FA+
Shop
Pet Policy
15 years ago
I understand a fancier college asking only to allow fish to limit the wreckage an animal may cause to a dorm(Never pets of mine, but I can't speak to the responsibility of every college student). But MY SCHOOL, of all places, suddenly changing the pet policy?
At first there was talk of health certificates. I am all for this. With all of the hippies at my college that insist on keeping rabbits and letting them free roam, I would appreciate knowing that each bunny is healthy. Then there was talk of removing pets. Again, I could understand- free roam rabbits don't do well for the dorms, even if they are shit holes already. We still live in the old country house that was used in the 50s to dorm teenage boys for the outdoors program we ran. We can't afford to keep wrecking the place, so I was accepting of these conversations.
Then it opened up as real policy. Where I thought I was safe for having a tanked animal(Leviathan, my corn snake, does no damage to the room), I was not. $25 pet charge first. Ok, I can live with that, that will cover the extra bit of electricity he uses for heat. Then, I was approached about a health certificate.
I can not have my snake on campus without a certificate of clean health from a vet. The same very snake who does no damage in comparison to the large community of rabbits. The same snake that shows no sign of ill health, and does not carry the same dirty conditions that rabbits create in one day(it would take him months to poop that much...). GRAHH.
I get it. I get the need for the policy, but getting on my ass in the middle of the semester? I luckily managed to convince the dead of residence to not charge me more money. Anyone that didn't have a bill of health for there pet on the 9th has been charged $2.50 per day until they get their pet to the vet. The only way I escaped this charge was under the agreement to get the snake out.
So here I am, at my boyfriend's house with my snake. Good bye Leviathan.
Next year, I am moving off campus. No doubt about it.
At first there was talk of health certificates. I am all for this. With all of the hippies at my college that insist on keeping rabbits and letting them free roam, I would appreciate knowing that each bunny is healthy. Then there was talk of removing pets. Again, I could understand- free roam rabbits don't do well for the dorms, even if they are shit holes already. We still live in the old country house that was used in the 50s to dorm teenage boys for the outdoors program we ran. We can't afford to keep wrecking the place, so I was accepting of these conversations.
Then it opened up as real policy. Where I thought I was safe for having a tanked animal(Leviathan, my corn snake, does no damage to the room), I was not. $25 pet charge first. Ok, I can live with that, that will cover the extra bit of electricity he uses for heat. Then, I was approached about a health certificate.
I can not have my snake on campus without a certificate of clean health from a vet. The same very snake who does no damage in comparison to the large community of rabbits. The same snake that shows no sign of ill health, and does not carry the same dirty conditions that rabbits create in one day(it would take him months to poop that much...). GRAHH.
I get it. I get the need for the policy, but getting on my ass in the middle of the semester? I luckily managed to convince the dead of residence to not charge me more money. Anyone that didn't have a bill of health for there pet on the 9th has been charged $2.50 per day until they get their pet to the vet. The only way I escaped this charge was under the agreement to get the snake out.
So here I am, at my boyfriend's house with my snake. Good bye Leviathan.
Next year, I am moving off campus. No doubt about it.
Also, that policy is shit regardless since snakes can't communicate disease to humans, or destroy items of value.
Is there any risk of communicable disease to other animals too? Just curious, because we also had some troubles with interactions with the meat rabbits we are raising on our campus farm.
And yes, it is bullcrap with the snakes in my opinion. I tried to make that point but my dean insist that any pet on campus should have a clean bill of health. It is ridiculous.
and that is heart breaking to hear, merely because rabbits being raised in such filth is horrible. I understand letting them free roam for excersize, but they still need to be cleaned up after.
Aside from the fact I keep his cage clean where fecal matter is constantly removed(and never touches any surface but a scoop I have exclusively for removing it), there isn't risk to people unless they are handling my snake and he is physically ill(snakes can carry salmonella as part of their healthy gut bacteria). No one handles my snake without permission, which if it does happen I have a bottle of hand sanitizer next to his cage for just that reason.
If he were to show physical signs of being ill, or I were to not keep his living conditions ideal for his species, I would take him to a vet for the check up. As of right now though, he shows no signs of stress or illness, and it would be a cost I'd rather avoid until he is old enough to be sexed properly. Once he sheds one or two more times, I plan to take him in to get sexed and examine his health- I'd rather not pay for two visits when he is active and apparently healthy now, and is handled accordingly D:
So I know the risks, but precautions are taken and it's an extra cost I can't afford at college right now. It wouldn't be bad if I went to college in a populated area, but I am in the middle of no where so the vet cost also included the gas to drive 45 minutes to the vet(which thankfully they take snakes, and he will go there when he's a bit bigger).
Also, I can smell Dead Space from here. Awesome name for a snake >:l