Hiding my ball python in a dorm?

You can't hide anything in a dorm. They used to do room checks at mine and one time they found a candle and confiscated it. The wick had never even been burned. Plus, if you and your roommate have a falling out over who ate that ramen...and you will...guess what ammunition they have against you??
In addition to all of that, college is fun! Go make friends, take roadtrips, take too many hours, learn lots of stuff, work crazy hours...you'll be too busy to take care of them anyway! A good kind of busy! :)
You can totally live without pets. You'll be a different person when you graduate anyway. You might be interested in something completely different by then.

This made me laugh, I did it.

The rule in the dorm that I live in was that none of the staff were allowed to open anything in our rooms. So I built a cabinet and kept the snakes inside. I put a black curtain infront of it so that when I was hanging out in the room I could open the curtain, but thwne the staff were doing room checks I clould close it. I live in the dorm for 2 years without any issues.

I'm at work now, but If I can remember I'll post a photo of the setup later tonight.

For most colleges (all the ones i know of personally) the rule is that the RA cannot open or uncover anything in the room. My friend had a microwave that he just kept a towel over when it wasn't in use. I'm not suggesting anything by this, just stating the rules (at the schools that I know of).

Since you have a few years, start investigating to see if there are any colleges that permit a small reptile or fish to be kept in the dorm rooms. Your only other real option is off-campus housing and a landlord who allows pets.

Bad idea.

If you go home for every holiday, you can actually manage to go home about every two months. If you only go home for the big holidays, that's still only 4 months away, which, given how occupied you'll be during that time, wont seem like very long, and given how many people you'll be living around, you're not likely to get lonely, unless you're not a very social person, in which case living in a dorm might not be for you.

It's going to suck for many reasons. Stress, social hinderance, and living peacefully with your roommate.

If you get caught, the consequences will be bad for you, and probably bad for the snake as well.

After doing the dorm thing for a year, most people decide they've had enough and do everything they can to get their own place for the next year. Maybe cut out the middle-step and just find your own place. Most landlords I've dealt with are fine with snakes.

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Originally Posted by Drift

Maybe cut out the middle-step and just find your own place. Most landlords I've dealt with are fine with snakes.

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This, really, really this. When I've searched for apartments in the past, one of my primary concerns has been ensuring that the apartment management is ok with my reptiles. I have *never* had a problem once I've made it clear that they're not free roaming and don't generate any odors. Also, apartments, at least in my experience, tend to be cheaper than living in the dorms anyway (presuming a reasonable number of roommates to split the rent cost), so it's a double benefit.

On a separate note, I think we need a sticky "don't try to smuggle your reptiles into housing that prohibits them" thread, as this subject comes up on a pretty regular basis.

I did it with two rats, a salamander, fish (those were allowed though), a turtle (short term for a friend), a hamster, & a rabbit.

So it is possible. But it can and can't be under different circumstances. I was supposed to have an assigned roommate but she ended up going to a different school so I had a room to myself, if I didn't I probably wouldn't have been able to do any of that lol. But look into schools where you can apply for single room dorm living, it's so nice because you can have all the fun on the floor and all, but then be alone when you want too.

And yes that's right they can't dig through your stuff unless they find a reason to (the example given to us was paraphernalia sitting out or alcohol bottles) And our cleaning people couldn't step onto the carpet area, we were also given schedules of when they would be there. So I turned my desk to where it was facing the door and put my hamster on the other side of it and I raised my bed up a few notches, made a curtain, and put my rabbit under there When I knew they were coming. I had a few people that knew about my pets, a few with depression issues and it helped them so much through the year to come chill with my animals, me included. So there is something in saying you feel like you can't live without them. But do remember if worse comes to worse you can of course.

Look into colleges close by to if you're really worried about it. Then you can just head home on the weekends and care for him, however if you're home every weekend you're missing some good parties haha. I would also recommend if you do decide to move forward, wait a week or two to get the feel of how your dorm floor works. You could also buy a small two snake rack system or make one, I've seen them for sale at some shows. That would be EXTREMELY easy to hide. No lights :p

That's all I can think of right now, best of luck (: remember everyone's experiences are different and yours will be too.

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8. No posts promoting illegal behavior will be tolerated, including but not limited to warez/pirating of copyrighted material, illegal drug or alcohol usage, and illegal ownership or trafficking of species.

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I personally feel that this all falls under the above. Dont do it, its not legal, per your school regulations or whatever, not worth it, dont need it making the news somehow, giant python loose in college dorm.... sell it, find someone to care for it while your at school, get an apartment. Sometimes you have to accept the hard facts of life.

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Originally Posted by eatgoodfood

I personally feel that this all falls under the above. Dont do it, its not legal, per your school regulations or whatever, not worth it, dont need it making the news somehow, giant python loose in college dorm.... sell it, find someone to care for it while your at school, get an apartment. Sometimes you have to accept the hard facts of life.

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I agree completely x10000% - I don't think this thread should have been allowed to continue with so many people advocating for people breaking the rules (illegal according to school policy).

I do not think we, as a community, should be advocating to break or bend rules just to keep our pets with us. If we are caught, not only does it open up the door for fines, getting kicked out of school, trouble with the law, but it also looks bad on the rest of the community. It's hard for people to appreciate our hobby when all they see are the people who are trying to bend the rules (this goes for people shipping USPS, shipping burms and other species stated on the Lacey Act across state lines, etc.). Already our rights to own our precious snakes are being threatened and I would not want to add more amunition to our opponents. Follow the rules and take proper care of your animals so people will see this hobby is not bad and we can continue to keep our animals.

As with what others have said, if you HAVE to have your snake with you, find a pet dorm, live off campus in an apartment/house that will allow reptiles (don't sneak them in there either), or live close to home so you can commute or come home on weekends to care for your animals.

Think about your actions and how it reflects on all of us as hobbyists.

You need to find off-campus housing. This is only one of the inconveniences/sacrifices you signed up for when you got the snake. If you really believe that you are going to have this snake 20-30 years from now no matter what happens in your life, then this is going to be a good experience for you because it's minor compared to what's probably to come.

You'll probably have to choose between the snake and a boy/girl at some point. Not everyone is going to want to hang out with snakes, and some people won't enter a building where they're housed. What if you're offered a life changing opportunity somewhere along the line and the snake can't go (like, say, going to college)?

Trust me, you aren't going to be able to hide it for the 30 years you think you're going to have it. Even if you could, it's stressful to deal with. I'm sure most of us have done something like what you're considering. In addition to asking how to get away with something like this, you should also be asking what a pain in the ass it is to try to make sure no one finds out. You're going to wonder if your roommate's showing someone when you're in class (he/she probably is). You're going to spend time trying to figure out how to sneak food for it in. Every day, probably several times a day, something about that snake is going to cause you concern or stress or something of the sort. I know, it doesn't seem like a big deal to devote your life to hiding your snake for a year, but these situations will arise again during your lifetime.

I'd suggest off campus housing if you can make it happen. If you can't, then you should at least consider the idea of finding the snake a good more permanent home. Don't put yourself and your friends/roommates through the headache of trying to hide it in a dorm. It's fun for the first week, after that it sucks.