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The subject of intentional breeding or meat rabbits is prohibited. The answers provided on this board are for general guideline purposes only. The information is not intended to diagnose or treat your pet.  It is your responsibility to assess the information being given and seek professional advice/second opinion from your veterinarian and/or qualified behaviorist.

BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum THE LOUNGE Moving with a bunny and a rant

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    • MeketatenBun
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        I know there was a topic on this very recently, but I guess I just want to take this opportunity to rant about my own frustrations.

        My boyfriend and I have lived together for two years now along with other roommates and are finally looking for a place of our own that we can live in for a couple of years until we move out of this college town. Because we’re staying for a few years, we’re looking for something that’s it’s decent condition (a LOT of duplexes in this area reek of stale weed from past college student tenants) and some place that I can bring Meketaten to. Apparently decent condition and allowing pets are two very opposite criteria in this town. Either it’s run down and sloppy and allows pets, it’s only mildly run down and allows only cats and dogs, or it’s way above our budget and no pets are allowed at all.

        We had a place that we applied to that was well within our budget, cheaper than we’ve paid for an apartment before, that allowed pets and was perfect in every way. So when I was home for spring break I was so excited thinking we were going to get it and I could bring Meketaten with me starting late summer (to be sure it wasn’t too hot for her in the summers, being an upper in a duplex). Just got the call today that apparently we aren’t making enough for that place and we were denied. Two people splitting $575/month with electric and heat bills is not impossible when we’re both combined making around $1400 a month. It’s tight, but we’ve definitely done it these past two years already.

        So now we’re looking again, but places we have tours set up for blatantly say “no pets”. Meki’s safe at my parent’s house and well taken care of, so I don’t want to ruin the chances of us finding a pretty good place in the last two months we have before move out of our current place because I want her there with me but…. but I want her there with me.

        So what should I do? Bring Meki up while we’re touring places (“I have a caged, litterbox trained pet, will that be okay?”) and get possibly denied because of the possibility of bringing her, or wait until we find a place, know we want to stay there for the next few years, and then bring the question up to the landlords after we’ve moved in and get told no with no way out for at least another year? It’s not like bringing Meki is a be all, end all in finding a place, like I said, she has a good life with my parents. But it’s like leaving my 4 1/2 year old (or 42 year old according to that age post!) baby behind and I hate having to do it if I could avoid it.


      • MoxieMeadows
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          You’re in a tough situation. I don’t have much advice (I’m sure other people will) but just wanted to send you some (((Vibes))).


        • Little Lion Head
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            My advice probably isn’t the best but I wouldn’t tell the landlord and just see what happens. This has worked for me twice in the past. We got Boston because we couldn’t have pets (in my mind that meant no cats or dogs–not rabbits!). We lived with her in that first apartment for 2 1/2 years. We always knew when maintenance was coming and what they were going to be working on. If they would be in the kitchen, we’d move Boston to the bedroom. We never got caught—or maybe maintenance just didn’t care enough to tell management. We cleaned and cleaned and cleaned and got our damage deposit back.

            The next place we lived with Boston was absolutely NO PETS. When my landlord caught me I told her Boston was just staying w/ me for a few days b/c I needed to take her to the vet but that she lived w/ my BF full-time at his parents. I don’t think she ever believed me and I didn’t get my damage deposit back (about $300) but it was worth it to have Boston with me.

            I think you have to do what feels right. Was it right for me to lie and be deceitful? Probably not, but it was worth it me in the long run. If you’re not comfortable with that, you might just have to be okay with Meki staying with your parents for now. Whatever you decide, the important think is that Meki is taken care of!


          • MeketatenBun
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              On a bit of a rebel note, LLH, if we end up at our last ditch decision and stay with the apartment complex we’re at now (where we specifically asked the landlord and he said “no exotics” and walked away), I was thinking of smuggling her in. I’d already smuggled her in this past summer for a week (the reason I joined this forum!) when she was sick and my mom was struggling giving her her medication.

              I’d hate that we get caught and I’d have to bring her back across the state, but at the same time the landlord never comes in the house, we are given proper notice of inspections, and the only times we’ve had to call maintenance was when our destructive roommates ripped a closet door off it’s track or too violently flushed the upstairs toilet handle that it needed to be replaced. The one bedrooms we’re looking at have HUGE walk in closets that would be easy enough to hide her hutch in if they never needed to come into the bedroom for something.

              Of course, the thought of getting caught scares me, and I’d probably only sneak her in here since I know how the management and maintenance functions. But long story short, I haven’t quite ruled that out….


            • JackRabbit
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                You could always mention that you have a bunny that is living with your parents and were hopingto find a place that would allow her. If you really want the place you could add that it isn’t a requirement. You could also assume thatvno pets means no pets and that no dogs or cats doesn’t say no bunnies.


              • MeketatenBun
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                  JackRabbit, that is great advice! I generally try to keep questions short during tours because I feel weird asking and not sure how to ask, but if I word it like it’s not a requirement like you said, then I’m genuinely asking. I also laughed at “assume no dogs or cats doesn’t say no bunnies” because technically it’s true. If they didn’t want bunnies, they’d say that in the lease


                • Roberta
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                    Try every single one and be upfront, even the No Pet places. Sometimes they are only referring to cats and dogs and have not given thought to birds, fish or bunnies.


                  • Little Lion Head
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                      Or if you do tell them Meki has a cage for some reason that helps.

                      Just tell them you have a hamster! And when they see Meki tell them it’s a REALLY big hamster!


                    • Sindri
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                        I remember renting and we asked the landlord of a place if pets were allowed and he said no and went on about how cats had ruined the carpets in the house and he had just replaced them. We wanted to get ferrets at the time and asked if they would be okay being they were caged. He agreed to us having them. We only kept them in the cage at bedtime. We didn’t have any problems. There was something to the whole cage thing that can help you out like it did us. I think landlords are more worried about cats and dogs than they are other types of pets.
                        I also like JR’s suggestion. Its a good way to test the waters.


                      • emm_renn
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                          I had some similar issues and will probably have those issues coming up soon. This past summer, a couple of my college friends and I were looking to rent an apartment together and I was really wanting a rabbit as soon as I moved in. Most of the places I found that allowed pets were okay with small animals as long as they were “caged”. The place we ended up moving into allowed all types of animals but for some reason not rabbits. I guess the landlord had a thing against rabbits and said farm animals were not allowed. *begins to rant* What even is considered a farm animal??? Dogs are farm animals to herd sheep and other livestock, cats are farm animals to chase away mice.

                          Anyway… like other members here said, I smuggled in my rabbit because my roommate decided to smuggle in a cat. Luckily for me though, we had a change in management and the new management said yes to rabbits. So I was in the clear… I think… I would say smuggle your rabbit and if you get caught, just say you were rabbit sitting for a friend. I know I couldn’t live with out having Fuji with me.


                        • MoxieMeadows
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                            LLH—we went through a similar situation at our last place. We just never mentioned getting a rabbit (oops) because we knew we were moving soon. The landlords were horrible though, sometimes popping in without telling us to “inspect”(which is a big no-no in this state). They also were not particularly friendly/nice people. We considered suing them before we moved because of them breaking the law/not maintaining the house in living order like they were supposed to (Our chimney was leaky so it started getting moldy!) but we decided to just leave. But, I never got caught. We own this new place now, and I could get as many bunnies as I wanted.
                            But I wouldn’t recommend the smuggling of the bun because it can be very stressful and dangerous if they find out and you need to rehome your bun.


                          • Stickerbunny
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                              Something to remember when looking at their pet policies – often “no pets” means no cats/dogs/outside of cage pets. However, bunnies are usually conisdered “cage pets”. So, you could ask them specifically about rabbits and if they assume the bun is never out of the cage, well, all the better. My last apartment was “no pet” but he was OK with birds, due to them being “cage pets”.

                              If you try to smuggle, you may end up with maintenance people or inspections around and then you have to hide the bunny and all signs of the bunny at short notice. And neighbors may report you if they notice. Or if there is a gas leak or something that means you HAVE to get out of there fast, you’re caught and then you have to either get rid of bunny fast or get kicked out for violating a lease.


                            • longhairmike
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                                say you have a cage and an x-pen for her,, of course,, after you move in the x-pen will be used to block off electronics from her, not her from the rest of the room. but you could always quick connect it to her cage if there is going to be an inspection


                              • Sarita
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                                  You need to be honest. I always look at this from the landlords point of view because this is their property and you also could put yourself at risk.

                                  Landlords have this policy because of past bad experience with pets ruining their property. Being a landlord in the past I see their point of view concerning this – most people don’t take care of property they don’t own as well as the owners do – not all, but many don’t.


                                • Sindri
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                                    Around here most places don’t take pets and will tell you if you get caught with one you get kicked out. You don’t want to end up on the streets unexpectedly and be in the same situation having to look for a new place again for both you and your rabbit. I do hope you find something that suits both you and your rabbit.


                                  • MeketatenBun
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                                      Yeah I guess you all are right. It’s just such a bummer, especially because I see all the damage my roommate’s intact, not declawed male cat has done to the place we’re currently in. So cats are allowed to be destructive like that, but you can’t make me pay a pet deposit like them for a rabbit that’s confined when I’m not around?

                                      Honestly, I don’t plan on smuggling her. We wouldn’t get kicked out here, but I don’t want to put her through two moves across the state like that. It’s moreso just a rant on how this apartment complex I’m in now is really darn good, but my friend can have a puppy that pees on the carpets daily, and my roommates can have a cat that does this to the door frames at night:

                                      because they’re covered under a $200 + $20/month pet deposit, but I can’t bring my rabbit who is in her play pen unless I’m around to supervise because she’s “exotic”. I’ve asked a few places we’ve looked already ones that said either cats or dogs and cats are allowed, and each of them are all the same: “rabbits are kind of smelly creatures, we’d prefer no rabbits” “rabbits do a lot of damage with their chewing, no we can’t allow that, no”, etc. *points up at cat-destroyed door frame again* *points downstairs to the two litterboxes that haven’t been cleaned in over two weeks*. Don’t tell me my pet is smelly and destructive when you allow other animals that are just as destructive and smelly.

                                      It’s crunch time, now, though. We only have two months before we need to move out. It’s hard enough finding a place that isn’t already rented or in the process of being rented (the past two places I looked, one said they were rented as soon as I said I wanted to apply a few hours later, the other flat out told us a few people already submitted applications and the next day we got a call it was rented). I think it’s time to suck it up and let Meki stay another year with my parents…


                                    • Pomandcourt
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                                        When they said no exotics, did you ask about rabbits? I didn’t realize they were considered “exotic” until I had them and most people without rabbits don’t really think of them at all.

                                        If you’re renting a suite/basement in someone’s home, I think it’s a non starter as some people have severe allergies.

                                        But if you’re renting a condo or an apartment, I would just not tell them until you’re accepted as a tenant. Then ask about the rabbit. Don’t ask during the initial interviews or however it’s conducted.

                                        Say he’s small and stays in his cage and that you’re willing to pay a pet deposit if they have concerns. I’ve helped manage rentals and if the landlord likes and trusts you they’ll often make allowances. Finding a good renter is a pain.

                                        Another option is to wait a few months to show them you’re reliable and then ask. My sister has a new puppy in her apartment. They’re a no pet buidling, but she asked and they said it would be fine. Since you have somewhere for Boston to stay and you plan on being at this place for a while that could work.

                                        Either way, good luck!


                                      • MeketatenBun
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                                          Yeah, unfortunately I asked my current landlord as we were discussing with him the available of 1-bedroom units about a “litterbox trained, caged rabbit” and he said “well it says right in the lease, no exotics are allowed.” And that was after living here for 8 months with no issue in rent or utilities being paid.

                                          I think you’re right though. At this point, we need to focus on finding a place, and once we’re moved in we can do the asking. If they say no, she stays with my parents, and if they say yes, then we can work on moving her up. We have a showing of a place tomorrow that allows cats and dogs…. fingers crossed it’s a nice-looking place


                                        • Sindri
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                                            I wish you luck. I hope its nice!

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                                        Forum THE LOUNGE Moving with a bunny and a rant