Taking Dragons to College

[ReptileAddiction]

So it is not for a couple years but soon I will be going off to college. Do you guys have any ideas of what to do with my dragon. :dontknow: I really do NOT want to rehome her. I know getting an off campus apartment will be expensive. Or I could live in the ghetto :shock: (grew up with money that would NOT work for me). So I could live at home and go to the local school to get my pre med (becoming a surgeon ). Or I could try to get an apartment with some room mates. I wanted to go to LSU and I could live with my aunt who is a professor there but I do not want to leave southern cali. I am looking at UC Irvine. This is going to be a pain in the a**. A lot of colleges make freshman live in the dorms the first year and I wouldnt be allowed to bring my car. :shock: I could leave her home the first year and pay my little sisters to feed her but she wouldnt get as much attention as she would with me and they might get attached. I could also have a breeder take her from the fall until the summer and their pay could be her babies. I am looking for ideas on how I could make this work.

 

[esn]

Getting an apartment off campus will always be cheaper. Dorms are incredibly expensive, and normally require meal plans. Lizards don't often count as a "pet" for apartments like a dog or cat does, much like having a fish tank. Some colleges also allow an aquarium/terrarium pet in their dorms. I don't know what ghetto means to you, but I doubt you'll be living in one. What kind of money did you grow up with? When you get out into the real world you're going to have to make do with what you can afford. You're not going to be living off your parent's money - unless you are, in which case you are incredibly priveleged and will have no problem finding a place. Rent is usually 2/3rds if not half the price of dorms,as long as you don't dine on caviar. Food is cheap if you can cook.

Don't worry about it until it comes up. You may decide your senior year that you don't have time for pets and want to study. Some people do. Try not to room with a friend. You'll begin to dislike each other in most cases, as people change once you get to college, and they might not be counted on to pay rent. You can get a cheap studio or some students share a large house together, which gives a bit more room and privacy than an apartment, and is usually cheaper. Plus house rentals usually allow pets.

 

[BeardieMommy3991]

I am in your same situation in the comming month, with going off to college. But I am leaving my dragon at home. My brother is going to take care of it while I'm away, and I get to coddle it on my breaks.

The dorm I am staying in does not allow pets, and my scholarship requires me to dorm.

I'm going to miss him, and he probably won't be able to come out as much (my bro is very into video games :roll: ) but I know he will be safe and happy to see me when I come home.

And I'm from NC going to college in Georgia, so this is every 10 weeks or so I get to come home.

But if the choice is between your dream college and going somewhere you can take your pet, try talking to your parents about them taking care of him until you finish college. Or one of you friends being a foster, and taking care of him for 4 years until you are done.

 

[ReptileAddiction]

Thank you for your adivce. I will NOT be living on my parents money I am completely on my own. If I get a scholarship (which I am hoping for) the dorms would be paid for. I am going to college for 8 years because I am studying to become a surgeon so foster is out of the question.

 

[jovamabob]

Im in university in England right now so i can't say how american things etc. work but over here we everyone from an average home gets student loan, tuition fee loan, and if their parents/spouse/themself earns under a certain amount they get a student grant with the amount dependent on the said income - full student loans and grants combined usually total around £6000 which is about $9414 (excluding tuition fee loans - this is paid directly to the uni). I'll repay all these loans later in life - totaling around £18,000. I don't get any help from my parents and it isnt expected of them, particularly with the lower classes - though middle to higher classes often do get some help from them. I found halls of residence to be very expensive for what they are. I lived in halls for the first year and my uni halls had a ban on any kind of pets - though several chose to disregard this and kept them anyway. If they were found out then the animals went home for a month then were snuck straight back in. The second year i chose to rent off site for the freedom - I just rented a spare room within a family house and it was much cheaper. There was no specification as to pets, but i kept a corn snake and some fish and had no problems. For my third, final year i rent within a house of other friends and my pets aren't listed on the lease since i joined them after 6 months let, but my housemates ferrets were without trouble - the deposit was just slightly higher. I found this way to be the best for me - The first year i got to know other students and had fun with uni life without any worries of monthly rent and bills since i paid the year fee's in two halves. The second year i got used to paying monthly rent, but since i rented a spare room within a family house bills were included. I got used to monthly rent, budgeting etc, without the stress of unreliable bills. Now im in the house share im able to cope much better with bills, rent and budgeting them and this method worked well for me. I didn't have pets the first year since my halls didn't allow them but yours may and if they do this is a good way to ease yourself into the 'adult world' as it were

 

[ReptileAddiction]

Thank you for your advice. I am looking to go to an in state college because it is much cheaper and in california there are some of the best schools in the country. None of them allow pets in halls. I am leaning towards a studio apartment.

 

[esn]

If it helps at all, I happen to know from experience that it is very easy to hide animals in dorms, especially if yours is a school that doesn't do "room raids", and would rather not catch students doing things. I know people who easily have full setups for hedgehogs, rats, beardies, snakes, geckos, etc. without any worries. Usually the worst thing that could happen is a small fine, and they can't kick you out for it. Colleges are usually more focused on suicides and hard drugs than things like pets or weed, as shown from the fact that if you walk down any college hallway on a friday night you will find underage drinking and marijuana galore, not to mention how easily it is to find shrooms and cocaine. Who cares about a pet in those circumstances?

Not encouraging rule-breaking, but if you absolutely can't part from him, there are always options. :roll:

 

[jovamabob]

I had a friend who once kept fish in his bedroom sink for 3 months without any notice. There is a daily cleaner in our halls who hoovers your room floor and he just put a plank of wood over them in the morning. Another friend has 6 hamsters, 4 mice, 2 gerbils and even kept a rescued kitten in a single size halls room for a year or so (the kitten was rehomed after a week though). I go to an agricultural college/university and one of the agric students was tending to a abandoned sick lamb and had it in his room for like 3 weeks till it was healthy and no one noticed - it went in the farm pen by day and in his room at night. Even with the daily cleaners and regular 'fire alarms' - code for 'im going to search your room for any fires but actually look for anything banned'! The wardens were mostly concerned with finding drugs, and finding alcohol in underage dorms (its legal at 18 here but there are under 18's halls for uk college/the last two years of american high school). The cleaners tend to save reporting people for breakages in halls and drugs - otherwise they'd be at the office every day and people would just stop listening.

 

[ReptileAddiction]

I might do that as a last resort but would rather not get a scholarship taken away or kicked out...

 

[wilddanny88]

I've wondered this as well. But I'm not going to worry about it until I'm 17/18, or whenever I go to college. But I think my mom and dad have already said they would take care of Guy. It really all comes down to the college's rules. I'm going to go to Southern Miss. I wouldn't risk hiding him though, if I were you.

 

[ReptileAddiction]

Ya I am hesitant to go down that road.

 

[Esther19]

Were you offered any scholarships at good schools outside of So. Cal.? It might be interesting to you to get out of there. There really is a very wonderful world beyond. In most places, rentals (and the cost of living) are much cheaper. I wouldn't go back there if someone paid me. But, that's just my personal opinion. I have confidence that you'll make the right decision.

 

[ReptileAddiction]

I originally wanted to leave so cal. I have visited the midwest many times. Mainly Chicago. I changed my mind because out of state tuition is so much more expensive. LSU (Louisiana State University) is an ok decent school. UCI (University of California Irvine) is a great school. I am fairly certain that LSU would be more expensive because it is out of state. If my aunt is still single I might be able to live with her there or I might be able to use some of her lab space (She is a professor there).

 

[XtinaBeardieMom]

I know this is kind of a weird suggestion, but you could see if your college has a lab room that houses animals or reptiles. As long as your beardie isn't the type to get stressed out, or this wouldn't work. Anyway, maybe your beardie could be a learning tool for others while you're in school. There are several members here who are schoolteachers & take their beardies to class, or their beardies live in their classroom. I've heard of others talk about herpetology labs at their college as well. Best suggestion I've got :dontknow:

 

[ReptileAddiction]

That is a good suggestion. I will look in to that when I get to be a little closer.