Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ive kept and bred snakes most of my life. has anyone got any homeowners insurance nightmare stories?? i'd like to get back into it on a small scale and get a pair of eastern diamonbacks , but after reading a bit on insurance cancellations , i'm having doubts on getting them..i know how to keep snakes secure and all and am very safety concience... my concern is something else could happen totally unrelated , they find out i have the rattlers , and cancel my insurance.. any stories???????

I just heard very recently about someone who was refused home insurance because they had a ball python,nothing else,just a ball python. Apparently some insurance companies are trying to dump some of their customers and I guess a snake is a good a reason as any. We all know how lethal ball pythons are,lol. A friend of mine rented a basement apartment in his brother's house and when the isurance co.found out about his herps,they freaked and wanted a higher premium and bars on all the windows,etc. He had some tegus,colubrids and a few copperheads. They backed off when he got rid of the copperheads,but it was a major hassle for a while.I heard that some insurance companies consider herps to be an "undisclosed fire hazard" or words to that effect. This appears to be another issue that herpers are going to have to deal with on,top of everything else. Whoever thought that pursuing an interest would get so complicated. Good Luck, Grant

... ... ... bars on the windows?

evil snake: Ha! I have made my escape! Now on to the elementary school where I shall glory in the blood of the innocent.

insurance person: Not so fast! You'll never get past these vertical metal slats! You won't be able to pile claims up against us so fast NOW, will you?

evil snake: Curses! You have me this time! But you won't be so lucky again!

i've heard some stories lately of insurance company's cancelling over non-venomous snakes.. ( absured )there are alot of insurance company's out there and i'm sure alot of them are'nt that rediculous.. but i'm sure there are alot of them that would cringe at the tought of a venomous snake , much less several of them. if it was'nt written in the clause, perhaps they could come up with another reason to cancel.
i've had snakes all my life and never had an issue with it , but then again , i doubt my insurance company knows about it. i have no venoumous ones now , but that is where my main interest lies. perhaps i'll have to be content with viewing them in the wild...

Check out the most recent issue of Reptiles magazine for a good article on insurance and herps.

i use to subscribe to reptile magazine, but don't anymore... was the article like a warning to snake owners??

I wouldn't consider it a warning, it is written by somebody who has experience with the both insurance industry and herps. It's a good overview of all aspects of insurance and herps, including liability, theft coverage, etc.