Keeping Pets at University?

I am interested in this also.
Not that it applies to me. Just curious.
I chose my university around my dog.

Are you attending university close to home so you can be near your dog, or did you find a way of taking your dog with you? (I'm getting confused - long day!)

I was just wondering whether anyone has taken a pet with them to university, whether in halls or not (Even whether they're allowed or have kept it in secret!)?

If so, I was wondering:

- How was the experience? Were the people you lived with respectful of your pet?
- How easy is it to sneak in a pet secretly/hide it?
- Did you even need to hide your pet at a uni that disallowed pet-keeping?
- Any other general experience

I am speaking mostly in terms of things like fish, hamsters etc. Not cats/dogs.

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Wondering also mainly because I own a Giant African Land Snail and am interested in bringing him to university with me when I decide to go (as an older student most-likely as currently working full-time after finishing A-Levels last year). I also have a hamster, but I'm more at ease about leaving her with family as she's not an exotic pet.

That really depends what you define as home.
I have lived with my grandparents for 4 years before that I was in care for a couple of years. There isn't a university close to my grandparents which did my course.
I moved in with my mother and her family at the beginning of summer and I am going to their local uni. I compromised, I don't really want to live with my mother but I had no other option if I wanted to go to uni.

My situation is complicated though. Bit different than sneaking a fish in.

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You could probably take your snail and hide it when they do room checks. I wouldn't take anything bigger or any small mammals or anything mainly because moving them is really stressful to the animal and you're going to be in halls for one year, and another house for two years, before moving out again, it's a bit mean really.

I'm trying not to think about leaving my piggies when i leave for university i don't know how i'm going to cope without them surely there is a way to smuggle them in?.....

I used to keep four piggies, and I think they'd be really stressed if I had moved them around! As cavvies are quite nervous and easily startled animals anyway, it might be best to leave them at home.

Take lots of photographs with you though! :>

Yeah i know im gonna have to leave them behind because it would be mean to stress them out especially because they are rescues and 1 of them is very nervous anyway because of her previous treatment

It was just wishful thinking bc i love them so much

Yes i will take a whole photo album with me of piggie snaps

Currently I live with my Dad, but I go and stay with my Mother every couple of weeks (She's not really in when I'm around though, but I don't mind because we don't really get on). When I was younger I used to stay with my grandparents a lot because my parents used to work more than care for us.

I have anxiety too, getting a full time job fills me with more dread than uni so I am straight from college. I am also 20 this year(wow). I couldn't actually cope without my girl. It's not silly, I get it, maybe more than some.

x

I was just wondering whether anyone has taken a pet with them to university, whether in halls or not (Even whether they're allowed or have kept it in secret!)?

If so, I was wondering:

- How was the experience? Were the people you lived with respectful of your pet?
- How easy is it to sneak in a pet secretly/hide it?
- Did you even need to hide your pet at a uni that disallowed pet-keeping?
- Any other general experience

I am speaking mostly in terms of things like fish, hamsters etc. Not cats/dogs.

--
Wondering also mainly because I own a Giant African Land Snail and am interested in bringing him to university with me when I decide to go (as an older student most-likely as currently working full-time after finishing A-Levels last year). I also have a hamster, but I'm more at ease about leaving her with family as she's not an exotic pet.

I'm trying not to think about leaving my piggies when i leave for university i don't know how i'm going to cope without them surely there is a way to smuggle them in?.....

I'm trying not to think about leaving my piggies when i leave for university i don't know how i'm going to cope without them surely there is a way to smuggle them in?.....

I'm in my second year and I have three guinea pigs. I live with my boyfriend and our landlord knows about them.

I only have pets because my bf and I are in our twenties and living in a flat together. I would not even consider it if I was in halls or a shared house where things were likely to get noisey or stressful for a pet.

If you are the type of student who parties a lot - will you be able to care for your pet in the mornings? Will it be safe when you, housemates, or any friends are drunk around it? If you are living somewhere like halls, it will regularly be noisy and extremely stressful to your pet. if you are living somewhere where you have to hide it under the bed etc this could again not be great for its stress levels either. If people find out, they may rat you out, especially if it isnt a cuddly type of pet. could you afford the loss of a deposit or fines should this happen?

Pets are great if you are the type of student who doesnt party that much and who have a bit of spare money and time (yes their food might be within your budget but could you afford an emergency vet bill alongside rent? Especially halls as they are expensive).

If you really want a pet then I recommend finding a relatively quiet shared house (maybe not first years) with locks on the bedroom doors and having a word with the landlord. Many landlords will be fine with something in a tank or a cage if you just ask. Also if you do go down the route of hiding it, a shared house would make this easier. No regular inspections or cleaners coming into your room and 24 hours notice if the landlord needs to visit. (I really cant see any private landlord objecting to your snail though)

Good luck, but whatever you do, dont become that guy who fried his hamster during freshers.

My pet isn't sensitive to sound, only light (because he's nocturnal). I'm sure that 84p a week would be fine (especially as I'm on £20 a week in wages for my apprenticeship and it doesn't make a dent in my budget), and generally even if I do go out, I won't drink to the point of getting a hangover or anything. I'm a fairly early riser and like doing lots of things in my day.

My pet isn't really sensitive of movement, only environmental changes such as cold, but I do have a heat mat to regulate temperatures in the colder months anyway. He moves between my homes every week with me and is fine.

And vets can't do anything for a Giant African Land snail, as if they're sick they usually lose weight and then die. They're not the kind of pet where vets really apply, it would be a bit like taking a goldfish to the vets, you have to sort of home-diagnose and treat accordingly.

I will be 21, almost 22, by the time I go to university, so my accommodation is not definite at this point, as I'm unsure as to whether I will just jump straight into private accommodation. Obviously I would ask halls and landlords if I were able to keep my pet at university, but I was curious about other ways people have kept pets.