Well darn! Won't be getting a T for a while

Well, it looks like I'm going to have to put my official entrance into the tarantula hobby on indefinite hold.

I mentioned to my mom this morning that I'm thinking about getting a tarantula. She pointed out that my landlord is probably not going to go for that, considering that fish tanks are a no-no. Cats are allowed, and they can cause more problems in an apartment than fish or tarantulas (though a fish tank could get problematic if it were to leak or worse break, which may be why those are frowned upon). She has a point that if fish aren't allowed, a spider plus the bugs they eat probably won't go over so well. I mean, and my mom didn't bring this up, but I imagine venomous animals (even if the species I get isn't potent enough to do significant harm) more than likely wouldn't be welcome.

So it looks like I won't be able to get a T while in this complex, and I don't have any immediate plans to move.

It's kind of a bummer, but I guess on the bright side I've got plenty of time to research.

Why don't you just ask, or read the pet policy in the contract?

I dunno. Don't want you to violate rules and get evicted, but surely most rental places would prefer an enclosed bug and spider to the loose ones that wander in anyway.

Okay, prolly mixing apples and oranges again -- my specialty.

I do plan to dig up my copy of the contract. Might take some time as I put it somewhere nearly 11 years ago when I signed it, but I have a general idea of its general location. Hopefully I can glean something from that.

Yeah, you'd think caged bugs would be preferable to wondering bugs, but it probably would be considered apples and oranges.

Keep in mind too, the properties exterminator contracts. In Michigan there may be no problems but here in Louisiana, most housing complexes have an exterminator come through and spray for roaches. When I lived in an apartment the lease specifies that you have to grant access once a month for the exterminator.

Aquariums are often not allowed because of the potential danger a cracked or broken tank can to do a domicile...10, 20 or more gallons of water can cause a lot of damage. Things like t's generally aren't even considered my the vast majority of landlords and I can almost guarantee that they are not specified...the landlord has probably never even considered it as a possibility in the past.

I'd just get one, of if you're really that paranoid, just ask, and of course explain the situation so he realizes that its not a safety issue, health issue, a potential damage issue or an infestation issue...those are a landlords primary concerns and a t is a safe pet when those criteria are used.

Get a sling and stick it in a drawer when the manager comes over. If it is discovered I doubt you will be evicted as apts don't usually evict good tenants. But you know your manager better than I do.

I have the same issue with my apartment, though luckily my parents are very kind and allow me to house my collection at their house until I move into a more pet friendly place. They're only about a 2 minute drive away.

At these apartments you're allowed to have either a cat or a dog under 20 pounds, but that's it. No critters, reptiles, etc. Never made any sense to me considering with a dog there's the possibly of: peeing/pooping/vomiting on the carpet, leaving poop in the grass outside, barking, chewing, etc... but say, a rabbit that just sits in its cage and has no effect on its environment or the neighbors whatsoever is not allowed.

Anyway, that does suck and I hope you can get something figured out!

raisinjelly said:

I have the same issue with my apartment, though luckily my parents are very kind and allow me to house my collection at their house until I move into a more pet friendly place. They're only about a 2 minute drive away.

At these apartments you're allowed to have either a cat or a dog under 20 pounds, but that's it. No critters, reptiles, etc. Never made any sense to me considering with a dog there's the possibly of: peeing/pooping/vomiting on the carpet, leaving poop in the grass outside, barking, chewing, etc... but say, a rabbit that just sits in its cage and has no effect on its environment or the neighbors whatsoever is not allowed.

Anyway, that does suck and I hope you can get something figured out!

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Actually, rabbits were not a great example to settle on as they should be let out to exercise periodically, and an unmonitored rabbit can do a LOT of damage very very quickly by chewing, digging, and marking.

To OP: Man, that blows. I would recommend contacting your landlord; it doesn't hurt to at least ask. If you assure them that you can be responsible, they'll be more likely to say yes.

Here in Texas, lease contracts DO actually specify insects and arachnids in the list of animals not allowed as pets without permission. The lease comtracts are written to pretty much prohibit any animal from being inside the unit/ property without written permission from the landlord. In every rental agreement I have been involved in, permission has to be granted by the landlord along with a pet admendment listing the pets being kept in the unit or property. Call the landlord or property manager to ask specifics about keeping live spiders as pets in your apartment. No matter what the lease agreement says, the ones who signed the lease agreement will be the ones who have to sign the pet addmendment if one is necessary.

Aquariums have nothing to do with any other pet because of the potential for water damage to the unit/ property. Most properties will also not allow water beds for the same reason. Again, this is my experiences here in Texas. It maybe different by property and location.

The point is though, don't give up until you know for sure from the property management. You never know until you ask.

I don't think exterminators are an issue -- in the 11 years iced lived in this complex, the only time I know of when a unit was sprayed was when a neighbor had a few yellowjackets decide to take up residence in her apartment. Doesn't mean that's the only time a unit has been sprayed, but it seems to be an as needed thing rather than all units being routinely sprayed.

Cold Blood, honestlÿ just getting one was what I had planned. Not to be sneaky necessarily, but because I didn't figure it would be an issue, until my mom brought up the fish tank thing. I kinda figured the potential water damage was probably why fish tanks are frowned upon. Don't know for sure but that's my guess.

It was my mom's comment that a T would probably be disallowed that got me thinking I'd better not. I think id better at least review the pet policy and make sure it's not covered (if it says something like no venomous animals, well, that would kind of rule T's out even if it doesn't specifically say no tarantulas) before bringing one in. Not that I fear eviction, but if I am discovered to have a "contraband" pet I'd probably be asked to get it out of there. If the lease doesn't specifically say anything that would disallow T's, I'll probably lean toward getting one, putting it in a non-obvious location to decrease chances of it coming up, and if it does come up take the "easier to ask forgiveness than permission" approach, citing the pet policy's silence on the issue, as in, here's the list of blacklisted pets, on which tarantulas are not.

If it is specifically disallowed, I'd probably better accept that as long as I am living in this complex those are the rules. I mean, could I hide a T and have it probably never be discovered? Probably, sure. But if it is disallowed and does on the off chance get discovered, I'm going to be looking awfully silly.

Blueandbluer said:

Actually, rabbits were not a great example to settle on as they should be let out to exercise periodically, and an unmonitored rabbit can do a LOT of damage very very quickly by chewing, digging, and marking.

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Whoops, I know nothing about rabbits beyond they're small and furry. You can still see what I'm getting at though, just fill in the blank for any small animal that spends the majority of its time in a cage

raisinjelly said:

Whoops, I know nothing about rabbits beyond they're small and furry. You can still see what I'm getting at though, just fill in the blank for any small animal that spends the majority of its time in a cage

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Yeah, my family once had a rabbit named Oslo. He was a real jerk. He peed on everything, bit HARD, and chewed things to pieces. Our TV remote had no buttons on it because Oslo, LOL.

Yeah, dogs can easily be trained not to chew, I've never had chewing damage done in my house through 5 dogs lives....rabbits on the other hand, are rodents. Their teeth continue to grow throughout life and to keep them proper, they need to chew regularly...like blue said, they can cause a bunch of damage in a relatively short period of time.

If I recall correctly Michigan specifies anything an "animal" with a vertebrae, tarantulas do not have that. Though I did ask my land lady if I could have caged animals and the only limit I got was 1 fish tank as they can do a lot of damage if they break. I pay my rent and am nice to the neighbors as to not draw attention to myself. Though I would strongly suggest seeing if the building regularly gets sprayed and then ask the land lord

That's assuming the person bothers to train them though, and there are a lot of dog owners out there who just don't care. Like the woman in my complex who just lets her dog out the door unsupervized and unleashed to run loose because she's too lazy to leash it to take it out to the bathroom.

And I love the name Oslo, it works really well for a bunny

Roosterbomb said:

Get a sling and stick it in a drawer when the manager comes over. If it is discovered I doubt you will be evicted as apts don't usually evict good tenants. But you know your manager better than I do.

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And when it grows?

Misty Day said:

And when it grows?

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Get a dwarf:wink:

awiec said:

If I recall correctly Michigan specifies anything an "animal" with a vertebrae, tarantulas do not have that. Though I did ask my land lady if I could have caged animals and the only limit I got was 1 fish tank as they can do a lot of damage if they break. I pay my rent and am nice to the neighbors as to not draw attention to myself. Though I would strongly suggest seeing if the building regularly gets sprayed and then ask the land lord

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Is it a state thing though? Wouldn't it boil down to landlord preference? For instance, some places allow dogs. Mine doesn't. Some allow cats. Mine does. Of those that allow dogs, some have size/breed limits, some don't.

What I'm getting at here is, is it Michigan wide that mentions vertebrates in pet policies? Or could individual landlords choose to limit/ban inverts as well? I'm guessing an individual landlord can allow or not any animals they see fit?

Hanging with my parents at the moment. When I get home I'll be looking for the lease.

8LegsMomWannabe said:

Is it a state thing though? Wouldn't it boil down to landlord preference? For instance, some places allow dogs. Mine doesn't. Some allow cats. Mine does. Of those that allow dogs, some have size/breed limits, some don't.

What I'm getting at here is, is it Michigan wide that mentions vertebrates in pet policies? Or could individual landlords choose to limit/ban inverts as well? I'm guessing an individual landlord can allow or not any animals they see fit?

Hanging with my parents at the moment. When I get home I'll be looking for the lease.

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I think at the end of the day it's land lord preference but it's one of those loopholes that you could fight on if they decide to try to throw you out of your home.