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Smuggling a tortoise into uni accomodation.

She's not one of those huge ones - she fits into my pocket, but she does have quite a big tank with a heat lamp and everything. However, she doesn't always have to be in it, I could dismantle it quickly and hide it if needs be.

So has anyone else had any experience of keeping pets (and particularly tortioses) at uni secretly? How often are the inspections and do you get warnings of them beforehand?

Any tips at all will be gratefully recieved
Cheers

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Reply 1

Dionysus

haha that's classic. The halls I stayed in inspected once a semester and they gave us about a week's notice. Your bigger problem is likely to be maintenance men coming in to replace shower heads etc (a lot of places also do this once a semester for health and safety reasons)

Reply 2

BlueLips

This is absolutely hilarious!

To answer your question.. It depends on how often they come to check the rooms and how quickly you can hide the tank.

Reply 3

Higgy90

dont, its not fair on the tortoise. leave it at home, and if nobody at home can look after it give it away.

Reply 4

londonboym

pfft that's nothing. one time i smuggled a suitcase full of cartons of Benson & Hedges through customs.

Take that establishment.

Reply 5

kelli :)

i had two goldfish. three at one point. they were on a shelf in my room and whenever people knocked to inspect i put them under my bed for 5 minutes. never got caught :smile:

my cleaners knew i had them, i used to clean them out in the kitchen sink of a morning. but noone ever told. even the police knew when i got burgled and didnt say anything.

they're still alive now :smile:

my friends, two seperate households keep tortoises in their second year houses. none in halls though.

Reply 6

Daya

Thanks. I can hide it well, but maybe not quickly. At the moment, I keep her on top of my wardrobe - because the light there is perfectly balanced for her - perhaps I could do the same at uni.

Why is it not fair on her? I don't see how being with me at uni would be any different to her being at home.

Reply 7

The_Lonely_Goatherd

The next door building had a girl who smuggled her pet rat into college. All was well until the accommodation people got wind of it (presumably from a tip-off) and did a "spot check". The girl was forced to send the rat home and the whole building felt the wrath of the accommodation office for the rest of the year.

So I'd think carefully about it if I were you :yes:

Oh gawd . . .

i love this

i know people who kept fish in the drawers out the fridge n noone cared.....
and i heard about one lot had hamsters... it had babies... some of them died they were just left in the cage, nothing was done about them either
x

Reply 11

BlueLips

Does she have a name?
I had a tortoise called Esther and she was the best tortoise ever :yep:

She didn't like living in the tank so most of the time she was free in our house and mainly spent time under the couch and behind curtains.

Reply 12

cpchem

The_Lonely_Goatherd

Balliol needs a new tortoise - Rosa vanished (i.e. Trinity stole her and served her up at high table) and Matilda died while hibernating :frown:

Reply 13

Anon the 7th

it should be ok but make sure she is well hidden but not left in the dark completely whenever you go out

better still don't go out - the tortoise is priority

Reply 14

.phantom

I wouldn't do it if I were you. Don't know much about tortoises but it's not gonna be the best environment for her if you have people in your room all the time being messy n noisy.. what about idiot drunk students who want to take her out the cage and stuff when you're not looking? The biggest thing too is fire alarms, at my accommodation they're bloody loud n I think they'd be very scary for a small animal, especially considering you can't exactly take her outside during a drill incase she's seen!

Having said that I DID have a goldfish the past 2 years in accommodation (he went to live in my friend's mum's pond when I moved into vacation residence and I'm sure he's much happier there). There was nowhere else for him to live apart from with me. The cleaners obviously saw him, and when we had a room inspection I just put a note on the tank saying 'temporary' and no one seemed to care. But the tank and room was squeaky clean so they probs thought it wasn't worth making me move him when he wasn't causing a problem and I was looking after the room.

Reply 15

username133326

surely u can fit a vivarium in a wardrobe? seeing as its got its own light source it wont matter that its behind closed doors....

Reply 16

Alan_Johnson

it would be tough. im having to leave my tortoises at home even though they're little. i imagine if you get caught then you might end up being kicked off campus for breaking your contract. You could just let it run around on the floor of your room and have a heat source somewhere and then when u have someone knock at the door it would just be a case of hiding the light and putting the tortoise in your pocket

Reply 17

Alan_Johnson

Barden

surely u can fit a vivarium in a wardrobe? seeing as its got its own light source it wont matter that its behind closed doors....

tortoises shouldnt be kept in vivariums at all let alone in a viv thats then inside a cupboard

Reply 18

radivier

you will get a weeks warning for room inspections, and my halls didnt have cleaners for our rooms, but your main problem will be if maintenance come to check/fix your room - they can do it while you are out/in lectures. my maintenance lot reported me for drying rugby shirts out of the window (was on the 11th floor) and i was threatened with eviction for not complying with the residence agreement!

Reply 19

Daya

Um, yeah she's called Gertrude(don't even ask!). You eat them at Oxford do you?

Ugh, live fish in the fridge?

My brother had her at uni in France and no one ever found him out - though he always had to take the train home because smuggling a tortoise through customs is a different thing...