Renting a house with dragons?

[JenFid]

Hi everyone,

My husband and I are moving out of our house in about 5 months and planning on renting for about 5 years (probably not an apartment, more likely a house or townhome). I've seen a lot of variance in the pet policies, from no pets, to cats and small dogs, dogs only under 25lbs, 1 pet only, cats only, and amazingly one house that said no birds. What has been your guy's experience with places like this and your dragons? No pets is obviously no pets, but what about everything else? If a place says cats only, does that just mean no dogs allowed and the dragons would be fine?

I know this question can be easily answered by the landlord or leasing agent but I'm just curious what members here have gone through.

 

[bunnyrut]

i was told to not say 'lizard' but that we have an aquarium or a pet in a tank.

if they say 'no pets' ask if a tank with a pet in it falls under those terms. most of the time there is no problem with tanks. the animal is contained and will not be wreaking havoc to the living space (at least they assume).

the words 'reptile' and 'lizard' is a bit off-putting to certain people.

if they ask what kind of pet, then you can tell them all about bearded dragons.

the no birds is understandable. i usually ask that just in case i want one down the line (my mom has quite a few exotic birds and has informed me that some will be left to me in her will. :/)
certain birds can be very loud. and if not properly cared for, like all animals, can smell pretty bad and get bird mites.

 

[athenacp]

We rented when we had DIgger, f the 3 places we were at, each one said no dogs/cats, but birds and reptiles were fine.
I had just asked them about their pet policy and when they would only tell me that, I then said well how about fish or birds? then I got specifics.

Good luck!

 

[JenFid]

Ok, I like the idea of asking about pets in a tank instead of flat out saying reptile! That makes a lot of sense.

Unfortunately we do have a dog (not a small one either ) so the no pet ones are pretty much out. Thanks for the tips!

 

[XtinaBeardieMom]

I've heard of some landlords having issues with the "tank" thing for fear of water damage, so if you encounter that problem then make sure they know it's a dry tank. Good luck!

 

[LLLReptile]

I have never had an issue with a landlord and my reptiles; I generally feel them out first with the "animal in a cage" and then go from there. I had one landlord that was STOKED on my reptiles, and ended up talking to me about them for a good 45 minutes while I was signing the lease papers. My current apartment was more concerned about any actual fish tanks I might have and whether or not my dog would ruin the carpet than about the many reptiles I currently own. The maintenance guys always do a doubletake when they come by, that's for sure!

Start with caution and then go from there. I may be lucky here in Southern California where most places seem to be a lot more laid back about it, but I have heard of a lot of situations where the landlords were not so cool at all. When in doubt, it's better to say less than more!

-Jen

 

[AmberC]

I kinda sorta just bought Sasha without even thinking about it (I have three cat's that are allowed). The landlord did comment when she saw him but didn't say too much. Although there was one accident where crickets escaped and the neighbors were complaining about finding them in the halls (oops ). I just told her they weren't for me but I grabbed them for someone else (true story), and she told me not to do it again. Other then that, smooth sailing ( I hide the crickets when she comes over :? )

 

[Duriel]

I'm already paying $25/mo for my puppy (why??? If she damages something it comes out of my deposit...) so I didn't bother asking. The guy literally never stops by. I could be dissolving ladies of the night in lye for all he knows...

 

[JenFid]

How often do the landlords stop by for most of you? I imagine it's different for a house vs apartment complex. What about townhomes?

 

[ashleyelsha]

I usually don't say anything about any of my reptiles. When we had cats I made sure I moved into places that would allow pets and signed the pet agreement and also paid a deposit for the cats. But now that I don't have any 'furry friends', when they ask if I have pets I just say "no". One duplex we rented I just threw a blanket over the tanks in the garage if the landlord ever came by because the landlord always came in and did repairs himself. They have to give you adequate notice before entering your home, and reptiles are easy to move. So it was never an issue. Of course his lease never said anything about not having snakes, but it was kind of like "don't ask don't tell". I usually do ask about the pet policy before moving in and they always seem to ask first "do you have any pets". But sometimes you can get them to tell you about the policy without giving any information up front.

Where I live now it specifically says "no snakes, lizards, aquariums..." and a plethora of other nonsense. Whatever, the worse they can do is evict me and I will go rent somewhere else. But good tennants are hard to come by and we are excellent tennats. We are clean and always pay on time. It is through a reality company and the owner lives in another state and has never even seen the house, he has just rented it out since it was built 6 years ago and he bought it as an investment. Any repairs will be done by contractors so I don't really have anything to worry about.

 

[XtinaBeardieMom]

I usually do ask about the pet policy before moving in and they always seem to ask first "do you have any pets". But sometimes you can get them to tell you about the policy without giving any information up front.

Agreed... I actually had a friend call my management office acting like they were interested in renting one of their properties. I had him say he had a lizard, etc. and ask if that would be alright as well as ask if there would be any additional deposit for it. They said it was fine & no extra deposit. I know it was sneaky, but I felt like I had to because the policy wasn't clearly outlined in my lease, so they could've technically denied me permission for no reason or charged me a ridiculously high deposit being that I was already under a lease agreement & I wouldn't be able to do anything about it. All the lease said was that I must inform the management of any pets. So when I finally got my beardies I just wrote them an, "Oh by the way..." letter stating that I would be getting two Pagona Vitticeps which would be housed in dry tanks and from speaking to "other tenants" I was under the understanding that there was no additional deposit for such pets. Worked for me hehehe :twisted:

 

[bunnyrut]

How often do the landlords stop by for most of you? I imagine it's different for a house vs apartment complex. What about townhomes?

mine only comes if we call him for an emergency. anything that needs to be fixed he sends his repair guy.
he knew about our lizards and didn't have a problem. the people living here before us had a dog and he was cool with that.

he cringes when he sees their food or i list what they can eat. (FYI, don't mention the roaches) but he doesn't say anything.

 

[JenFid]

LOL yea I don't plan on mentioning roaches to anyone. I can just imagine "Oh yea, I'll keep about a thousand roaches in a closet, sometimes I drop one and they escape, don't worry they won't infest the house though!" Hmmm!

I actually like the idea of having a friend ask about the pet policy for you

 

[XtinaBeardieMom]

How often do the landlords stop by for most of you? I imagine it's different for a house vs apartment complex. What about townhomes?

I live in a townhome and my landlord never stops by. The management here wants as little involvement as possible, but I'm sure it varies just depending on the owners.

 

[Majora]

I live in an apartment complex with very specific pet policies... including no reptiles. However no one ever comes into the apartment for any reason and they don't know I have them, so I've never gotten in trouble for having my beardie and corn snake. Our last neighbor had a ball python and our current neighbor has two dogs, which also aren't allowed, so I don't think the management really cares much. I just don't tell anyone I have reptiles. We are very good tenants so I doubt they would do anything about it if they knew anyway. The only way I could see something happening would be if someone in our building who was afraid of/didn't like reptiles found out we had them and made a big fuss.