Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My wife and I are planning on buying a house in the next few months and I am looking to get some kind of coverage for my ball pythons as part of the homeowners insurance. I called a company in the current issue of Reptiles Magazine and they actually tried to discourage me from keeping snakes as pets. They told me we would be in a "high risk" group along with people who own pit bulls, rottweilers and venomous snakes. I was told for a few extra thousand dollars a month they could possibly underwrite me a policy. Any help would be appreciated and getting rid of the snakes is NOT an option. Thanks!

I would think that people with pit-bulls and venomenous snakes would need LIABILITY insurance whereas with a harmless, truely harmless, ball python you might inquirer about loss or stolen which entails a simple question to the insurance company- do they cover pets under your homeowners fire/theft policy. If they do, then something happens (death, theft, etc) you should be covered after a deductible (blah). For one ball I don't see the need to have any insurance because deductables will be at least $100-500.

I'd be interested to hear from some of the major breeders and how they insure their stock. I know it is not uncommon to have 100's of breeders which can range from $100-$500 a piece. We're talking about a $50,000 to $150,000 loss in animals from a single tradegic fire/theft. hmmm...

Good luck

say "pets" when you call them back. Drop the reptile thing, you will be descriminated against again. It might just come down to the ignorant company not have a venomenous/nonvenomenous distinction and they just group all snakes together.

If they ask you have to tell but if they don't ask, give them a hypothetical like a cat or fish (work with me here) and just ask what happens if they are lost in fire or theft. That is the kind of insurance you wanted right?

it should be covered by regular insurance as long as you dont have an over abundance of them (like those cat ladies)...im thinking 1-3 would be covered but not more than that.