Question about a potential new landlord

[nicodimus22]

The neigbours didnt like the idea that huge "deadly" disgusting spiders lived next door!? I assume?

Not liking something doesn't make it illegal.

 

[Vanisher]

Not liking something doesn't make it illegal.

If i remember right the owner of the apartment didnt like spiders eigher

 

[l4nsky]

I'm just going to quote myself from another thread on the same topic...

Tricky question and there are 3 ways to proceed.

You could be upfront and honest. My lease is the same as yours, but I was very upfront about having a pet Blue tongue skink when I signed and very lucky to have an interested landlord. My landlord was ok with it and when I asked about expanding my collection of animals, his only two rules were nothing escapes and my apartment doesn't smell like a jungle. To that end, I do constant cage upkeep and I keep my animals in a secured second bedroom (screen on the vents, and sweeps on the doors). That being said, I would never keep something potentially life threatening (certain scorpions, hot snakes, etc) in an apartment, even if I was 100% sure of containment.

What others have done in the past is ask about aquariums. You dont have to be specific about what you'll be keeping in them, just get the OK to have the little plastic or glass boxes.

Or just dont tell them....

All 3 options have worked for people in the past.

Thanks,
--Matt

http://arachnoboards.com/threads/apartment-housing.316544/#post-2897660

 

[Chris LXXIX]

landlirds

rarantulas

aldo

This comment cracked me up because they way you 'mauled' certain words was, in my opinion, absolutely lovely!

'landlirds', 'rarantulas' (seems one of those unknow and lost somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, micro islands), 'aldo' (instead of also) which is an Italian name.

Lovely!

 

[Vanisher]

Haha, i have problem with pushing the right letters.

 

[ErinM31]

This is why I've suggested to say nothing (especially if nothing is written/stated etc in the rules in regards of inverts).

You can emphasize everything, but everyone knows that spiders are 'poisonous' (we say 'venomous', but you have the idea). You can emphasize that the buggers would remain in their enclosures, still the landlord could have doubts about (even legit doubts, eh... if viewed this for a moment by the landlord's perspective and not from the perspective of us, keepers that know what to do).

Then, there's the feeders issue, which is another issue per se (in particular roaches and crickets). Those feeders are animals that are basically disliked by everyone, in general (save for us).

Who's the landlord that will accept those 'pests' in his/her property, gladly? Yeah there's someone, indeed... but majority wouldn't

Now, the logical way for solve this would be saying everything. Everything, telling the truth and, if the landlord says 'Nope, sorry', saying 'Ok, good bye', and search again.
But then again I don't know how much important this home-rent may is, so what IMO remains is a choice between:

1) Saying nothing.

2) Saying everything, and, in the case of a 'Nope', well... bye bye T's and etc

You make good points. And to tell the truth, I started my collection while at our current place and thought nothing of it because they aren’t animals that can damage property, even through an enclosure fail (thinking of aquariums here, which we did obtain permission for before moving in). When it came time to renew the lease (and thus sign a new one), it had grown to prohibit everything (so that they can have “reason” to evict anyone? Idk), including animals not explicitly listed in the lease and even a specific ban against insects. So they had to amend this for us or lose tenants that they knew caused no problems and always paid on time — a bit different than approaching a new landlord.

 

[u bada]

Funny convo here lol... I'm in the don't bother telling camp. I mean if any of us really knew all the junk people have in their homes! (especially pre marie kondo...)

All my rent experiences in the past there were at least a few hoarders in the buildings (or worse) and no way landlords are going to bother looking and tallying up all these places. I mean, maybe different if one landlord... but, for precautions, if you just kept them in storage bins and stacked nicely, there's no way or reason for them to be looking into each bin. Now if you have one landlord who lives in the building or next door, that's a different story, but a corporation/ manager overseeing multiple units, you have a lot of room to play around with there...

 

[sourpatchkid]

I'm surprised no one mentioned to check tenant rights/laws. You can usually find them online and there may be a section regarding disclosures. Other than that, a landlord's primary concern would be liability. Let him/her know of their enclosure, and that their survivability is very low outside of a controlled environment.

 

[Dandrobates]

I’d be honest because lying can easily bite you in the behind. I’d have a frank and honest discussion with your perspective landlord first to eliminate the chance of any surprises later. it’s easier to explain something to a rational person in a reasonable situation than that is to explain something to an irrational person in an unreasonable situation.

Remember, in the event that you need repairs or service at the house or if there’s an emergency such as a fire, the landlord can and likely will walk in while your out. In that context a large collection may come as a shock and if you’re not there to explain it you’re asking for trouble. He or she may not be able to evict you for having pets but he or she can make your life pretty miserable. Most people don’t share our comfort zone and it could end badly.

I can easily see the news headline now. “Landlord finds hundreds of deadly spiders in tenant’s home! More at eleven.”

On the other hand he or she might be cool with it. But regardless, I’d find out what he or she will allow the easy way and not the hard way.

 

[Hoxter]

It's better to be in good relations with landlord for sure so I would advice to be open about tarantulas you're keeping and prepare pictures of how they are kept and some other helpful information about them.
You could even offer a small tour and show off your collection.

Landlord might not be able to get rid of you if he found out accidentally but living there could become very unpleasant.

Just don't bring up feeders you're keeping, even if landlord came for some check up, I don't think anyone would try to check what you're keeping in your boxes etc. So as long as they are securely closed in a box you should be fine.

 

[Anoplogaster]

I once tried to rent a place that only allowed “small birds and fish.” At the time, I had a large Argus Monitor. I told them I have “a lizard.” Their reply was “Well, I won’t tell you to get rid of it. But the lease does say ‘small birds and fish.’” To which I responded “But you skipped reptiles. They are an evolutionary intermediate between fish and birds. Not to mention that aquariums leak, and birds are loud.” Needless to say, I didn’t rent the place

My current place has an aquarium restriction. 20 gallons or less. I’ve been keeping a 60 gallon cichlid aquarium for about 4 years now. I realized that most people suck at estimating the volume of an aquarium. I tell them it’s “20 gallons on the nose” and they believe me

The point is I tend to use the lack of knowledge among landlords to my advantage. As long as you’re organized and composed about it, you can often sway them to simply trust you. Most landlords only care about damage, noise, and infestations. Convince them you won’t cause problems, and you should be good for any reasonable landlord.

 

[bugguy1]

Thanks for everyone's input! I really appreciate it! All of the suggestions were very helpful. I am going to go with the honesty route, though agree that leaving out the feeders thing is probably a good idea. I will bring pictures with me of my current set ups as well.

 

[Vanisher]

Yes for goodness sake, never mention the word cochroach! The landlord will see an infested building in front of his eyes! Tell him tat you feed with dead insects or freezdry locust you buy in the petstore or something like that

 

[ErinM31]

Yes for goodness sake, never mention the word cochroach! The landlord will see an infested building in front of his eyes! Tell him tat you feed with dead insects or freezdry locust you buy in the petstore or something like that

No reason to lie, but yes, better to not bring up roaches. People generally have a higher opinion of crickets — and you probably do feed these once in a while at least, right? If you are even asked what you feed them. Even “red runners” or “dubias” are probably better than “cockroach.”

 

[Hoxter]

I think another good way of talking about feeders is just calling them some "worms" and comparing them to ones people actually use while fishing. It's still kind of close to the truth and gives good idea of how common it can be to some people. Correct me if I'm wrong

 

[Vanisher]

I even suggest the person who started this thread that use other type of feeders like zophobas. So the risk of escaping cochroach are a non issue!

 

[Chris LXXIX]

I think another good way of talking about feeders is just calling them some "worms" and comparing them to ones people actually use while fishing. It's still kind of close to the truth and gives good idea of how common it can be to some people. Correct me if I'm wrong

Yeah that's logical. Fishing is an 'historical' normal activity, definitely better viewed than keeping spiders and roaches and whatever

Another thing that may work in a similar case is owning, only and strictly, obligate burrowers.

Landlord: "What's inside those cages? I see only dirt and a hole?" (of course opt for obligate burrowers that doesn't web much, or no web in the substrate's surface).

You (with a smile and a pompous attitude): "It's a pure home-eco-friendly project involving earth, seeds of all kinds etc that Al Gore suggested!"

Landlord: "Amazing! Sublime! Marvellous!"

 

[Anoplogaster]

Just tell him they feed on the blood of unreasonable landlords

Honestly, don’t even bring up the fact that you need to feed them unless they ask. And if so, just say crickets. No need to volunteer any info.

 

[ErinM31]

Another thing that may work in a similar case is owning, only and strictly, obligate burrowers.

Landlord: "What's inside those cages? I see only dirt and a hole?" (of course opt for obligate burrowers that doesn't web much, or no web in the substrate's surface).

You (with a smile and a pompous attitude): "It's a pure home-eco-friendly project involving earth, seeds of all kinds etc that Al Gore suggested!"

Landlord: "Amazing! Sublime! Marvellous!"

Idiothele mira would be perfect for this — not even a hole for evidence!

 

[Clareesi]

Hi, former landlord here. This is a very hit or miss issue. A lot of landlords specifically list dogs and cats because that's what the vast majority do have and what they can easy charge pet fees, pet deposits, and pet rent for. Animals that dont have the potential to cause damage are often excluded from those monetary limitations so dont get listed as "allowed." Many landlords will allow what are considered "caged pets" and some will even forgo any deposits for them (we did). With that, they're are usually limitations on the number of pets and I would say the shock value of "I have 65 tarantulas " would likely scare the pants off many landlords. However , youd be surprised and are more likely to experience more leniency from a private owner vs a property management company. PM companies will rarely break standards because of legal ramifications that often dont even relate to pets but standards are set across the board.

ANYWAY, it's really up to you what to do. 65 tarantulas if your LL pops in once they're likely going to see them. With that, I also never once even came close to evicting someone for a pet. If rent was paid, that's what mattered.