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Hiding my vivs

lilwing89

lilwing89

New member
I rented my apartment under the pretense that I have no pets, when in fact I have two vivs with two snakes. I've (so far) managed to keep it a secret for more than a year, now, and I'd like to keep it that way. There's no telling what my landlord might do if he finds out, though he could technically evict me.

Tomorrow his assistant is showing some potential lessees my apartment at two different times - which conveniently happen to be when I'm not going to be around, because of an exam and because of a meeting with the editor of the school newspaper (which I might reschedule, *just* for this.

Ironically, my shipment of F/T mice and terrarium decor comes tomorrow, and hopefully, RodentPro and followed my instructions on using discreet packaging with "frozen meats" written on the side... hopefully I will be around to take the Petco package and hide it... and hopefully they don't ship boxes with "petco" all over them! ****!!!!!

Here's what I'm working with - got a typical-sized 10 gallon and a 29 gallon of dimensions 30x13x18". The big one is going to be the most difficult. I have enough closet space to accommodate both tanks (and plenty of dirty clothes to cover them with), the trouble is heating issues in there - no outlets, and ambient temps of 74F, and they've both just eaten. Will they (corn yearling and carpet 7 months) be fine in there for a few hours?

Any suggestions appreciated. I'm panicking now and that's not good! Won't be able to get a good grade on my exam!
 
Yes, I'm moving out in May (getting a single bedroom apt. from a different landlord, who is OK with having snakes around)

I have a roommate who happens to be my best friend. I'm going to ask him for assistance... to at least be around while they are showing
 
I should also add, this is supposed to be a one-time showing. I told him I am not comfortable with using my apartment as a 'show apartment'. I'm assuming the people who are coming tomorrow are actually going to be offered this apartment - they are just seeing what they're getting before signing the lease.
 
My RodentPro box was just plain old cardboard it did say frozen meat "rush delivery" on it but it also had RodentPro and the mouse logo on it. So hopefully it wont arrive when they are showing your apt.
 
I suppose I could always say the rodent is for my biology class and I'm dissecting a rabbit or something. They'll never know without opening my package.

I'm more worried about them finding my snakes! I have a few places to hide my big tank - in the closet, under my coffee table (would require a table cloth and stuff), or at the foot of my bed with a bunch of other boxes and covered with a blanket. Come to think of it, maybe the last choice is the best.
 
Honestly, if your moving in May and already have an apartment lined up, I wouldn't worry too much about it. It would take longer than that for eviction proceedings to finalize. He might get a little peeved but that's as far as it would probably go.

I would stick them in a closet, under some clothes or a blanket. Your landlord or his assistant cannot dig through your belongings. They can open closet doors and look in, but that's it.

Good Luck and next time, read or follow the terms of your lease. Your better off that way.

Wayne
 
I scheduled my meeting for four o'clock, in case anything goes wrong. I can kind of sit in my room until they leave to ensure they're not going through my junk.
 
medusacoils said:
Honestly, if your moving in May and already have an apartment lined up, I wouldn't worry too much about it. It would take longer than that for eviction proceedings to finalize. He might get a little peeved but that's as far as it would probably go.

I would stick them in a closet, under some clothes or a blanket. Your landlord or his assistant cannot dig through your belongings. They can open closet doors and look in, but that's it.

Good Luck and next time, read or follow the terms of your lease. Your better off that way.

Wayne
Click to expand...

Thanks, appreciate the info. I still don't want to piss off my landlord - I try to keep everything on a need-to-know basis... I would have never gotten a snake if I knew there was going to be some sort of problem (actually the reason I decided to get a snake instead of another animal)... on the other hand, I got my first snake without realizing the terms of agreement included NO pets whatsoever, and I couldn't really do much about it after I realized my mistake. As long as my snakes don't cause any disturbances or damages, there really isn't any issue at all.

As I mentioned before, my next leasing, this coming May, is snake-friendly. The manager reassured this, and even shared how she has a Western Hognose. I just have to fill out a form for both of my animals, claiming responsibility, etc.
 
Our landlord stipulated that pets meant dogs and cats, things which are likely to damage the property. Reptiles, Fish, etc don't fall under this as they are enclosed in a space where they cannot damage the house. So there really isnt anything to worry about and if they challenge you on that you just say "they never leave the cage and how is it any different to having a small bowl on the shelf with a couple of goldfish in it?". I am sure your landlord is not that unreasonable.
 
It's different than a goldfish in the sense that snakes can potentially escape from their enclosures, among other issues. Keeping F/T rodents can contaminate a refrigerator. I can see why a landlord would not want these kinds of animals living in his apartment complex, though they absolutely would not ever tolerate dogs, cats, venomous creatures, roaches/rodent colonies, etc.

I'm not going too far out of my way by moving two glass tanks for one unwelcome visit, it's just inconvenient timewise, when I have an exam the next day.
 
Also, if the (possible) future lessees see the snakes, they might somehow be repulsed and that might hurt my landlord's business.
 
I wouldn't be too worried. question though... is it all inclusive? does your rent include hydro, water, heat etc...? I could see a problem that way, snakes do use extra hydro that people wouldn't necessarily use.
 
HazAnga said:
I wouldn't be too worried. question though... is it all inclusive? does your rent include hydro, water, heat etc...? I could see a problem that way, snakes do use extra hydro that people wouldn't necessarily use.
Click to expand...

Nope, not all inclusive. I don't pay for heat/water, though.
 
It's great that you were able to find a landlord that not is only ok with snakes, but actually has one herself! What are the odds huh? I some statistic that said only 3% of households own reptiles. Who knows how many % of that 3% are snakes.

On the topic of the RodentPro packaging. Sheesh... they don't mess around. When i received my package from them, there were huge RodentPro logos on the 4 sides of the box, maybe even one on top too. The box itself was around 2x2x2, so a person from 10 yards away could easily see the big mouse graphic and company name. I did not ask for discrete packaging though.
 
Yeah, I'm pretty pleased about my future landlord.

So far so good. No RodentPro packages, yet, but my snakes are surviving under my smelly dirty clothes!
 
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