Apartment Dwellers....

[Artemis]

Ok... Ive been MIA moving, and finally am halfway reconnected, and up to my ankles in boxes :(

Moved into my new evil apartment in snooty northern virginia, and I was surprised to find my lease speficially prohibits snakes. Grrreat....... The yuppies will freak. I am such a fish out of water in this place, and I miss the mountains!


So thoughts on this whole law breaking crisis... should I delicately and discreetly house them in tupperwares or get rid of them? Anyone else wrestle with this? Anyone get busted ever?? What sort of trouble can you get into? Give me food for thought.

Send me thread links if I missed any infamous ones :)


Artemis

[sleddergirl]

Althought under normal circumstances (everyday living I mean) I try and always be a law abiding citizen......I must say though I do own animals that are illegal in my city...........in fact all reptiles are illegal to own in my city......

[beanersmysav]

I'd say check to make sure it's legal to do that first, then yeah rubbermaids would be the way to go, honestly I think keeping your snakes is important or it would be to me anyways, and a ball python and a corn aren't that hard to keep away in a walk in closet or in the bed room etc just get dark rubbermaids

[Artemis]

Yeah thats how I feel too... I do have a child though who is a talker like me, and Im just worried it will all come tumbling out of that mouth of hers to the neighbors or in the rental office one day. Also Ive never had the python in tupperware before. Tips for making them escape proof? Good Dimensions for one?

Keep those opinions coming!!

Artemis

[beanersmysav]

Yeah the kid could be a problem, when my grandma comes to visit and my sisters around here I had to convince her to call the snakes lizards, stops my grandma from having a heart attack on me.

Ball Pythons can have decently small rubbermaid enclosure haha wouldn't go with tupperware. Basicly anything equivilent to a 20 gallon I'd say would be a safe bet.

As far as being secured I'm sure there's better ways but I weigh mine down with weights that I don't use from my bench or the smaller dumb bells I don't use anymore 15-20 lbers, no escapes yet. Just make sure it's a sturdy top that wont collapse with the weight on it, I test it by sitting on it myself, if 170 lbs wont collapse it then neither will 40. They also make some with good locking lids but I never trust those I always add extra weight some do lock better than others.

[Vengeance]

I use S hooks, works great, I find it very secure and easy to lock and unlock as necessary.

http://www.ssnakess.com/photopost/data/500/3606DSCF0035-med.JPG

As for the law breaking thing, the bylaws in my town say I can't own ball pythons. But it is only on a complaint basics so it's not like they randomly search houses. I just keep my hobby quiet, and don't go walking arounf the neighbour hood with one wrapped around my neck like an idiot.

[peterm15]

as long as you smart and respectful the police wont really do anythig.. like theres bound to be a cop on here somewhere and there not saying anything.. so... but as for it being against you lease id suggest keeping it quit and dont unpack to fast... if you get busted your prob out... but if your a respectful tenat and quite and nice (suckup lol) then if and when you do get nailed you might just get away with it... your landlord might just say
"just keep it from the nehibors"

well good luck..

[sneaky_boa]

I had the sam situation happen to me a few years back. I had a few snakes that I was trying to covertly keep in my apartment where the lease specifically called for no reptiles. I later discovered (when landlord was in my apartment doing repairs and found my reptiles) that the lease is legally binding (DUH!). Bottom line, if they are found...you will be evicted in a fairly painful process (you can be forced to leave the premises with very little notice). You can try your luck..but do conside this aspect. Maybe have a friend lined up who can take them when landlord is around (or visitors etc.), and someone who can house you if the inevitable does occur!

[Artemis]

Wow- will they really straight out evict you? The pet part of the lease made careful sure to say they can demand you get rid of them and still hold you to every other part of your lease. I would have figured as long as they found them without incident that they would just ask me to get rid of them.

Thanks for the tips guys- Corn is doing awesome. Python wont come out of his hide, which is really BIG in this rubbermaid. Python is coming up on a year old and is pretty big guy- it seems hard to try and get 2 decent sized hides on hot and cool spots in this bitsy ole rubbermaid ;)

Thanks for all the input-

Artemis

[joey]

I'm in the same situation. I have my own apartment and have a few snakes that my landlords are unaware of. I'm afraid to tell them because I know the wife would 'freak' out. They are an older couple. When they do repairs I simply close the door where the snakies are and cover their houses with towels. No problems as of yet.

[justinO]

I've went through this in every apartment I've had, right down to practically being persecuted by the property group that manages the building I'm in now. I dragged them to court and so far this year they have left us alone.

I am lucky though, in Canada (Ontario), there's a very nice Act called the Landlord and Tenant Protection Act that I've had to use SEVERAL times in the last few years. It pretty much protects me against anything is my lease that's not right. Most places do not have something like this.

Mostly, it's a "don't ask, don't tell" policy, and nothing is done unless they find out. We've found that reptile keepers really tend to keep to themselves, and we always have people on stand by in case we ever get inspected (which they HAVE to give us notice) to bring our animals that are not allowed by by-laws.

The Humane Society in Ontario fought long and hard to have the "no-pets" rule made illegal to say, which happened to include reptiles. Now, as long as they are not disturbing anyone (which they can't), we are safe.

For you, Artemis, and anyone else going through this, I would say that you not let your landlord or anyone else know you have snakes and keep them (the room) LOCKED UP when you are out of the apartment. Also, check into your state and local laws to see if there's anything that could help you out.

As for us, we are never living in an apartment again.

If anyone is having troubles in Ontario about keeping reptiles in their apartment/house, feel free to PM me and I'll give you all the information you need to get your landlord to leave you be.

Jessy