Landlord Said the Snakes Gotta Go :(

[BigIan]

I'm not sure what to do here, guys. My landlord found out about my snakes, which I never thought would be a problem, and said they go by Monday or I'm evicted. Needless to say I haven't been able to find a spot for them and I'm running out of ideas.

I have around 40 BPs from babies to adults housed in 2 DIY racks made from the Home Depot shelves so they don't take up a lot of space, just not many people are super keen to let you keep a bunch of snakes at their place.

What would you do if you were in this situation?

[somnambulant]

Is there anything in your lease against pets or reptiles? If not, then you may be able to fight it.

Honestly, the only thing you can really do is look for somewhere else to live or get rid of your collection. With that big of a collection, finding somewhere else to live might not be such a bad idea. Maybe ask your landlord if it's possible to keep a few of them? At the very least, maybe ask for more time so that you can find them homes. The last two people I knew who had to give up their snakes because of this situation had to split their collection among a few of their friends' houses and sell from there.

You can hide them at someone else's house for your next inspection, but then you risk your landlord finding out and then kicking you out without a chance to fix the situation.

[dr del]

Is there a herp society near you?

They might be able to help.

[SashasMom]

Where do you live??

[PitOnTheProwl]

IF they are not allowed in the lease, you made a choice to do something against the property owers wishes.
You do have a couple choices: 1 sell them off quickly, 2 be honest and upfront with a new landlord and find another place quickly but don't expect anything returned from where you are at, and 3 find someone you trust to hold your collection while you get your poop in a group.

**Let this be a lesson to all those that are hiding animals on property they don't own. Its not just about you and your wants. At some point there will be animals at risk.**

[ballpythonluvr]

I had to move once and rehome all of my snakes. I made sure I did all that before I moved into my new residence because the place I was moving to strictly said no caged animals. I would rather do what is right for my animals then risk being evicted with them. You need to man up and do the right thing. See if someone can take them for you until you find a place that will "allow" you to have them. Giving up my snakes was very hard for me but I did what I had to for their wellbeing.

[JLC]

The first thing you should do, as mentioned, is scan your lease very carefully to see what it says about the animals. If it doesn't strictly forbid them, you may have a solid way to fight his threat. If the property is strictly "no pets" then you may be out of luck on that front.

Even so...it may be worth it to try and work things out with the landlord, without folding under the heavy threat of "Eviction". Anywhere in the US, evicting a legal tenant is no small task for a landlord, and depending on exactly where you live, it could be more than just a pain in his ass. Some states make it really hard to evict in any sort of timely and/or affordable manner.

It sounds scary to be threatened with eviction, but it's not like he can say, "YOU have to be out of here by Monday." He has a legal hoops he has to jump through and he has to give you at least 30 days notice, and in some states, 60 days, bare minimum. If you fight it, it gets even harder. And, we're coming up on the holiday season, winter, New Year's...which is just about the worst time of year to try and find tenants for a rental unit.

So maybe...if you have a reasonable and professional discussion with him and make it clear you won't fold under the threat...he may be willing to work out a compromise, rather than actually follow through with the threat. Of course, you should continue to work out a plan B and a plan C just in case he IS so horrified by snakes that he'd take you to court and risk having his property sit empty for a few months.

[albinos_rule]

I guess it isn't important at this point, but how did the landlord find out about them in the first place?

[PitOnTheProwl]

I guess it isn't important at this point, but how did the landlord find out about them in the first place?

They can and do property checks.

[theNotoriousDUD]

If you are a good tenant(pay rent on time, follow rules, keep the place clean etc.) you should be able to work this out. Good, clean and reliable tenant are not easy to find.