Do you keep snakes in secret?

[limey]

We live in a society that is very intolerant of snakes, both as pets and in the wild - usually due to fear and misunderstanding. Knowing how hard it is to find a place to rent that will actually allow snakes, I wanted to post a poll to find out how you all manage to keep them...

Do you live with your parents who are fine with it? Do you keep them in secret from your landlord, who would throw you out if they knew? Do you own your own home and answer to nobody?

Please let us know your situation, it will be very interesting to find out!!! :)

[Skits]

I'm lucky my parents let me have them. I think they've gotten used to the fact I love my reptiles by now. My mom was hesitant of getting me my first snake, but I've always been the type to want a new type of animal and learn about them so I don't think they were too surprised. However, none of my parents know exactly how many I have. :p When my boyfriend and I move out, we'd probably hide them if we had to but with some of the snakes and reptiles I have (carpet pythons, boa, water monitor, etc), it wouldn't be easy.

Edit: I'm also lucky my boyfriend allows them. I wouldn't be able to hide them from him since he's always around them and helping me care for them.

[drumcrush]

I'm lucky my parents let me have them. I think they've gotten used to the fact I love my reptiles by now. My mom was hesitant of getting me my first snake, but I've always been the type to want a new type of animal and learn about them so I don't think they were too surprised. However, none of my parents know exactly how many I have. :p When my boyfriend and I move out, we'd probably hide them if we had to but with some of the snakes and reptiles I have (carpet pythons, boa, water monitor, etc), it wouldn't be easy.

Edit: I'm also lucky my boyfriend allows them. I wouldn't be able to hide them from him since he's always around them and helping me care for them.

My mom was hesitant at first too:p you're lucky to be able to keep so many. I've been cut off at 4 animals :/ I'm not aloud to buy another til I get my license -.-

[Sublimeballs]

Im 24 and live on my own and I still will not tell my mom I have a yellow anaconda. The name anaconda would scare her. She knows I have retics and that doesn't bother her but the anaconda would worry her so I just don't tell her.

[bigsnakegirl785]

Currently I live with my mother, who will let me have however many I can care for as long as there's room and money for them. There's only room for what I have currently plus the garter I'm getting soon. We currently live in an apartment and the only rules here are that you're only allowed one dog OR cat, and you can have however many "caged animals" you want. That includes snakes, so I'm set as long as no other tenants complain. :) They're mostly young people like me, who don't care about snakes, though. The only person who didn't like them moved away recently.


Im 24 and live on my own and I still will not tell my mom I have a yellow anaconda. The name anaconda would scare her. She knows I have retics and that doesn't bother her but the anaconda would worry her so I just don't tell her.

That's kinda funny, has she watched the Anaconda movies or something?

[KORBIN5895]

Well BC Arboreals hid his snakes from his landlord and when the landlord found out he turned him into British Columbia's version of the dnr. The results were that about 50 snakes were euthanized as he didn't have the proper permits. And that is why it is so important to keep only legal species and to make sure what you have is permitted by whomever owns the place you rent.

[limey]

And that is why it is so important to keep only legal species and to make sure what you have is permitted by whomever owns the place you rent.

I do tend to agree with you. This last weekend, I was helping host a local reptile expo (more of an educational expo than somewhere to make a purchase) and was surprised how many people I chatted with that were keeping them hidden in their parents' houses or had one in their rented property that the property manager didn't know about.

I guess it's the old "what they don't know won't hurt 'em". It appears that a lot of people get away with it just fine, however, some unfortunately don't - and the results can be devastating.

I thought this would be a really interesting poll to put up.

Be honest people! Nobody is going to get hung, drawn and quartered here - we just want some honest stats and see what we get!

[limey]

Im 24 and live on my own and I still will not tell my mom I have a yellow anaconda. The name anaconda would scare her. She knows I have retics and that doesn't bother her but the anaconda would worry her so I just don't tell her.

Do you have any pics of your Eunectes? I would love to see him/her.

I am quite fond of yellows - very gorgeous patterning.

[pdomensis]

I own my own home so no worries there, but I do have a concern that the laws could change and all pythons or boas may become regulated. For that reason I don't really want it to be common knowledge that I keep snakes. Not saying I would break the law, but I don't need anyone complaining either.

[wrecker45]

I own i home. As a bonus this is an unorganised township no by laws.

[limey]

I own my own home so no worries there, but I do have a concern that the laws could change and all pythons or boas may become regulated. For that reason I don't really want it to be common knowledge that I keep snakes. Not saying I would break the law, but I don't need anyone complaining either.

You guys that own your own homes are lucky. It gives you a lot more freedom when you don't have to answer to anybody but yourself.

Technically, I'm almost 30 and I could have bought a house by now but instead I chose the "travel the world" route in my early twenties that pretty much annihilated my savings account.

I chose to travel and see stuff, whereas many of my friends didn't go anywhere and settled on the homebuying route instead. I can still buy a home, but it will be in several years time. Whereas many of my mates had kids and got married after they bought the house, so they'll either miss out on the world travels or will have to postpone it till when they are much, much older and the kids have grown up.

I like to think I made a good choice back then. And wouldn't swap those memories for brick and mortar.

But still, a house seems pretty nice right now...

[Lickeypie]

My parents know about my reptiles, at this point they don't care- although my step mom does have random freak outs where she thinks the snakes are going to magically procreate and little bitty snakes are going to attack her in her sleep. But I do not dare tell my boyfriend's family the extent of my collection (they think I only have one bp and a beardie), they are very against snakes- not that I live with them or anything, they just rant about how horrible snakes are.

[SnakeyJay]

I own my own home now so it's fine, however when I was in rented property it was also fine... Most landlords here in the UK just don't like dogs/cats or anything that will trash a house. Caged animals are generally overlooked in the UK from my experience.

[IW17]

I own my own home now so it's fine, however when I was in rented property it was also fine... Most landlords here in the UK just don't like dogs/cats or anything that will trash a house. Caged animals are generally overlooked in the UK from my experience.

I think that's the case most of the time. Most places specify no dogs/cats. But even the ones that say no pets, once you explain to them that it's a snake, lizard, fish, etc, that won't destroy property, leave a permanent smell, or attack the maintenance man, they don't care.

[Sharlynn93]

My daughter's landlord has a no dog/cat policy but she can have as many caged animals as she likes...she has none, but the option is there...she may take our little rescue bp once we get him gaining weight and shedding properly...she loves bp's...

[KORBIN5895]

I think that's the case most of the time. Most places specify no dogs/cats. But even the ones that say no pets, once you explain to them that it's a snake, lizard, fish, etc, that won't destroy property, leave a permanent smell, or attack the maintenance man, they don't care.

Fish tanks are often a no no.

[wareagleA5]

When I was younger I wasn't allowed to have any pets that ate other animals, but I used to sneak speckled king snakes into a cage every now and then.

[Mikoh4792]

When I was younger I wasn't allowed to have any pets that ate other animals, but I used to sneak speckled king snakes into a cage every now and then.

Even cats and dogs?

[revent]

So when I got my first snake we asked the landlord if it was okay and they were like sure no problem. However since that time the place has sold to a new landlord and they have said no reptiles! Nothing was ever written down as proof that i got permission to keep them so there are no records of the snakes and I have not bothered to discuss the matter with the new landlords due to the fact that we plan to move when our lease is up this time anyways. Even if they did catch us and evicted us i wouldn't be too butt hurt about it since I have been saving up money and am prepared to move at any time.

[Kera]

I live with my dad (I'm only almost 16:P) and my dad loves snakes. :) He would honestly let me have as many as I could house, care for and pay for. My mom hated snakes and if she still lived with us it would never fly. When we had to put Kera down she held her just for me though. Otherwise she hates being even in the same house! I'm lucky I have an awesome dad. ;)

[wareagleA5]

Even cats and dogs?
Nothing that ate live animals lol, I used to feed the king snakes with anoles. I stopped catching them when I had one that laid eggs and I felt guilty that I didn't have an incubator to hatch them.

[IW17]

Fish tanks are often a no no.

They could be. The only thing I've ever come across was a limit on size. I don't blame them for that though. What a nightmare if some yahoo smash his couple hundred gallon tank lol.

[guyabano]

I started keeping snakes when I was maybe 12 or 13. This may come as a shock to some, but I started with retics as my first specimens. They were all wild caught (i live in a country that retics are native to) and I kept them in the back of my grandma's house. She was TERRIFIED of snakes, so nobody knew. . . for about a week. Then she threatened to have our carpenter pour boiling water on the poor thing and made me get rid of it.

I told her I sold it and bought a pair of budgies, but in reality, I bought two budgies and moved the snake under my bed. That worked till I was about 16 and I had to sell them all due to increasing school duties.

I am independent right now and I can have as many damn snakes as I want. I only keep two though. :)

[wildlifeangel]

I bought my spotted python for my own birthday present. My husband and I live with my mother. Both the hubby and the mom would freak of they knew. I'm hoping to keep her a secret for a couple months until he is comfortable with the idea. I also have 4 cages of geckos, so one ten gallon setup does not look conspicuous among the rest.

[aRepDysfunction]

I live in a high rise that doesnt care about pets, so they dont expressly know what i have in here, and i think they'd rather prefer it that way. Funny thing is, because of the permissive attitude to it, (and the inclusive hydro) there are multiple breeders in my complex, sometimes i get to go shopping without even leaving the building. There is even a rat breeder in the next building over!

[Starbuck]

My landlords know about my snakes, but when I was looking for a place down here and was asking about whether they allowed them I got some interesting answers. While some just flat out refused on the grounds of it being a snakes, a surprising number said it 'wasn't the snake, It was what the snake ate'... they didnt want to risk a rodent infestation I giess, and wouldnt change their answer even after I explained that all my animals eat frozen/thawed, refilled rodents :-/

[Snakefood]

my landlords know I have "caged animals" I did not specify, they did not ask. They want us to buy the house we are in so they probably wouldn't care, but we have no intention of buying it, we just haven't told them that.

We actually may be moving soon to a new rental. We found a 3 floor, 5 bedroom place coming up for rent in our neighborhood for $28/month more than we are paying for our 1 floor 2 bedroom right now!! This place allows any pets with a pet damage deposit, so I may actually get my snake room!!

[Lickeypie]

I pay a deposit for my animals (including my cat), but fish tanks are prohibited. I never asked why. My landlord took a lot of interest in my beardie- he seemed to like him!