Hiding my ball python in a dorm?

[Rickys_Reptiles]

Breaking a dorm rule is not breaking the law. Rules and laws are not the same thing.

[Annarose15]

Breaking a dorm rule is not breaking the law. Rules and laws are not the same thing.

But both can get you kicked out of your place of residence, and sometimes get you kicked out of school.

[Rickys_Reptiles]

But both can get you kicked out of your place of residence, and sometimes get you kicked out of school.

yeah, I agree. But the rule #8 above is in reference to breaking the law. It doesnt apply to breaking a dorm rule as far as I know. I'm not a mod though, so a mod will need to make the final say. I assume a mod has already seen this thread though, and has already decided that rule #8 doesn't apply or the thread would have been closed already.

[PitOnTheProwl]

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.

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.

As stated, there are no LAWS being broke.
Rules and laws are different.

[eatgoodfood]

As stated, there are no LAWS being broke.
Rules and laws are different.

You are right, and thats why I said that I PERSONALLY feel that if falls under that, because well, where do we draw the line. Anyway was my opinion, I figure you or someone else would have stepped in if you felt it was out of the forum rules. But anyway, its still wrong, you still shouldn't do it, I think a fair number of other members have outlined a good number of reasons why its a bad idea. If you think its ok to break the little rules, the next thing it will be is more rules, bigger rules, laws... maybe not, but you could be heading down a bad road, plus why attempt to ruin your college time when its barely began.

[towelie4365]

I wouldn't recommend it. But, if you were going to try, make sure the risk is worth the punishment--assume you'll get caught going into it, and assume you'll have a nasty room mate. Also, I would definitely use a 28qt tub, you'd have an easier time finding a place to stash it. Maybe you can make a piece of furniture that hides one... or just have a bed with enough room underneath it. I can definitely see problems with the room mates though. I wouldn't trust many people to be in that situation with my snake(s) in the same room in a college dorm. Many people are immature when starting college, and they don't know how to respect other people and their property.

[RoyalRose]

This was my situation:
I grew up surrounded by tons of animals and very few people so my pets are quite numerous and my social skills pretty poor. The University I attended forced all freshman(unless they lived with an immediate family member) to live in the dorms and they allowed only a small aquarium(I think 5g or less) with fish and nothing else in the room(which was about as big as a match box). I wasn't able to take any pets(the only animal I could have taken was a horse but I didn't have my own trailer; my Great Danes, cat, deer, etc, would have been spotted right away haha) and I found myself very miserable and depressed. I did go home as often as I could but I ended up leaving during my second semester because I couldn't stand the people I lived with anymore(though I did have the absolute best room mate ever) and I'd rather be happy then depressed for four year just to have a degree that probably wouldn't have been of any great use later in life. If I'd have had a small animal, like a snake, I'd have definitely tried to keep it in my dorm. Our RA actually told us that if we had anything we weren't supposed to have to put it in the closet and shut the door because they were not allowed to open it. I did have my own vehicle but it was quite a long walk to/from the parking lot so I would have been able to get supplies but getting them in would have been a bit hard, but not impossible. So, yes it would have been doable but it would have taken quite a bit of work.

As for if you should actually try it or not, I would suggest to try and find a way to do it that doesn't break any rules first and then go from there. See if you can find a school where you can have your snake in your dorm, or one where you can get off campus housing. If you can't(like I couldn't), see if you can take all your freshman classes(or enough classes to complete the 'years' where you'd have to live on campus) online while living at home, if your parents are OK with that; the majority of freshman are there to party and mess around(in my experience), you won't miss that much. If there is nothing you can work out with housing and you resort to keeping your snake against the rules, make sure you have everything planned out ahead of time; roommate's consent(or even better, a single occupant room set up), a place to hide him/her, and food being your biggest priorities.

No matter what you end up doing, I wish you and your snake the best of luck

[Stewart_Reptiles]

As an animal lover, I know I CAN'T live without my pets

I am an animal lover (was raised around them and now my house looks like a zoo) however I can tell you that I spent the first 10 years of my adult life without any pet as I was travelling and living from country to country.

If you love animals now you still will love them in 1 , 5 or 10 years.

Sometimes you need to be patient to get what you want and do it the right way, what you are talking about is going against the dorm policy and while you may not like it you need to respect that policy.

If you were to get caught not only could you be kicked out but your story would also without a doubt reflect negatively on reptile owners as a whole. We as reptile keepers are under great scrutiny and whether it is a company policy, school's rules, or even laws we should strive to abide by them so we do not give more ammunitions to those that wish to take those animals away from us.

You are an animal lover then be a RESPONSIBLE owner.

[Zuma22]

I would very strongly suggest following everyone's advice. I did it because I was stubborn at the time and wouldn't let anyone dissuade me. Yes, it was nice to have them, but it added another level of stress that you really don't need while you're trying to experience college. Give yourself the courtesy of having the freedom to enjoy your social life, not have to stress about hiding them, feeding, etc. It's just too much. I also racked up vet bills with a sick snake that I couldn't afford, including rushing back and forth to the vet's office between exams.

It's just not worth the risk. I did it, but it wasn't easy. There were far too many close calls. Believe me, I understand how hard it may be to leave your snake at home. I would encourage you to have a mature discussion with your parents and explain your situation and your desire to ensure your snake's proper care while you are away. It may encourage them more that you are not trying to push your responsibility onto them, but have only your animal's best interest in mind. But, don't expect your parents to willingly take on your snake's care. It's not their responsibility.

Full disclosure, having my snakes with me destroyed friendships and caused immense stress on top of a heavy work load. Take your fish with you - they are just as calming to watch and enjoy as your snake would be. And they're allowed

[Rickys_Reptiles]

I guess I'm a rule breaker. Sorry for being a bad role model

As previously mentioned, this was my tank:


Sorry for the poor quality image, we didn't have 14MP cameras back then