<p>With everything else you need to transport as well as all of the other things associated with college that will occupy your time, best to leave the pets at home.</p>
<p>I got a French Lop rabbit while I was at Cornell (awhile ago). He was litter trained so I used to let him out in the room while I was around. When the weather was nice I used to put a halter on him and take him out for hop.</p>
<p>My school (UMD) told us all that only fish were allowed in rooms, repeatedly, by the school site, by residency directers etc. It was only before Thanksgiving break that the RA’s said “Anything that lives in an aquarium, with or without water” was actually the rule.</p>
<p>If it matters that much to you, live off campus. I know I would hate it if my roommate brought in an animal with or without asking me (apart from a fish or frog or anything. Basically anything that smells), but I would say it was okay, especially as a freshman because most people try to be polite. But it’s really just inconsiderate to expect people to share a room that small with one more being than they expected (of course with the small tank exceptions). And if it was something that ran around the room at all…it might mysteriously run into the hall one day and never be seen again.
But if it was a suite or apartment, especially with your own room, that’s completely different.</p>
<p>most schools only allow fish in the dorms, which makes sense because of the small space for a freshman double room. (Even if you can bring a pet, please make sure you aren’t intruding your roommate’s space!)</p>
<p>Hey Mom! Glad to see you researching this (although I suspect it’s more due to the fact that you have no interest in taking care of Skip when I’m gone rather than me missing him). </p>
<p>To answer some people’s questions/ respond to their comments:</p>
<p>He can be transferred in a small, portable carrier, similar to those for cats and small dogs. It’s really quite compact and he doesn’t seem to mind it too much. Plus I don’t plan on going to a school more than about 5 hours away so it wouldn’t be too much of a hassle to bring him back and forth with me. </p>
<p>As for giving him TLC/being confined to a small room- the rabbit’s old and small. And doesn’t like to be pet. He’s content to kind of casually hop around and come lick my feet when he feels like it. He’s almost like a cat- he’ll tolerate affection/petting/handling for a short period of time, but could really do without it. And even in our house where he has full run of the first floor he just tends to chill in our family room because he’s not really up to sprinting around like he used to. So I doubt he’d mind being in a dorm room (and as my mother said, he really does love his cage). </p>
<p>And to be honest, he won’t be happy when I leave him. Every time I go away to camp or go on vacation he gets depressed because I’m really the only one in the family who will actually pay attention to him (don’t lie Mom, the only reason you pay attention to the rabbit is when he needs to be fed or have his cage cleaned). So it’d almost be more cruel to leave him at home than to bring him with me.</p>
<p>My school only allows fish but some schools allow small animals. Also, someone told me you can keep your horse at the stables at Purdue, pretty sweet.</p>
<p>It’s been said, but yeah, Eckerd College has a pet dorm. You can have cats and dogs. I used to visit there a lot and I knew someone who lived there…everyone was walking their dogs and stuff, it was super nice. :)</p>
<p>I’ve been specifically looking for pet dorms! I don’t think I can survive without at least some rats if not a dog. (MAYBE some fishies, but…)</p>
<p>Here’s the ones off the top of my head:</p>
<ul>
<li>Stephens College</li>
<li>Eckerd College</li>
<li>Stetson University</li>
<li>Washington and Jefferson</li>
<li>CALTECH</li>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
<li>Wellesley</li>
</ul>
<p>I just saw the pictures of my acquaintance’s new college fish and wanted to make a note here–goldfish are HIGH-MAINTENANCE FISH! They can live for decades and grow to be two feet long. The ones you buy are juveniles, which is why they’re so small. They are very messy fish that produce a lot of ammonia, which in turn poisons them. They also need a lot of space to grow into. Goldfish need at minimum a twenty gallon tank. You might be able to fit two fancy goldfish in that if you really, really committed to changing the water frequently, but multiple fish will do best with at least 15-20 gallons each. They will die very slowly and uncomfortably if you try to keep them in tiny bowls without filters. </p>
<p>If you want a nice, low-maintenance fish, try a betta, who can live in smaller spaces and need, at minimum, only one gallon. They will thrive wonderfully if you give them the full ten gallons usually permitted at a dorm! They’re very pretty, too, and have about four-year lifespans, which makes them less of a commitment. </p>
<p>If you like a little more variety and have more fish experience, there are a lot of aquarium fish that could live in a ten gallon if you put in the time. </p>
<p>Please don’t abuse goldfish just because it’s tradition. And research the care of any pet you might get first! If people Googled goldfish care just once before buying one, a lot fewer animals would die of neglect.</p>
<p>A pet dorm would be fun to visit… but I wouldn’t want to live there! People can hardly take care of themselves around here.</p>
<p>Our dorms allow a fish tank up to 30 gallons. “And the fish must be a fish. No cats named fish. No bunnies named fish.” ect, lol. I have a 8g tank with two fish (including the famous ‘Nemo’ clownfish), a crab, snails, hermits, coral and such.</p>
<p>I can see keeping a cage- or tank-dwelling pet. I can even see taking your horse to board in the university stables. But as a dog lover, I have a little trouble with keeping a dog in the dorm. Of course it would make the student feel better, but what about the dog? They are pack animals who prefer company and are generally very attached to their owners. Would it be fair to the dog when the student is involved in class activities most of the day, eats meals out and socializes or studies out of the dorm room in the evening? I think our family dog would be very forlorn being left alone in a dorm, away from the home and family he is familiar with. I know people will disagree, but it is my opinion that keeping a dog in a dorm is a little bit selfish.</p>
<p>lkf725–a lot of dog-friendly colleges offer some kind of services. I know Stephens has a doggy daycare for students to use, and I’m told Stetson has a dog park right outside the pet dorm and stuff. I think a lower- to mid-energy dog would actually do pretty okay in a dorm, as long as students are putting time into giving them plenty of stimulation and exercise.</p>
<p>I didn’t realize that doggy daycare services were available on campus. I guess I would be okay with that since it would offer socialization and exercise.</p>
<p>I know Stephens has it…not sure about any others. c: There should be! I think it’s a great idea~ </p>
<p>I love the idea of a dog park at Stetson, too.</p>
<p>I have two service dogs, and lkf725 got it exactly right. I retired my older dog (12 years old, and very ready to retire). He couldn’t handle a dorm. He’s a secondary SD, so he does night outings and in home work. He couldn’t handle the schedule of being left in this dorm so much, he became very stressed and I asked my mom if she’d take him. He’ll be with me over breaks when I can hang out with him, but he simply wasn’t happy in a dorm all the time. My primary service dog goes everywhere with me, so it’s a non-issue. But pets can’t go to class or school functions, which means a lot of alone time.</p>
<p>I would love to have a dog in the dorms, but that wold just be unfair to the dog, not to mention severely limiting what schools I could apply to. I’m just going to wait out the first year or two, and have dogs when I move off-campus.</p>
<p>I’m still flabbergasted at the statement that a pet at my school has to “spend all of its time in the water.” Turtles don’t qualify, I had to leave Michelangelo at home. Why not just outright say “fish only.”</p>