How can I protect my reptile room against burglary?

[Vipera Berus]

I protect my reptiles by literally not telling any visitors what is in the room they are in, if asked I say storage. Anyone who knows I keep snakes and tortoises doesn't get to visit, if they want to meet there is a café down the road that I can use.

I am somewhat paranoid about my pets you see. Tortoises in the Uk are worth £125 for a Hermans hatchling and £150 per Mediterranean spur thigh hatchling so better safe than sorry.

[Alicia]

Just kind of a thought on "Danger" and especially phony "Venomous" signs . . .
In the event of a fire, Danger signs are more likely to get snakes killed. Maybe I'm weirdly skewed living with a fireman, but a lot them seem want to bring stuff out if it's alive (or was recently alive) and the place is burning. Turnouts are thick as heck, and a surprising number of guys are willing to take bites, including from large dogs, on them. A warning may well put the kibosh on any rescue attempt of an otherwise harmless snake.

Other than that, after security layers (and . . . OMG, Pit!!), I think avoiding letting slip that one has snakes at all is one of the best things anybody can do for their collection. I even worry about classifieds services that require me to list my full name and the name of my nearest town. But I'm very paranoid.

If the worst happens and snakes are stolen, it may help to have detailed photos (saved where they cannot also be stolen) of each animal, so that they may be identified later. Indeed, if there is a "later."

[MasonC2K]

Just put up one of these:

[Nellasaur]

Just kind of a thought on "Danger" and especially phony "Venomous" signs . . .
In the event of a fire, Danger signs are more likely to get snakes killed. Maybe I'm weirdly skewed living with a fireman, but a lot them seem want to bring stuff out if it's alive (or was recently alive) and the place is burning. Turnouts are thick as heck, and a surprising number of guys are willing to take bites, including from large dogs, on them. A warning may well put the kibosh on any rescue attempt of an otherwise harmless snake.

Other than that, after security layers (and . . . OMG, Pit!!), I think avoiding letting slip that one has snakes at all is one of the best things anybody can do for their collection. I even worry about classifieds services that require me to list my full name and the name of my nearest town. But I'm very paranoid.

If the worst happens and snakes are stolen, it may help to have detailed photos (saved where they cannot also be stolen) of each animal, so that they may be identified later. Indeed, if there is a "later."

Yeah, I was going to mention this too. Putting up a 'venomous snakes' sign may work to deter potential theft-- MAY, a snake-savvy burglar is going to know better-- but it's not going to save any of your animals if there's an emergency of any kind. I would look at other options to safeguard a collection, personally.