about long term commitment { in some cases 30+ years}rather than a couple of hours playing playstation

...Exactly...