At what age does experience start????

[grunt_11b]

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.

I wasn't saying you can't be gaining experience at 16. I was out on my own at 16. I had a job went to school and had an apartment, so I know a person can be responsible at that age. You must've miss understood what I was getting at. I meant a person can't say they have ten years + at that age. You know???

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 as Mikey being in training to one day be a very experienced snake keeper.

Thats more of what I was saying. A persons true experience doesn't start until they are fully responsible for every aspect of an animals care. I just don't think a 6 or 7 year old kid can be totally responsible for an animal. They just wouldn't think about everything that needs to be done everyday. I still have to remind my 8 year old daughter to feed and water her dog. She obviously loves "little man" but just gets wrapped up playing with her sister and doing her own thing and sometimes forgets to feed him. If me or her mother weren't around to remind her I think he would go hungry a couple days a week.
I appreciate all the comments. I was just wondering what others thought about this. Talk to ya'll later...

Alan