Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all -

This is my first real post here after being a long time lurker. I'm still relatively new to the herper scene - almost 3 years now.

I had a question. My collection is getting pretty extensive and I have afew high end morphs. I am also located in a city with a very, very good and reputable (but extremely expensive) reptile veterinarian, John Rossi.

My question is - Who, if anyone, do you guys with the large collections, or even small high end ones, use for pet insurance? I have only found ONE american pet insurance company that offers reptile insurance, and its only for select procedures at a vet's office (petinsurance.com). Most everything else is located in the UK. I am looking for something that encompasses vet bills and mortality, if that even exists.

Thoughts? Input? Comments? Suggestions?

Thanks so much

Leigh

You are SOL on that one. As far as I know, there really are no insurance companies that offer (hassle free) reptile insurance.
-----
www.strictlyballs.ca

LOL not going to happen what ever you do don't let homeowners know about them you will be dropped.
-----
Vince Pramuk []__[]

Your not kidding, I asked about a separate policy for my snakes and I was put on hold and then a few minutes later was told they could no longer cover me period. I got a refund ck in the mail 2 weeks later they dropped me on the spot. It is a they do not ask you do not tell. Funny thing was I asked them if I had not said anything about the snakes and something happened would I been covered they said no even though there is nothing in the policy about snakes. Go figure.

Rather Descriminatory,for such a free country,and since insurance is manditory for loaner protection.thats not fair!anything with a mouth can bite but they are harmless in pet non venomous as far as fobia scares im more affraid of a flying cockroach lol!

same exact thing happened to me. i was put on hold after asking. a few minutes later, they got back on and after 12 years of service, said "sorry, we cannot insure your animals, and uh actually, we need to cancell your entire policy with us. i argued my case, eventually asking how many dog bites vs snake bites do they have to deal with per year, only to have them hang up on me.

state farm.

Wow, both of those stories are unbelievable.

I can't believe that. Wow.

Like i said, I found one insurance company that covers veterinary costs, for an average of $20 per month per snake, but that's it. It doesn't cover mortality and the vet costs are only covered up to a very miniscule amount.

Seems the UK has MUCH better service as far as this goes...Hmm.
-----
The Original Snakechaarmer
}:{..}:{..}:{..}:{..

5.4 "Normal" Royal Pythons
0.1 Pastel Royal Python
1.0 Striped Mojave Royal Python

1.1 Anery Columbian Red-Tail Boas
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.1 Columbian Rainbow Boas
1.0 Anery Corn Snake
0.1 Anery Kenyan Sand Boa

I don`t think it has anything to do with the biting factor.
I think it has more to do with the fire risks we incur with
heating our cages.

I asked why and was told"they can harm small children and that makes them a liability" I laughed and told her there was no way the type snakes I had could or would harm anyone but a mouse. And she was adamint that they can and would. I told her it was not my job to educate someone stupid about snakes. Unreal is all I have to say.

I've never looked into insuring reptiles, but I've had plenty of experiance dealing with insurance on my horses. IMO, even if I could insure my snakes I wouldn't. I used to have my horses insured for major medical/surgical coverage, and it turned into more of a hassel than it was worth. At least with the horses, it is next to impossible to get the companies to pay out, and the insurance is so pricey that it doesn't make sense for multiple animals. It makes more sense to put away what I would spend in premiums in a savings account. If you think about it, it's unlikely that all your animals will need veterinary treatment at the same time. Just put what you would spend in insurance in the bank, and it'll probably cover most treatments.

Even mortality coverage isn't all that great since the companies get really picky about when they'll pay out. Like, if I ever decide that euthanasia is more humane that surgery, my loss isn't covered since I didn't exhaust every treatment option.

I know this was a little off topic, but I'm sure if a company ever did decide to insure reptiles it would work much the same as insurance on other animals. It seems like a good idea, but it never works out that way.

Hope this helps,
Shelly

>>Wow, both of those stories are unbelievable.
>>
>>I can't believe that. Wow.
>>
>>Like i said, I found one insurance company that covers veterinary costs, for an average of $20 per month per snake, but that's it. It doesn't cover mortality and the vet costs are only covered up to a very miniscule amount.
>>
>>Seems the UK has MUCH better service as far as this goes...Hmm.
>>-----
>>The Original Snakechaarmer
>>}:{..}:{..}:{..}:{..
>>
>>5.4 "Normal" Royal Pythons
>>0.1 Pastel Royal Python
>>1.0 Striped Mojave Royal Python
>>
>>1.1 Anery Columbian Red-Tail Boas
>>1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
>>1.1 Columbian Rainbow Boas
>>1.0 Anery Corn Snake
>>0.1 Anery Kenyan Sand Boa

You're exactly right about that. I too have horses and I have a pretty expensive foal hitting the ground in April. I have been researching and asking friends about their experiences with their respective insurance companies. Some are positive, most are a bit on the negative side.

My point being was that...Youre probably right about putting stuff away in a savings account, but i was mostly concerned with the mortality issue..
Some of the people on here have to have collections numbering in the hundreds of thousands of dollars level, and they HAVE to have some kind of safe guard or insurance - don't they? I dont know.

The only thing I can think of is to move to the UK where the reptile insurance is awesome - LoL. Over here I've done about as much research as I can into the subject and Ive only come to find its impossible, or even better you're in trouble if you tell your current homeowner or renters insurance about your pets.

What a crock. Ive never heard of someone getting sued over a snake bite in a house. Every week I hear about dog bites.

Bah!
-----
The Original Snakechaarmer
}:{..}:{..}:{..}:{..

5.4 "Normal" Royal Pythons
0.1 Pastel Royal Python
1.0 Striped Mojave Royal Python

1.1 Anery Columbian Red-Tail Boas
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.1 Columbian Rainbow Boas
1.0 Anery Corn Snake
0.1 Anery Kenyan Sand Boa

Mortality insurance would be nice, but I think the only way you could recoup the expense would be if you lost all of your collection (or at least a big chunk of it). Hopefully that doesn't happen.

I have a friend who imports and trains polo ponies, and he doesn't have mortality insurance on any of them. He usually owns between 50 to 100 horses and ranging in value from $10k - $40k. The premiums would eat him alive - he would have to lose 3 or 4 horses a year to make it worth it. Not to mention that if you're buying and selling regularly the paperwork would be a mess. He's just banking on the fact that losses are pretty infrequent, and he can write them off when they happen.

The only thing that I can think of that would work (and I don't think any companies will do it) would be something that just covered the collection as a whole for X amount and not individual animals. It would have to be similar to what's done with herds of livestock. If you could do it that way, you'd still have the issue of it only covering a major loss, though.

Sorry about the horsey references again. That's just the closest thing I can think of to relate it to. By the way, what kind of horses do you have? I have eventers and dressage horses. And, your friends are right. The vast majority of equine insurance is pretty lousy. I haven't heard very many good things about any company. I have my horses listed on my farm policy, so they're covered if they get hit by lightning (I live in FL so that's a realistic possibility) or suddenly drop dead but thats about it. They're not covered if I have to euthanize them.

Hope this helps,
Shelly

I live in Florida too, up in Jacksonville currently.

I have a 30 something year old ex-hunter Morgan gelding, a 10 year old anhidrotic Palomino QH that I am trying desperately to sell to some northern state that will have mercy on his poor soul, and I have a PerchxTb American Warmblood baby on the way in April. I primarily do show hunters and actual foxhunting, but sometimes play around in cross country too
-----
The Original Snakechaarmer
}:{..}:{..}:{..}:{..

5.4 "Normal" Royal Pythons
0.1 Pastel Royal Python
1.0 Striped Mojave Royal Python

1.1 Anery Columbian Red-Tail Boas
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.1 Columbian Rainbow Boas
1.0 Anery Corn Snake
0.1 Anery Kenyan Sand Boa

Cool! I live down near Tampa. I have a 14yr old Morab - she's retired (bone spurs) but she was my upper level dressage horse, a TB mare and her Appendix QH daughter, and my 3yr old POAxTB. The pony is (surprisingly) the most atheletic one in the bunch and has developed the interesting habit of jumping the pasture fence (he can do it from a standstill). Now I just have to wait for him to grow up. I can't wait to get him on a cross country course .

Good luck with your warmblood baby. Babys are so much fun! You'll have to post pictures once it's born.

Sure thing!

I *love* Morabs. I always said one day that I was going to breed those. I love my morgan more than anything in the universe, and combined with an Arab? yum! Id love to see a pic of her
-----
The Original Snakechaarmer
}:{..}:{..}:{..}:{..

5.4 "Normal" Royal Pythons
0.1 Pastel Royal Python
1.0 Striped Mojave Royal Python

1.1 Anery Columbian Red-Tail Boas
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
1.1 Columbian Rainbow Boas
1.0 Anery Corn Snake
0.1 Anery Kenyan Sand Boa

Yep, Morabs rock! I love Morgans, too, and the added Arab blood makes them really sensitive. It's like driving a really nice sportscar, lol. Rose has been the best horse. She was my 4th level dressage horse, she would jump anything, play polo, work cattle, and pony my young horses. I'll have to take some pictures for you. My old computer just crashed and I lost everything on the hard drive so I don't have any right now. What's your email address?

its snakechaarmer@gmail.com

looking forward to them!
-----
The Original Snakechaarmer
}:{..}:{..}:{..}:{..

4.5 "Normal" Royal Pythons( Girls - Kalika,Lydia,Gwenivere, Ophelia, and Poe Boys - Adrian, Adam, Gavin, Octavio)
1.0 Pastel Royal Python (Lukas)
0.1 Striped Mojave Royal Python (Nova)

1.1 Anery Columbian Red-Tail Boas (Rajah & Taja)
0.1 Brazilian Rainbow Boa (Maharet)
1.1 Columbian Rainbow Boas (Marius & Mekare)
0.1 Anery Corn Snake (Avaia)
1.0 Anery Kenyan Sand Boa (Orion)