It is frequently emphasized by our beloved university that we are only allowed to keep pet fish in our dorm rooms. However, some sneaky students bring illicit pets into their residence halls. We talked to a few of them under the condition of anonymity — for the safety of their pets, of course — about how they manage to keep their animals a secret.

CAS sophomore

Two parakeets, Fox and Falco

Why did you choose parakeets as your pets?

I was having a rough time with pressure from the city and I got them, so every day I would wake up to them singing which got me through each day.

What were your biggest concerns with them?

Not being able to love them to my fullest every day. They are dead now.

I mean what are your biggest concern in terms of being caught?

Oh, none. [I] had a good hiding place for them. Our dorm was always a mess with everything on the floor, so all it would take was to take a pile of clothes and toss them on top of the cage.

GLS sophomore

Two hamsters, Chad and MatzoBall

Why did you choose these pets?

Because they were free on an online sale, and me and my roommate ordered them not believing that we would get them. But we did.

Were you ever concerned that you would be caught by your Residence Assistant?

Not really. Our RA was our homie. We eventually did get rid of them though — they kept rolling in their cage wheel all night, which made lots of noise.

CAS junior

A turtle named Leonardo

Why did you choose a turtle?

We wanted to have a pet that did not make a lot of noise and that would not be distracting.

Why did you get a pet at all then?

It was my roommate’s idea really. I thought it was impulsive, but I was feeling whatever about it.

Were you ever concerned that your RA would find out?

No, since turtles make zero noise and our RA never came into our room once the entire year.

Where is Leo now?

We gave him away.

Gallatin sophomore

A small bunny named Mr. Snuff

Why and how did you get a bunny?

I live in Brooklyn, so Mr. Snuff was already mine from Christmas. So one day, I brought him over for a weekend and decided to have him live in the dorm for a while.

Were you ever afraid of your RA catching you?

Well our RA actually did catch me. I am 100 percent sure that someone on the floor told her, since Mr. Snuff never made any noise.

And what happened?

Actually, she was really excited and played with her and told us to make sure not to tell many other people or it was going to get taken away. She played with him a couple of times throughout that semester, but I did eventually bring him back home since school was getting to be too busy to have to go back to check up on him between classes when my roommates weren’t home.

Tisch sophomore

A gecko named Blaze

Why did you get a gecko?

I originally wanted to have a snake, but my roommate refused to have any sort of snake but was OK with getting Blaze. I really wanted one to just have something live to look at while I did work in my room. Mostly for motivation to do anything since I tend to actually do stuff if I feel someone looking at me or judging me. And that’s it what Blaze is for.

Were you ever afraid that your RA was going to find out?

Yeah, I was pretty paranoid that he would find out. I didn’t want to have him taken away.

Where is Blaze now?

I gave him to one of my friends last semester for that reason of not wanting to get in trouble. He told me he died out of nowhere, but I seriously think it is because he forgot to feed him or something.

A version of this article appeared in the Monday, Nov. 4 print edition. Email Adryan Barlia at [email protected].