Dragons in the Vents

 There is a lot to be concerned about when exotic pets are concerned - the health and safety of humans and animals being one key consideration.  That being said, for every person I've met who has been hopelessly blase about the risks of their animals, I've met at least one other who has had a ridiculously overblown reaction.

Years ago, I was changing jobs and was looking for a new apartment.  I found one that I liked, with good amenities, a decent location, and a good cost, and was about to sign the paperwork.  When they asked if I had cats or dogs, I said no.  I did tell them that I had a few (small, harmless) lizards.  Suddenly, the wheels were off the conversation.

They were apologetic but firm, but lizards were strictly forbidden.  And not under some sort of blanket statement about pets.  Like, they were singled out.  I was baffled.  I'd never heard of such a rule.  Sure, snakes have a stigma, and I've heard of some apartments that have concerns about fish, because of the possibility of tanks overflowing and water getting everywhere, but a leopard gecko?  It's basically a goldfish without the water.  At my last apartment, one of the maintenance guys told me that mine was the only apartment that he ever liked getting calls to, especially when he came while I was away at work.  He'd just do the job, then sit and watch the lizards for a bit.  So what was the holdup?

I was told that their concern was that the lizards would get loose and enter the vents of the apartments.  What they would do when they got there, besides presumably die, was beyond me.   It seemed like a weirdly specific phobia, but they were so... earnest in their dread about it.  I called my way up the company's chain of command.   I spent a long time patently negotiating, offering a deposit (vent deposit?), letters of reference from other apartments to confirm that they were never a problem, etc.  No dice.  Lizards apparently equaled vent vermin.

And so, with some disappointment (and a little dread, because I was down to the clock looking for a new place), I withdrew my application.  Thankfully, I found a place just a block or two away in which the lizards were welcome.  For as long as I lived there, whenever I took one of them out for cleaning or an exam, I'd sometimes see them cock their heads and look at something, and I'd wonder - are they going to make a break for the vents?