what do i do when i go to college

so, i am a freshman in high school and i have a corn snake, a ball python, a leopard gecko, and an red ear slider, and i m getting a long awaited together in a bout a month at an expo in new hampshire or in about a year. and my parents are all fine with this stuff but their argument is always "what will you do with your herps when i go to college?" and i need suggestions what will i do when i go to collage?

I have my 11 snakes with my at college, granted I live in a house off campus, and all my roommates are fine with it. I think the best thing to do your first year or two is try to keep them at home with your parents. If you are living in a dorm, which is best for the first year at least, you obviously cant have your herps with you. Good luck! Its a tough situation, but you will figure it out.

Off campus, I rent rooms and usually most ppl although aprehensive will not say no to you keeping somehting. I only have one BP though so you may have to get rid of a few to sweeten the deal. but shop around and its best to keep things on a dont ask dont tell level.

If you intend on going to a college, your probably going to be unable to take your reptiles to a dorm.
I intend on renting a small apartment of my own for that purpose.

Plus I'll be living here for my first 4 years of college anyway as it is so close to my house.

If your Campus requires you to attend your first year in a dorm, my suggestion is butter up your parents to care for them.
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I never had this problem as I attened a Community College right out of High School, so that waved the "dorm for the first year" deal. But, I still had to leave one Boa home, due to space issues. And now, Dad won't give it back, lol.

Good luck.

I think its a good idea to live in a dorm at least one year. I'm a Jr. in college and have lived at two different apartment complexes. Neither place had a problem with the reptiles, so finding off campus housing that will allow it shouldn't be too bad.

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Originally Posted by PigsnPythons

I think its a good idea to live in a dorm at least one year. I'm a Jr. in college and have lived at two different apartment complexes. Neither place had a problem with the reptiles, so finding off campus housing that will allow it shouldn't be too bad.

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Out of curiosity, why?
I don't really care for the distracting 'dorm party life' and don't really see any reason to have to be in one if it means giving up my snakes.

Just wondering. :]

You're in a tough situation, but it IS MANAGEABLE... I'm a senior and have 3 Bps with me at college. I can't give you completely solid advice as I live off campus and only bought them this past year, I still think I can offer you some help.

If your parents are anything like mine, they WILL NOT care for my snakes. They take an interest in them and will watch them from time to time, but they won't be dumped on with that burden. Having said that, I think your only real option no matter how unmanageable you think it will be once you're there is to take your reptiles to college with you.

I think you have a couple options with this now. If your school requires you to live on campus in a dorm the first year or two (as most do that), you can try two things. First, you could try to get a waiver from the office of residential life and make some bullcrap up that states that you have to live off campus. Then you could rent an apartment or house (which is almost always cheaper than living on campus anyways). In this situation you would be perfectly fine having your reptiles with you, except you wouldn't have the true 'freshman' life with meeting people in the dormer or what not. I think your second option (which is probably what I would do) is to build a rack for your reptiles. Since your dorm room would typically be small, you could build a tall and not too wide rack to conserve space. Some colleges actually let you choose a single so you don't have to deal with a roommate, but they charge extra. Even if you had a roommate, I think the rack idea could work as long as you don't take up too much space with it (cuz your roommate would get pissed then if you're hogging an already small room) and as long as you keep it clean (cuz no roommate would want to be smelling snake piss and such all year).

I think a rack system would work well for you. Just put some thought into it and don't build it until you know exactly what you want. My rack system helps me conceal my snakes from my landlord :D

I think your only other option is to give or lend your snakes and reptiles away until you can better manage them. But who really wants to do that!

Hope this helps!

Mitch

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Originally Posted by blackcrystal22

Out of curiosity, why?
I don't really care for the distracting 'dorm party life' and don't really see any reason to have to be in one if it means giving up my snakes.

Just wondering. :]

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You meet more people freshmen year. My freshmen year I met soooo many new people cause people don't have their own clicks and are trying to make new friends.

I got my snake last year and had it in my dorm room. I had no problem with him nor did any of my ra's see him. I had him in the living room in a 20 long...wen people came by i would put a coffee table over him and tada...u can't see him....but in your case since u have so many..i would pick your favorites. I'm in a senior on campus apartments and have both my snake and my 2 cresties with me....I couldn't imagine letting someone else take care of my pets..cause i know they would mess it up somehow.

I think it's wonderful and very responsible of you to be thinking this far in advance. :)

You may want to think about not expanding your collection too much since you know you are facing these issues. I can't in good conscience suggest you hide snakes in a dorm room or break the school's rules because if you do get caught, your animals and you may be in a very bad way. That kind of decision is your call and yours alone to assess those risks.

You may want to start cultivating snake owning friends, or if possible, join a local herp group if there is one in your area. You may be able to board your small collection for at least your first year of college. You'd be responsible for some compensation to the boarding home but it would ensure your collection is maintained in a proper manner for you. It's an option to consider.

Honestly, don't sell your parents short. My daughter went away to school last year, lived in a dorm and couldnt take her snake. I was terrified, but with the help of people on this forum I got from being unable to touch Dakota, to handling him at least enough for cleaning and trusting he wouldn't strike me when caring for him otherwise. Now Lydia lives off campus and wants to bring her snake with her, but I believe it's a bad idea - travelling back and forth for winter break and summer vacation would be too stressful. I've found Dakota and interesting hobby - took some of the stress out of my baby :) leaving for college and an all around fascinating project. Oh...and he's really cute - much bigger, but definitely cute.

This situation sucks...it happened to me and i left my BP with my parents when i went to live away for my freshman year and then about a month later they tell me they had to give it away...what i didnt realize is that i could have EASILY gotten away with keeping my snake in my dorm....now i live at home again for my sophomore year and i am commuting so i dont have to worry about it anymore...try to find someone you trust to take care of it

just sneak it in! put it in your closet and dont let many people know you have it. i think im gonna take a few of my snakes and leave the others back home wit my bro.

thanx for all your advice, i think that my parents are going to be able to take my animals for the first year at least. as long as i keep it under 4 snakes. my parent are somewhat interested in my hobby so hopefully it wont be to big of a problem. thanx again.

I bought my first BP during my second semester freshman year. I lived in the dorms at the time and I just didn't tell anybody about it. My roommate, my girlfriend, and I were the only ones who knew I had it. I kept it in a tub in my closet and nobody ever saw it. Between freshman and sophomore year I bought my RTB and a rack and kept both snakes in there (after QT of course). I lived in the dorms again that year due to my schools requirement of 88 credits to live off campus. Dorms obviously are not herp friendly and I was breaking the rules. I don't recommend that anybody do what I did because it could spell disaster for the animals if you are caught. It can be done but I consider it irresponsible and I am just glad that I didn't get in trouble. Please try to work on getting your parents to care for them for a while and maybe do not expand your collection till you know your plan.

I'm in college and I kept my snake and mouse colony, much to the dismay of my better half. take them with you. if anything you could ask your parents to help you feed your animals cause thats what my parents do. Anything i need for my animals they get me.

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Originally Posted by blackcrystal22

Out of curiosity, why?
I don't really care for the distracting 'dorm party life' and don't really see any reason to have to be in one if it means giving up my snakes.

Just wondering. :]

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Like others said...if you are going away to college, living off-campus your freshman year is going to suck in that you won't have the opportunity to meet as many different people. Everyone finds their place in college, whether it be doing beer bongs in the quad or having saturday night world of warcraft parties. And most schools have 'quiet study' themed dorms with stricter rules on conduct, so that may be an option to pursue if you want live around others with similar values as you do.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by blackcrystal22

Out of curiosity, why?
I don't really care for the distracting 'dorm party life' and don't really see any reason to have to be in one if it means giving up my snakes.

Just wondering. :]

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Sorry it took me so long to reply...

Well it has been my experience that you just miss out of stuff, if you don't live on campus, examples:
-When I was a freshman (on campus) all my friends would get together and eat at the dining hall. It was nice to catch up and we always knew what was going on with everyone. This rarely happens in an apartment.
-On campus activities like movies, concerts, or just little get-together type things. Most of the time you won't want to go all the way back to campus and find parking to participate in stuff like that.
-Making friends. It was SOOO easy to make friends in the dorms. When you move off campus people just aren't as friendly. I can't explain this, but I still am friends with people I met in the dorms and I haven't made friends with ANY of my neighbors.

Also, as far as partying goes...You will get WAY more of that off campus. Most of the time it is upper classmen in off campus housing, so they can legally party. I lived in a Freshman dorm (and thus a dry dorm), and so the little partying that occured was kept very quiet.

Its also a good life experience to have to share a room and showers. You learn how to deal with people and settle disputes.

This of course it just my opinion based on my experiences! Good luck!

Also, I've heard that more schools are accepting pets in the dorms. It is supposed to help students not be as stressed.

Live off campus if your college allows it. If you can't, don't go too far from home for the first year if you can't make it home at least once a week! :D

Or you could go to a community college for your first year or two and bi-pass the rule that freshmen have to stay in dorms. That's what I did!

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Originally Posted by PigsnPythons

Sorry it took me so long to reply...

Well it has been my experience that you just miss out of stuff, if you don't live on campus, examples:
-When I was a freshman (on campus) all my friends would get together and eat at the dining hall. It was nice to catch up and we always knew what was going on with everyone. This rarely happens in an apartment.
-On campus activities like movies, concerts, or just little get-together type things. Most of the time you won't want to go all the way back to campus and find parking to participate in stuff like that.
-Making friends. It was SOOO easy to make friends in the dorms. When you move off campus people just aren't as friendly. I can't explain this, but I still am friends with people I met in the dorms and I haven't made friends with ANY of my neighbors.

Also, as far as partying goes...You will get WAY more of that off campus. Most of the time it is upper classmen in off campus housing, so they can legally party. I lived in a Freshman dorm (and thus a dry dorm), and so the little partying that occured was kept very quiet.

Its also a good life experience to have to share a room and showers. You learn how to deal with people and settle disputes.

This of course it just my opinion based on my experiences! Good luck!

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I could not agree more. You put it so well. I just graduated in May. I was a student, an RA, and I've lived on and off campus. I would also highly recommend living on campus for at least your first year (you'll likely be forced to anyway unless you have a medical reason) and to take into consideration the mandatory school breaks you will have to go home for with regards to bringing your herps with you. Some schools make you apply to stay on campus during those breaks. It is possible to take them with you and not get caught since they are herps, but take into account the stress of the breaks. Also, let it be known that most animals get found when you are not in the room, during fire alarms, room inspections or when you or your roomate are being loud after quiet hours, so if you're smart about it, you'll be fine. I would keep the home for the first year at least though.

Great comments had by all.

I was in a similar situation when I moved away for college 5 yrs ago. At that time, I only had my ancient BP who only ate every month or two, so during my required stint in the dorms, Jasper stayed home (6 hrs away, BTW) and I fed him during the holiday and spring breaks.

However, during my years in the dorm, I managed to conceal a crested gecko and tarantula in my room (my alibi was that I was growing terrarium plants for a biology class!). Later, when I moved off-campus, Jasper joined me in TN along with several other pets over the next 2 yrs.

Obviously, like someone else said, I cannot condone nor condemn any decision to go against any rules of the dorms at the college of your choice. I think any of us totally sympathize with your decision either way.