No exotics.

[Nerk]

My boyfriend and I are on the look for apartments and we've been having issues. At first I thought maybe his rabbit was a problem since he's so big but we're finding more places against chinchillas mainly for the fact they're exotics.
I've always considered my girls cleaner then the rabbit and over all a better pet.
Does anyone else have this problem?

 

[Donna]

Ya know, Ive always asked them about "caged pets" vs naming the pet. Rarely do they ask further.

We have done that over the years with rats/snakes/even my bird with no real investigation or comments/complaints about them.

 

[Amethyst]

There was a similar thread about renting with chins last year, Renting with a Chinchilla- Tips?. Maybe you could try some of the suggestions there, it seems the biggest issue is that a lot of people don't know what they are so they think they could carry some disease or cause health issues since they are labeled "exotic".

 

[Dreamlite]

I don't ever ask about 'exotics'. The label cause more issues than anything else. I always ask if they are ok with caged pets. Also do not mention play time. Most landlords are fine with a pet who stays in a cage to limit messes, but a pet that roams is a whole different story.

 

[Nerk]

I do only tell them we have cages animals but they're asking what kind. We got one person out of maybe 10 to say they were okay.

 

[Vyxxin]

ICK! While I know real estate is definitely an iffy investment these days...THIS is why I'm SO glad we bought our home. When we did rent it wasn't an issue but that was a decade ago and people are more uptight these days. Even then we really only listed "caged pet" and that was sufficient sorry you're having such an issue, you could perhaps offer to show them your set-up and offer a random (note A) random apartment check to try and calm their nerves?

 

[chins1222]

I think a lot of people might not really know what chinchillas are either! I would not consider them to be "exotics" as you can purchase them in almost any Petstore! Maybe try pointing that out to the landlord and let them know that they are basically like a rabbit or guinea pig, that they live in a cage, are quiet, have basically no odor and do not carry diseases that could be passed onto people(like another poster mentioned don't say anything about floor time or anything like that)
Good luck

Also maybe when u ask if caged animals are ok and they ask what kind maybe try making seem like u don't have any yet!? Like just say something like "I don't know yet, I just figured I'd ask because we've thought about getting some and we were wondering if there were any restrictions" then u can see what they say? If they don't specifically mention chinchillas then u should b in the clear and they probably won't investigate unless they do apartment checks!?

 

[Shenanigans]

When I was living at my college apt (around University of Toledo)-within about a 15 min commute youd be hard pressed to find an apartment that let you have more than a pet fish, if that. (some places even specified a non-predatory or fighting fish, others you couldn't have a thing) Oh and for some reason a bunch of places let you have dogs- as long as they were under a 15 pound limit. And talking would have worked, except its the owners policy and nothing the receptionist could do. But going up to a half hour commute and you could have practically anything. So maybe try an increased area. Ten minutes a day to not worry about a landlord check may be an ok trade off.
around Toledo and SE Michigan, there's so much on craigslist about landlord checks and crap I want my pets specifically allowed in any contract. If you can talk to them and fully explain the pet and get chins specifically in the contract it'd be best. But i understand that's not available some places too, especially bigger complexes that have the contract pre-done. (Also about pets in Toledo, the city no longer prohibits pitbulls but that may have led to mill breeding and more landlord issues. Gah! one step forward and two back)