At what age does experience start????

[grunt_11b]

I was wondering at what age do you think a persons experience starts? I was wondering because I know some younger people say they have 10 years experience and they might only be 16 or 17 years old. I just don't think they could really be responsible for an animals care at that age.
I think it's great that they have been around animals that long. It also teaches them responsibility but when does actual experience start?? Anyway I look forward to hearing peoples outlook on this. Talk to ya'll later.

Alan

[Patrick Long]

I think thats a little bold buddy.

At 16 I had a job, went to school, hung out with friends, and had reptiles. I would say that I was DAMN responsible.

If you rode a motorcycle once, you have experience with motorcycles. You may not have vast experience, but you have some.

[Spaniard]

I think experience starts as soon as you get your hands on something. How well experienced you are has nothing to do with age, but how much time and effort you put into the learning of your craft. Then there is the good vs bad experience... I could have 40 years hands on experience, but it could be outdated and wrong experience by current standards.

[Argentra]

Well put. It's not the experience that's important since people get that as soon as they are exposed to something... it's how they USE that knowledge!

I'll give two examples from my own 'experience':
A now 18 year old friend of mine finally was able to get an RTB, the snake he always wanted but could never have because of his parents. He has only had that snake for a few weeks now, but right from the start everything was set up just right. This was because he had been researching, networking, talking to breeders, and just plain listening to everything, new and old, about Red Tails since he was about 10 or 11.

On the other side, I know someone who has been 'keeping' reptiles for about 20 years...all wrong. They have tons of experience because they have had those animals, but he has done NOTHING to improve their low quality of life or even to learn about updated care methods. Stubborn beyond help, he believes that his animals are 'just fine' because they are still alive and eating...but anyone who knows reptiles would be able to see at first glance that they are ONLY living...not thriving. (He mostly keeps lizards, BTW, but has a few snakes)

So, it's what you DO with experience that counts.

[starmom]

Experience starts the moment the first breath is taken.
Degrees of responsibility is another discussion all together

[Patrick Long]

Experience starts the moment the first breath is taken.
Degrees of responsibility is another discussion all together

Oooo Thats nice!!!

[West Coast Jungle]

In life I think true experienced is gained when a mistake has been made (beginners make mistakes), understood, responsibility has been taken and then corrected. Our greatest lessons come from the difficult times and that experience and the adjustments.

There is an old african proverb that says
"Calm seas do not make skillful sailors"

Unfortunately some people make the same mistakes over and over, take no responsibilty and therfore the problem never corrected. I wouldnt call that person experienced no matter how long they have been spinning their wheels.

Thats why we should learn from those with more successful experiences

[frankykeno]

I'll use an example from our own family and snakes. Our youngest, Mikey, was just turning 4 I think when we got our first snakes. Now he's always been exposed to the snakes, always "helped" us as best he could and even now own his own ball python, Buddy. I would say for a child of 7 he's got a lot of experience around snakes but for me, his true experience, will start the day he becomes fully responsible for every aspect of Buddy's care on a daily basis. Right now I think of it more as Mikey being in training to one day be a very experienced snake keeper.

[kc261]

I think most of these are great replies, but mostly don't directly answer the question the OP asked.

Experience does start the first moment you are born, and in fact even before that, because we know babies can recognize their mother's voice, etc. Experience with snakes (or whatever) starts when you first come into contact with it. So, absolutely, a 16 yr old can have 10 years experience with snakes.

But that is going by the literal definition of "experience", which isn't what people usually mean when they talk about an experienced person used almost synonymously with a knowledgeable person. As others have said, a lot depends on what you do with the knowledge you gained through your experience. Also, 10 years of experience with one snake is not equal to 1 year of experience with 10 snakes. Both will have had opportunities to see things the other will not have.

As far as a 6 or 7 year old being responsible for an animals care... most wouldn't be, but some could be. Even if Mom or Dad did all the research, it is very possible for a child of that age to go through the actions of caring for a snake if they are told what to do. And you bet they will get experience and learn from what they are doing.

My 6 yr old has a betta fish that she cares for almost entirely by herself, but I did tell her how to care for it. If she doesn't remember to feed it, it doesn't get fed, etc. We told her if she didn't take good enough care of it, we'd get rid of it because we wouldn't let her be cruel to it. She got it shortly after xmas and it is still thriving. (Note: in most cases I wouldn't recommend handling a 6 yr old's pet this way, but she is an unusual case and like I said, we are making sure the fish is not being neglected or otherwise treated poorly).

[blackcrystal22]

In life I think true experienced is gained when a mistake has been made (beginners make mistakes), understood, responsibility has been taken and then corrected. Our greatest lessons come from the difficult times and that experience and the adjustments.

There is an old african proverb that says
"Calm seas do not make skillful sailors"

Unfortunately some people make the same mistakes over and over, take no responsibilty and therfore the problem never corrected. I wouldnt call that person experienced no matter how long they have been spinning their wheels.

Thats why we should learn from those with more successful experiences

Everyone makes mistakes. Even all 'experts' will make a mistake sometime.

I think that basically what everyone has said has come to a pretty broad and basic conclusion. Experience can be anything from when you first get something or hold something but if someone isn't knowledgeable or good at what they're doing, their experience will probably not be the same as with someone who did everything right and researched and learned.