College dorm rules against Ts.

[EightLeggedFrea]

This spring I am seriously considering adding a truly defensive tarantula to my currently small collection (of 5 specimens, six including P. imperator), like a C. crawshayi, H. lividum, E. murinus or whatever truly interests me. Since I still live under my mother's roof and there's a chance on the future I may be driving far away from home she may not very much like the prospect of having to care for a very grouchy and unpredictable tarantula (even it is one of the "pet holes") in my absence. Most of the tarantulas (and scorpion) I have are docile breeds (G. rosea, A. metallica, P. imperator, A geniculata (1 1/2" sling), and L. difficilis), but I've been itching lately for something with some fight in it.

My main question is in order to relieve my mother (who is an ex-arachnophobe) of having to care for a truly tempermentally unpredictable tarantula like the above mentioned (and maybe others alike) are there some college dorms that will permit you to keep "cage pets?" I could simply take my future little "monster" with me and order a small weekly batch of roaches online or something for food. I ask because I was inspired to write this post because someone on one of the scorpion boards was angry that he had to get rid of his imperator because of campus rules, but someone replied that in a dorm he once lived in students could apparently keep rodents and even reptiles. To be specific, the dorm I'm most likely going to attend is the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). I once took a tour there but I don't remember them saying anything specifically about pets. What do you guys/girls think?

 

[lil-blu]

this is how boring my day has been.

click here for your answer.

or

Pets
Pets are not permitted in any residence hall. Fish are the only exception to this policy; however, fish must be kept in a properly maintained aquarium of 10 gallons or less.

 

[edesign]

Depends if you'll have a roommate...and how cool they are. A T is easy to sneak in to a dorm room, they're not noisy, they don't smell, blah blah, you know all this. Question is, will your roommate tell the RA if he gets mad at you? The RA's will not be in your room unannounced unless someone complains about you making noise or something or something.

While I don't want to say I'm advocating breaking the rules I don't see why you couldn't keep it in your dorm room aside from the minor risk of being caught. Also, be wary of your roommate and any friends they may bring over when you are not around...no telling what might happen in your abscence.

 

[gambite]

Well, I currently have a bit of a collection in my dorm as well. I have a 10g with an Emperor scorpion, and several smaller containers with various T's (B albopilosum and L parahybana slings, B boehmi, A avic). I had a close call with my RA coming in once and being about 1 foot from eye-shot of the setup. I try not to let people know that I have them unless they are friends, and I talked with my roomate about them all before hand. I am worried what will happen with my roomate next year though... Unfortunately, my college does not have a pet policy posted anywhere that I can find, and I am afraid that asking will red-flag me.

My suggestion would be to try to keep them somewhere out of view from the door, and dont openly tell people about it.

 

[matthias]

Oh how I remember trying to get around those rules. My school said the creature had to live in an aquarium and spend extended time underwater. Some a few creative students built a SCUBA for a cat. Other than a pissed off cat it fit the rules.

Check with your school and your roommate. But the real concern is most dorms spray for "bugs". Usually without notice and at times you are not around.

 

[spartybassoon]

I have the benefit of having been an RA for two years, so I can tell you this: don't tell ANYONE but your closest friends about this because all the wonder and interest it stirs up will cause people to talk. Even if they are only talking amongst themselves, it almost always gets back to the RA, unless the RA is really terrible. If you pretend like the walls are incredibly thin and anyone can hear you, you'll be unnoticed.

 

[DrJ]

Sounds like students around here get it good! The only rules my college has is that the animal has to live in an aquarium, not be noisy, not stink, and not be messy. So, basically, you can have snakes, fish, or tarantulas. However, it still needs to be approved with your roomate I guess. They just don't want dogs, cats, birds or rodents running around I guess, but I've heard of some colleges even allowing students to have pet rats. What it comes down to is the tolerance of the school you choose to attend, because if there are no regulations against owning a certian type of animal, there is nothing an RA can do about you having it. I'm just going off of what goes on around here, and most RAs at the college here encourage students to get different pets other than fish. Anyway, hope it all works out!

 

[dianedfisher]

Baby-sitting G. rosea

I guess I've met the only college student who obeys the rules, LOL. I have been keeping Alex's G. rosea female since late August while he attends classes. He posted last summer looking for someone to keep his T since his dorm in NYC wouldn't allow them. She will be returned to him when he finishes college or wants her back, whichever comes first. But I would be very concerned about exterminator visits as was mentioned in an earlier post. Di

 

[Moltar]

I think that where things may go wrong is if you keep expanding your collection. Just a few t's (say 1-3) might be easy to hide but not so much with 10. The more tanks you have the more space they'll take up and the more people might be tempted to blab about it. If it was me i'd cut it back to 3 inverts that can be kept on one small shelf and make arrangements to sell the rest or entrust them to somebody you know for safe keeping.

 

[NeitherSparky]

This thread brings back so many memories, lol...And the story about people putting cats in scuba suits floated around my school too. I could not STAND not having a pet so I had a fish for a few months, left him in the care of my boss over Christmas break and she didn't take care of him so he died. I later got a Japanese firebelly newt that lived about 10 years. He was awesome. But yeah nothing non-aquatic was allowed. A neighbor when I was a freshman had a corn snake, but he never got caught. Later I had a neighbor who had a baby bearded dragon she left on her windowsill during the day.

I agree about making sure you have a roomie - not only this year but every year - who won't tell. Same for all your friends AND your roomie's friends. If you get caught or turned in, you'll get in trouble and lose your t(s). I have to say, I wouldn't have tried it personally, but then I'm a girl and there was no way I'd have an understanding roomie every year. When I had the newt I worried constantly that my more party-hardy roomies or one of their friends would pour booze in the tank for laughs. College-age people are stupid like that. I wouldn't trust them not to mess with a helpless spider, something they'd consider to not have feelings anyways if you know what I mean.

 

[matthias]

This thread brings back so many memories, lol...And the story about people putting cats in scuba suits floated around my school too.

Yes but did you have see a cat in a bubble helm with a regulator and air tanks?
I went to a school that specialized in nothing but marine sciences. (biology, chemistry, engineering .... mostly bio though) And the legend inspired several students to actually do this. That was the MOST pissed off cat I have ever seen!

 

[NeitherSparky]

Yes but did you have see a cat in a bubble helm with a regulator and air tanks?

It supposedly happened before I was a student there, and I never saw any photos. It may have just been a story, that's why I said "story" instead of claiming something that may not have happened.

 

[stk5m]

This is one of the major reasons I live off campus. There is nothing wrong with having 30+ t's in a spare bedroom. That and i'm a rat lover and I think an RA would s*** a brick if they saw them.

 

[Olan]

My RA was cool (and a biology major) and saw no problem with my emperor scorpion and her 20 babies. One roommate didn't like me walking around with the scorpion in my hand, but he got over it.