Apartment Inspection. Help!

[PolishPython]

Ok so this is going to be a little long so bare with me.
About 2 days ago I got a phone call from Rachel(my fiancee) sayin that we got a letter on our door mat that stated our building is having an inspection 2/4/10. Rachel found a friend of ours in the building and he said they do this once a year and check our faucets and windows and stuff. Just to let you know my complex has 65 building 12 apartments per building 3 floors. I went crazy, the lease says no reptiles and I have 5 snakes and a leopard gecko. Before we moved in I asked the property manager about reptiles and she told me "if I see them I will bring them to your attention but I have bigger fish to fry " those are her exact words. So basically I got dont let the other tenants know. I got a guy across the hall with a 55gallon fish tank that she saw. I mean property wise you should be more worried about a tank leaking than my snakes getting out.

So after the past couple days of freaking I figured out exactly what I am going to do. I have a 4 shelf Ball python rack with only 3 filled. I am going to double up a tub with 2 BP's that were housed together before they should be fine. I will put my hypo and my dum in separate tubs. I will put the whole rack into my walk-in closet in the corner. I found on reptile basics a 40 hour heat pack, I will buy a few of them and use them for the day. Im going to put some shirt in the front of the tubs so IF they decide to snoop around my stuff it will just look like a ghetto dresser. As for the tanks I have i will bring some boxes home from work and stick them in the closet and put some stuff on top of them. OK so that is my plan.... as for my gecko Im not too worried about him ill bring him to my parents house in the morning. So because of all of this, if you read my post yesterday I now changed from buying the boaphile 421D for each boa I am going with a reptile basics rack I hope to use the rack for atleast 2 years both boas are small less than 24inches each.

Ok so I apologize for the long post again but Im not trying to get evicted and I sure am not looking to lose my snakes. So I figured this would be the best way and alot less stressful on the snakes than moving them to someones house for a couple days.

So please I am open to any suggestions/ comments/ anyone telling me I have a bulletproof plan lol

[Kaorte]

Well, if it is against your lease you probably shouldn't have gotten them in the first place or you should have found a reptile friendly apartment. If they do find the animals they have every right to evict you, and I am sure that having snakes is not worth getting evicted over.

Honestly though, if they are just inspecting windows and doors, they aren't going to be looking for the animals. I would say you could put a sheet over the rack and a vase with flowers on top and they would never know the difference. If they aren't looking for it, they won't find it.

[rabernet]

My apartment doesn't have any clause about reptiles, but I'm sure they'd freak at the number of snakes I have. I don't take my animals outside, and none of my neighbors know I keep reptiles.

I had an inspection with less than 24 hours notice - and had to call out of work (I also have a dog that I will not lock in a room all day). I tossed a blanket over my rack, and a towel over a few tubs and left everything where they are. The baby rack I didn't even bother to cover.

Two maintenance guys came in with their clip boards, tested the fire alarm, the faucets, hung a CO2 detecter that I didn't have, and one even set his clipboard on top of the tubs with the towel over them to write his notes.

In and out - no fuss, no muss.

[Jay_Bunny]

I wouldn't worry too much. Your plan sounds good but you could also disguise the rack as something else, like a side table or something. I am probably the worst tenant to walk the earth, haha. I successfully lived in a 2 bedroom townhouse for over a year with my snakes, small rat colony, mice, gerbils, a bird, sugar gliders, a dog, and at one point we had 7 cats. The only animals allowed and that were on the lease were two cats. And the management never knew. Of course, they were not the best townhouses and they rarely did any repairs or inspections. Actually one day I was freaking out because the maintenence man was coming over and my ball python racks were downstairs in the living room. He walked in and asked what were in the tubs. I showed him Juji, my pinstripe, and he immediately struck up conversation about how he has a ball python at home. So I really would not worry too much. But if if they do see them and do decide to go against you, it doesn't matter if she said "Sure you can have them, no problem" because you didn't get it in writing and it would be her words against yours. She would win. If you want to keep them legally there, you'd have to get it in writing.

[flynn]

The building I live in has a no pets policy on the lease and they come in twice a year to check the heating/ac/plumbing. I've lived here for 4 years now and never had any problems (5 BPs, gtp, beardies, cats). My first year I was worried enough I took the day off work and was told that because the herps werent free roaming, they didnt really care.

[Lolo76]

I tossed a blanket over my rack, and a towel over a few tubs and left everything where they are. The baby rack I didn't even bother to cover.

Yep... that's what I did when animal control came over (to rescue a stray parrot in our backyard), since I wasn't sure about the python thing here. Of course, it didn't help that Nerissa found the ONE uncovered spot on her tub, and used it to stare at the officers as they passed by. Luckily they either didn't care or didn't notice, LOL. But anyway, that's the nice thing about keeping reptiles - they don't take up much space, and are easy to "hide" when necessary!

[kc261]

First of all, if they go so far as to open your "ghetto dresser" and look inside, I am pretty sure they are violating your rights. I don't know exactly how it is worded, and it probably varies from state to state, but renters have a right to privacy. Yes, the landlord has a right to come in and inspect the property and do repairs, but they don't have the right to to snooping in your dresser or other belongings.

If they see the animals, or hear noises, or smell odors, then it will become different, sort of like when a police officer has "probable cause" to conduct a search.

So just make sure the animals' enclosures are clean (to avoid odors), and cover them up as has been suggested. A rack could even potentially be turned around so the open side is facing the wall. I would recommend this for any renter, even if there is no clause in their lease, just because of how people can freak out about snakes.

[zantedeschia]

That is how I got my daughter's ball python. Someone from the apartments saw it, and the manager told her she had to get rid of it.

Make sure you have a plan if they say they're going in to exterminate.

[SNIKTTIME]

Most of the time the maint. guys are moving so fast they won't see anything. Smoke detectors, filter for A/C and they are out. As far as exterminating, most accounts only pay like $2-3 per apt. so they are in each apt. a max of literally 2 minutes, and the service only consists of kitchen and main bathroom only. I wouldn't worry about it as long as they are contained properly and don't draw attention to themselves for that day.

[beavermatic]

I had a big fiasco getting my apartment to allow mine, but they did...

Course they only know about my two ball pythons, and told me no more...

wonder how im going to explain my 8.5ft African Rock Python and 3ft Savannah monitor lizard when they come to do their yearly checkup/filter change, lol.