Hello BP forums and greetings from Malta.

Me and my friend have recently started to breed ball pythons and this has sparked a serious interest in us to continue breeding snakes, lizards and other animals in the future as sort of a part time business and hobby. We plan to move in together by the end of February or March but we are struggling to find a decently price place to rent. BUT. We came across an amazing house which is absolutely perfect for us. Very spacious, no next door neighbors, no common areas, large outdoor garden where we could grow fruit/veg for ourselves and the animals, also to let them bask in natural light in the summer. It's everything we could ask for. When the occupants told us they only pay 400 euros a month for it we were baffled and had to ask how come it is so cheap!

To our disappointment, there is a downside to this beautiful place. Here in Malta and Gozo, the people are ridiculously religious, and there is 1, sometimes even 2 feasts for EVERY village on this tiny, overpopulated island. During these feasts fireworks are going on continuously, are ridiculously loud and very close to residential areas. Cats and dogs flee in terror and seek shelter from the explosions. This house we found is literally across the street from the field where they shoot the fireworks for the capital city's 2 largest feats (Aprrox 40 metres away). The current occupants said the place is a true gem, but there are at least 5 or 6 weeks of the year where it sounds like WWII outside the house. There is no better way for me to explain it apart from witnessing it for yourself.

So the question is: How will this affect our animals and how can we prevent it? We own a breeding pair of ball pythons who are due to lay a clutch in May and hatch end of July. We also own pet rats and feeder rats, gerbils, tarantulas, scorpions, a girdled lizard, a leopard gecko, adult axolotls and their larvae and we intend to expand in the future. There is not much information on this and I have not bothered to search this entire forum. Will the explosions stress out our animals like it does to cats and dogs, most importantly the reptiles we plan to breed like our snakes. This thought is the only thing stopping us from moving into this place. If anybody has experience with such issues or knows a solution I would be forever in your debt as this has stressed us out and we have not even moved yet!

Thanks in advance.
Kevin