College Kid
 

Hey, I am 18 years old and currently attending college, as most of you know I have a few corns and a couple beardies. I'm attending community college now, but after another year here I will be transferring. Anyone want to share about how they got through college with their herps, finding housing ect.

I am also interested in getting a boid, but the exotic pet ban has been passed here so I am looking for something other than a ball python that gets no larger than eight feet. Any ideas?

I guess that really tells you the basics about me. I wanna get to know you and to be a valuble member of this forum.

The best advice I can give is two things: planning and apartments. If you need new housing of some sort, start looking well in advance, by which I mean 2-3 months, especially if you're looking for somewhere near a university. That'll give you time to find a variety of places, and rule out ones that don't accept herps.

In my experience, it's not that hard to find places that are fine with herps, and many don't charge a pet deposit for them (mine didn't). Just be up-front about it. Most landlords I've talked to consider "stays in its cage, makes no noise, won't damage the carpet, and cant' escape" to be the magic phrase, since from their POV (keeping other residents happy, avoiding damage to their property) reptiles are much better than dogs or cats. The owner of my current apt was actually really interested in my animals and we spent a fair bit of time chatting about them.

So basically, if you plan ahead and look for good apartments, you shouldn't have too much trouble.

Henry

Oh that is good news Henry, thanks. I have really been dreading it thinking that I may have to get rid of them or hide them in the room. I hope I can find the same luck you did.

I would advise looking for an apartment at least a semster or 6 months in advance. When I was finishing up college, the better apartments in town would go 6 months ahead of time.

Is one that takes reptiles going to be more expensive?

Not in my experience. When I moved to my current place, those that would accept reptiles were all over the price range. It does, however, narrow your options, which means you might not get an apartment as close to campus as you want, or as big, or if you get both you might have to pay a bit more. But with enough apartments to choose from (looking early), it won't make a big difference.

Mokele

To the other part of your question: boids that stay under 8 ft...there are a number to choose from. If you could narrow it down a bit by considering the following...price range (always a factor to consider), what type of enclosure you would use, what sort of thing catches your eye (pattern, color, iridescence, body shape), it would help narrow things down.
In the mean time, just a few off the top of my head: Hog Island boas, Caulker Cay boas, Sonoran Desert boas, sand boas, rosy boas, rubber boas, BRBs, (assorted other RBs), ATBs, ETBs, GTPs, D'Alberts, bloods & STPs, spotteds, Childrens, womas, most of the carpets, savus, waters...

I had the same problem, but I had a little larger collection. I sold almost all of my animals when I transfered to a 4-year college from a community college. I was going to live on campus so I had no other choice. The only one's I really didn't want to sell, my 2 female BCI, I found a temporary home for. I now have them back, but could not buy back any of the others. Yes, I tried. :yesnod:

If you can find an apartment, I would do that. But that can be expensive without roommates. Good luck with whatever you decide. 4-year colleges are alot different then community colleges, but luckily most of the difference is out of the class room. :dgrin:

IMHO I would hold off on this until after college. Then you will have a little more stability in your life. It's hard to wait , but 2-3 years goes really fast. I have seen a lot of people take on dogs, cats, and even reptiles, just to have to give them up after a year since they needed to move and couldn't find an apartment that would allow pets.