# Living in an apartment w/tegu or large monitors?



## boxers1997 (Jul 19, 2014)

I didn't know where else to post this under except general, but I'd like to hear past experiences from living in an apartment with a large monitor or tegu? I plan on moving out in the next 6 months and the apartments I'm looking at is pet friendly, but do you think they'll make you put down a pet fee for having lizard that's lets just say, more than 3ft.
Do you think it would be better to just tell them it's a small reptile because I know some don't mind small animals, but what about when it gets bigger?
I just would like to here some opinions about what I should probably shouldn't do when I go to move. I couldn't find any posts on other forums through google about this so I was hoping I'd have better luck here.


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## Rebecca Stout (Jul 20, 2014)

I would definitely tell them this is a "caged" animal, and not share that the gu will be out and playing each day. Because a lot of them dont' ask for deposits on things that caged like guinea pigs, fish tanks, etc. So assure them the animal will not be out to dig or hurt anything, let alone go to the toilet on the floor. I'd be honest with them about the size she will get. Because it's going to be a holy mess when she grows and they get bothered by it. And they will see it. Apartment management and repair people go in while you are gone a lot. I dont care if they say they dont. Many do. A repair guy will eventually have to come in anyway. You also have to worry about another neighbor being a jerk and wants to hurt you or if one freaks out and complains. People just don't understand and they get very scared. You will pay out the BUTT if you are asked to leave ya know? So thats why I'd be honest about the size. Of course you could down play it by saying half of it is a long skinny tail, tell them they get to some poundage (on the low end, I guess you could say in the teens? Not sure). In any case. I've always been honest to avert trouble. I introduced the managers to every pet I was getting and I had large snakes! As long as something is in a cage, I've not been asked for a fee. That said ... its been along time since I rented. And someone told me one place they went to was counting their hamster. Ugh. 
I think Animal Planet has a list of best lizard or reptile pets. They actually list a tegu as number 3 or 4!! They don't even list an iquana. People like iquana's so that carries a little weight. if you get a tegu, you can point out that iquana's get larger! Maybe it's be helpful to print that off (other places on the web have them linked that high as well) and to have on hand in case you need it. Is your gu social? Really calm and nice? If your gu is really really tame, then it would be good to introduce them to the manager after you talk and apply for the apartment so they can see how sweet it is.


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## Legion6789 (Jul 24, 2014)

I have a tegu in an apartment. From a policy perspective it hasn't been a problem. Management is aware of it from entering my apartment and seeing the giant enclosure in the living room. They've only expressed curiosity the way anyone does when they see my tegu. However, I'm in Toronto and we have a bylaw that prevents landlords from banning pets in rental units.

The only practical issues I've run into is when I've needed to bring up materials in the elevator to build her enclosure. We had to cut the 8' x 4' sheets of melamine in the parking garage to fit them in the elevator. Changing her substrate was also a pain as it involved filling 5 gallon buckets with dirt, taking them down the elevator and dumping them in the back of my friend's truck. Basically, elevators are no fun.


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## Peasley (Jul 29, 2014)

In my experience, the permission to have any reptile, from geckos, tortoises to snakes or large lizards, rests solely on the shoulders of the particular landlord/person/manager. I rented a house in which anything was allowed a few years back, and acquired a very cool collection of tortoises, and snakes. I was allowed to take all my tortoises into our (I am married with a child) new apartment, but had to re-home my snakes. I have a Leopard, hermann's and a group of four cherry headed torts, but had to re-home my red-tail boa, small group of ball pythons, and my beautiful red-blood python. The reason was not because they were snakes in particular, but a peculiar addendum stating that under no circumstance could the land or building being rented would be used in any business purposes in any manner. To sum it up, my landlord thought I was going to try to make money by breeding the balls, and did not want any business being conducted on his property for monetary reasons. He is totally cool with the gu's, however, even after I explained the enclosure details and the adult size of the animals, AND the fact that they were male and female, but would be housed separately. To be honest, I think the larger snakes sort of weirded him out a bit, but that is my own humble opinion. The circumstance varies by the manager's rules and regulations, but as stated above, as long as the animals are "caged" properly, there is minimal issue with reptiles, provided you are one hundred percent sure you have the space for them to THRIVE in.


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## chixwithtrix (Jul 29, 2014)

I am moving into a new apartment and was up front that I would have 4 lizards. I described them as caged animals...most landlords are interested in dogs and cats. Lizards don't shed and make no noise so they aren't really on their radar for the most part.


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