How young is too young?

What would be the minimum age to start working with old worlds or more venomous new worlds (like psalmos) in your opinions? I got my first OW when I was 12 (Poecilotheria regalis) and I have yet to be bitten. Do you guys think maturity levels count more than age?

If I owned a T store, I'd refuse to sell the hotter species to anyone under 18 and I'd require a liability waiver.

It all depends on your skill level and experience. I would never recommend an OW to a 12 year old and you were lucky to never be harmed. I owned black windows when I was that age myself but I still wouldn't recommend them to kids that age. I can confidently say that most 12 year olds are not going to be able to deal with an OW or most tarantulas. Yeah there are going to be comments like oh I got this as my first T or I got my T at this age but the fact is most kids and teenagers are not going to have the maturity nor skill to properly care for an OW tarantula. I'm almost 23 and I got my first OW at 22 but I only got them because I felt like I had the necessary experience not age or really maturity (but that helps too). At the end of the day you can be as old or mature as you want but hard earned experience is what counts.

Arachnomaniac19 said:

What would be the minimum age to start working with old worlds or more venomous new worlds (like psalmos) in your opinions? I got my first OW when I was 12 (Poecilotheria regalis) and I have yet to be bitten. Do you guys like maturity levels count more than age?

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maturity can have something to do with it. however it also depends on your experience. if a normal 12 yr old got a poec. itd probably be problematic. i cant say much iv worked with venomous reptiles for about 10 yrs. i helped with constrictors from 7-11 and then worked with my first rattle snake at 11. iv worked with everything from spitters to mambas and iv never ben bit but i cant say if its maturity, luck, my calmness [which i realy didnt care as a kid so thats prob not it hands on with diamond backs at 12 hah not smart lol] or what it was.. even with my experience iv only been into T's about 7 months and i dont have any ow yet i want to get used to the speed of my P. cambridgei befor i get a ow of any kind.

fyr has a good idea tho id probably make it 21+ for OW and 18 for hotter nw sp. as last thing we need is a bunch of bearly legal hooligans getting obts as first pet "because its frikkin orange!"

Well I know many 12-14 year olds over on the Australian forum (Being Australian they have to strictly deal with old worlds) and honestly I wouldn't want my kid messing around with old worlds but they are actually very mature for their age and the most important quality that these young lads seem to have is they actually LISTEN to what the experienced keepers have to say when they're presented with an issue which is more than I can say for many adults I have encountered. We have to keep in mind these young guys are the future of our hobby so we need to make sure they're spoon fed correct information. If I'm talking to a 13 year old kid I make sure to break down what I'm saying until it's about as simple as possible.

awiec said:

It all depends on your skill level and experience. I would never recommend an OW to a 12 year old and you were lucky to never be harmed. I owned black windows when I was that age myself but I still wouldn't recommend them to kids that age. I can confidently say that most 12 year olds are not going to be able to deal with an OW or most tarantulas. Yeah there are going to be comments like oh I got this as my first T or I got my T at this age but the fact is most kids and teenagers are not going to have the maturity nor skill to properly care for an OW tarantula. I'm almost 23 and I got my first OW at 22 but I only got them because I felt like I had the necessary experience not age or really maturity (but that helps too). At the end of the day you can be as old or mature as you want but hard earned experience is what counts.

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I think I was one of the rare exceptions to my age group with me being more mature. Two years later I have all the Ts I have now. That list includes a H.mac and an OBT. But I do a agree that most 12 year olds should not have old worlds and that the seller should not have sold it to me. I still have that regalis btw.

I got my first tarantula when I was 10, so I can really only speak from experience. However not everyone is as responsible as I was at that age. I would never have even considered getting an OW at that age though.

I probably could have looked after, say, a B. smithi or G. pulchra when I was 12, but definitely would have been scared of an OW. Having said that, my 12 year old son has now been around Dad's collection for almost 3 years, and could probably look after one of my regalis by himself.

I do not think maturity levels count more than age, because that sense of maturity is coming from the person themselves most of the time. A lot of teenagers, and actual children, believe themselves to be very grown-up, mature and level-headed when in fact, they just haven't happened on a situation that will break that all down yet--things that usually occur later in life when others are no longer there to shelter them from harsh reality. I personally would be reticent to sell a tarantula to a 21 year old, let alone a 12 year old, New or Old World. But that's more out of concern for the tarantula than the child.

I got my first old world (after researching about them since I was 10), when I was 14 (I'm 16 now), a p.regalis sling which is now a 6 inch female. Never handled her, not that I want to, never been bit, have 2 foot tongs, and even though she is an individual who's always been quite calm, besides from the occasional strike when she's not interested in food, I'm still extremely careful around her as I understand that just because she's been well behaved for the 2 years I've had her,I know she could change moods in a split second. Rehouses have always gone well. I just give her the respect she deserves and it aggravates me when I see beginners get t's because they're pretty.

I got my Regalis because I never saw the appeal of t's who sit in the same spot for hours and don't do anything. This girls always burrowing, and even though she has a burrow she still sits out most of the time. I don't regret getting her at all, and I know people would probably think I wasn't mature enough for one, I think I've done okay with her. Since then I haven't got another old world, (besides a regalis freebie which ended up being a female so I sold her), and the only 'hot' t's I have is my regalis and a p.cambrigei AF, who's treated with the same respect as my regalis.

I do agree to some extent that some people aren't mature enough for some of the hotter t's, but there are some who do perfectly fine with OWs.

Case to case basis. Generally, I'm of the firm believe that OWs don't belong into the hands of minors. Simply because a lot like to "show off" or overestimate themself / the spider very easily. If there is some kid that I've known for long enough to be responsible and level-headed enough to use common-sense and trust not to get bitten? Perhaps - but I would never suggest a Poeci or the like to them. Maybe Heterothele spp. (dwarf baboon) or one of the other baboons (except OBT), but not an arboreal.

My reasoning here is simply that if the worst happens and the person gets bitten, how do you think the parents will react? There are so many people out there that would make such accident just another reason to ban the hobby, it simply isn't wort it IMO. Too many great looking NWs out there, to risk a kid getting bitten by a potent OW spider and the parents freaking out over it...no, sorry.

Belle Fury said:

I do not think maturity levels count more than age, because that sense of maturity is coming from the person themselves most of the time. A lot of teenagers, and actual children, believe themselves to be very grown-up, mature and level-headed when in fact, they just haven't happened on a situation that will break that all down yet--things that usually occur later in life when others are no longer there to shelter them from harsh reality.

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Well said.

My soon to be 12 year old daughter takes care of most of the tarantulas we have. She does all the feeding and watering for the brachys, avics and lps. I feed the 5 old worlds we have. Avics are the fastest thing she needs to be dealing with right now. Unfortunately most kids get into tarantula without interested or supportive parents who are there to help. I want her to be able to know her own limitations and be confident in her abilities to handle what she is interested in keeping. One good scare for a kid and they may be turned off the hobby or the tarantula may end up dead.

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Belle Fury said:

I do not think maturity levels count more than age, because that sense of maturity is coming from the person themselves most of the time. A lot of teenagers, and actual children, believe themselves to be very grown-up, mature and level-headed when in fact, they just haven't happened on a situation that will break that all down yet--things that usually occur later in life when others are no longer there to shelter them from harsh reality. I personally would be reticent to sell a tarantula to a 21 year old, let alone a 12 year old, New or Old World. But that's more out of concern for the tarantula than the child.

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Completely agree, a friend of mine who works as a psychologist for the school district once told me that kids and teens under the age of about 15 will revert mentally 5 years in a panicked situation because the brain is just not developed enough to handle the stress. Not even a stressful example: when my son was 16 he developed a mild case of cellulitus/blood poisoning. I took a sharpy, drew a line across the top of the red line going up his leg then called the Dr to get an appt that afternoon to bee seen and get antibiotics. I left the room for not more than 10 minutes to do this. When I went back, he was crying and babbling on about how he didn't want to have his leg amputated. He wasn't a kid that cried, ever, so I love little embarrassing stories like that. Lol