How to approach landlord about having keeping Ball Pythons.

Honestly, I never tell my apartment management about my reptiles. They do know about my mammalian stuff though.
I always ask before signing the lease, "Do you allow caged pets?" or "I was thinking about getting a small reptile, but not sure yet" to see what their reactions are.
Most places don't have a pet deposit on caged animals anyways, typically only cats or dogs. And cats/dogs are usually the only thing they really care about.

If the apartment says "yes we allow caged animals.", and the don't need to be on the lease then that's usually a good to go for me.

And whenever maintenance comes by, I just shut the door to my rack or cover it with a sheet. By law, they are not allowed to touch anything of yours (aka move sheet/open your stuff) without permission and/or warrant.

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Originally Posted by satomi325

Honestly, I never tell my apartment management about my reptiles. They do know about my mammalian stuff though.
I always ask before signing the lease, "Do you allow caged pets?" or "I was thinking about getting a small reptile, but not sure yet" to see what their reactions are.
Most places don't have a pet deposit on caged animals anyways, typically only cats or dogs. And cats/dogs are usually the only thing they really care about.

If the apartment says "yes we allow caged animals.", and the don't need to be on the lease then that's usually a good to go for me.

And whenever maintenance comes by, I just shut the door to my rack or cover it with a sheet. By law, they are not allowed to touch anything of yours (aka move sheet/open your stuff) without permission and/or warrant.

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This is what I have done anywhere that I've moved. With apartments, it was always "I have a few caged pets, are those an issue?" Never were, and even when maintenance did end up coming by and seeing the animals, my guys were super cool about it - the head maintenance guy would always stay after fixing a problem just to ask about em.

In your situation, you are in a tough spot with the not mentioning the ball pythons earlier. You may want to phrase it as "we'd hoped to keep these in another spot (garage? friend's house? storage unit?), but we'll have to bring them with us. We can pay an additional deposit if you need it to cover any potential cleaning costs, although these snakes are kept in locked enclosures, make no noise, are kept spotlessly clean and do not smell or make a mess... we're absolutely confident we'd get that deposit back, they're no mess at all, so it's not problem."

Personally, I wouldn't mention "non venomous" at all, and instead say harmless - even though non venomous is accurate, and a good thing, that still sounds exotic and potentially dangerous to the person unfamiliar with reptiles. Use words that have a positive connotation (harmless, family pets, children friendly), and when you talk to them, think to yourself that it'll go well and won't be an issue at all; it'll give you a positive confidence that'll come out in your voice. Smile when you talk on the phone, that also comes out in your voice. The more pleasant you are about it, and confident that it won't be a problem, the better you will make the landlord feel and the more forgiving they usually are. If you can also bring it up in a way to show that you are somewhat of an expert - with all the babies you hatched out, I think that gives you the ability to claim a ton of experience with them, and assure (smile!) that they all stay in their enclosures (don't mention escapes - if they haven't thought of that already, you don't want to be the reason they do think of it), they stay small, you only have "a few", they won't even know they're there, etc.

Again, I know it sounds silly to emphasize sounding upbeat and to smile when you say it, but you pretty much want to give the landlord the confidence that these snakes will be no problem and you having them will not make you a bad renter.

Good luck!

-Jen

With 40 ball pythons, that probably should've been the first thing you mentioned. If you don't get to keep them, you only have yourself to blame.


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I signed a lease that did not allow any other pets except for fish kept in a tank 10 gallons or less (boring)... I abided by that lease until I saw people walking their dogs, showing off their reptiles and putting their parrots (and their cages) outside to get some sunlight. I adopted a ball python, inspection time came, and I mentioned the 15+ other tenants I've seen with dogs, iguanas, etc... They left it alone after I explained how harmless and small the snake was. I printed out a care guide for them and that was the end of that... AND NO DEPOSIT. Depend on the landlord I guess.... You should be honest though and educate him on ball pythons

I would approach the situation with EXTREME caution. My fiancee and I have been in a similar situation for a long time. We were lucky enough to get our 30 balls out of the last place before our landlord noticed. The new place we live in doesn't have a pet clause so I think we're safe.

Here's the thing. There is a big difference to the public between geckos and pythons. Even though their like sweet puppies to us, I'm sure your landlord is more likely to envision you're keeping rattlesnakes.

I would e-mail your landlord and say that you were considering getting a snake and ask if there is a policy against them. Come armed with knowledge and be really friendly. Explain to your landlord the kind of caging you "would" have and that the "snake" would be under lock and key. Explain that they are a small inoffensive species, as most people here python and think HUGE! and DEADLY! Based on her response you can judge what the reaction would be to snakes in general. A lot of places say that terrarium pets are fine because they can't damage the apartment. If your landlord says that, GO WITH IT! Say thanks and let that be the end. She doesn't need to know how many you have. ;)Basically, don't share the breeding aspect with your landlord. Most complexes don't allow German Shepards; I don't think most are going to be easygoing about 40 snakes. That's why our current landlord doesn't know we have them. We're responsible, safe, and made sure that if worst comes to worst the lease would be on our side. Our landlord, for instance, has to give 24 hours notice before entering the place. Bonus. That means 24 hours to relocate in emergency situations.

Good luck. Hopefully we both make it until we can afford places of our own without a problem!

When I signed my lease... caged animals were Ok.... the only thing we had upon moving in were 4 turtles and fish. 2 years later.... 15 turtles, fish, 3 ferrets, a rabbit, 5 balls, 1 rat, some mice and a Chihuahua!!!! He knows about all but the mice.
He ok'd the dog because it was an emergency situation.. he was being highly abused.

Without directly saying I have snakes.. I asked if "reptiles in glass aquariums" are okay to keep in the apartment.. and if there was a limit. My manager said no. Some of the maintenence guys know about my snakes though. They like the critters. My manager though would probably freak. Not for disobeying the lease, but because of fear of snakes.

Speaking as a former landlady, I would rather see a wall lined with racks of BP's than one cat, the BP's are less destructive...

That said, all you can do is ask. Not being able to breed stinks also, but until you buy a place of your own or have a very long-term rental (think house, not apartment) your life is transient enough that breeding is probably a bad idea anyway. When you rent unfortunately you have to be able to move on short notice because things can and do go sideways, and if you have gravid snakes or eggs in the incubator it'll make life that much more interesting.

When my husband and I moved into our current apartment, I just asked if animals housed in aquariums/tanks were allowed, then asked if there was a size or number limit to the aquariums allowed. Didn't say anything about having snakes at all until the person we were signing the lease with mentioned having a 20 year old BP. If you get the okay for a certain number and size of tanks or tubs it'd be harder for them to make a case for you to get rid of them after the fact. If you do specifically mention ball pythons, you can always tell them that they're "Like the little snakes they sell at Petco" or something.

It's ridiculous that it's more nerve-wracking to ask about harmless, caged reptiles than a dog that goes outside and could actually cause trouble.