# reptiles in a babys room



## solidius (Aug 15, 2006)

Hope this doesnt sound like a odd question . me and my partner live in a 2 bed flat we have a couple snakes in living room and a 4 ft viv in our spare bedroom which houses 4 leo's.

We want to start a family soon but my partner has concerns about keeping the geckos in the babys room.(in a vivarium )

Live food is not a issue as they are on a meal worm diet and the tank is locked and live food kept away .

Is there any health problems or reason why this is a bad thing to do as we would both rather not get rid of the geckos but if needs must 

Advise people


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## cubeykc (Aug 8, 2008)

i can see it being a problem but leos are most active at night


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## sparkle (Mar 21, 2007)

i just wouldnt...
they can be noisy at night.. barking etc


can u not keep the leos in your own bedroom

or the living room

I have 9 crested geckos 2 bearded dragons.. 2 water dragons 3 snakes and none are in my kids room


i dont have a huge house its a 2 bedroom bungalow..


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## llama_girl (Jul 6, 2008)

cubeykc said:


> i can see it being a problem but leos are most active at night


I'm sure some mums would tell you to tell them their babies should be asleep at night 
but seriously...I was wondering this too...


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## Flutterbye (May 14, 2008)

Really, i don't think there is a problem as long as all electrics/heating are safe and the Gecko's are cleaned out frequently. Saying this, knowing maternal instincts etc, i still wouldn't be happy about them being kept in the same room as a newborn. Is there absolutely no where else you can keep them? Possible buy a stand and have them in the living room? or your bedroom?


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## solidius (Aug 15, 2006)

sparkle said:


> i just wouldnt...
> they can be noisy at night.. barking etc



Barking ? since when ive never heard this ?


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## Nebbz (Jan 27, 2008)

never heard my leos when i had them at night and i wake up with the stupidest of noises :S

dont see it being a problem, its not like there cats and dogs, and roll around in god knows what


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## Faith (May 17, 2007)

As a mum of 2 there is no way any animal is kept in the kids rooms especially when they are babies, im the sort of person who wont have any animal in the bedroom.

We keep lots of leos and not one of them are in bedrooms, why not down size the viv and keep them in the living room?


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## Pliskens_Chains (Jun 8, 2008)

im a mum of 4 and although i love my reptiles and dogs theres no way they are allowed in my sons bedrooms.

move them to the lounge or your own bedroom, you will be happier and there is absolutely no chance of anything in the babies room coming into contact with reptile waste or shed skin......things that are potentially harmful to a newborn.


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## milly (Dec 25, 2007)

i tell you who would have a problem, the health visitor as they like to see where the baby will be sleeping and believe me the will not approve i had snakes in my front room and the health visitor freaked right out and started going on about germs and stuff. its really not worth the hassle just put them in a different room. and what will happen when that baby grows up and can climb out its cot what you gonna do when it comes in your room with a gecko in its hands?


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## Marinam2 (Sep 4, 2007)

I'm planning to do the very same thing. Convert my secondary bedroom in to a Nursery/rep room/office!!

Marina


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## beege_3 (May 20, 2005)

I'm a dad to a 19month old and have to agree with whats been said previously. Health visitors and even at first midwives won't look on geckos, or any other reptiles being kept near the baby. The simple fact is, reps can carry salmonella.. (I think its when they are breeding, but not 100% sure) and i've heard of a few peoples kids getting ill after they have been handling the geckos, and not washing their hands.

I keep our geckos in the dining room, to which the door is ALWAYS closed. Purely on the precaution that I have mealies in a reachable place and I dont want an infestation! :lol:


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## pam b (Mar 3, 2005)

I'm of the opinion that if vivs are required to be in bedrooms at all they should be in adult bedrooms and not childrens/babies.
Its the adults making the desicion so put it on your own room and not inflict it on someone who hasnt got vote on the matter anyhow.
How selfish:whistling2::lol2:


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## Caz (May 24, 2007)

Health visitor wont like it. Big no no.

Noise wont be an issue - babies like some noise, makes them feel secure.

Movement will be a distraction though.

They don't 'carry' salmonella but their poo may contain it in the same way that most animals poo does.

Dust from the substrate etc wont be good.

I'd worry about the electrics/fire risk.

I personally wouldn't.


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## pearl (Jul 11, 2008)

I agree with the other posts it's a big no no, Im an nvq assessor & one of my areas is health and safety & my friend is a health visitor so I asked her & she said it would be a serious issue. 
As for the fire risk I don't think there is any more risk with a vivarium than the other things in a nursury ie baby monitor, night light ect


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## repkid (Nov 30, 2007)

Im a kid and I keep them in my room :lol2:. But then they are mine.

Anyway I wouldn't of thought it's a good idea due to salmonella etc.


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## sparkle (Mar 21, 2007)

solidius said:


> Barking ? since when ive never heard this ?


 
when leos are breeding they can be quite noisy.. and some people have leos who DO bark and make noises... some dont..

I had one that was very vocal and 5 that werent


anyway i just feel whats the genuine plus of having leos in a babies room..

I cant think on ONE good reason really..

if they HAVE to be kept in bedrooms then the adult should have them in theirs.. simple


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## pearl (Jul 11, 2008)

just a thought if it's floor space you are short of instead of having a 4ft long tank why dont you change it for a narrower but taller one, i have a tank with a perspex shelf half way up for my snake with holes cut in for access, not only doe's it give the snake more room it is nice to see them clearly and it's cleaner for feeding.


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## Mbar (Aug 12, 2007)

Would the baby fit into an exo terra? :mf_dribble:


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## Faith (May 17, 2007)

pearl said:


> just a thought if it's floor space you are short of instead of having a 4ft long tank why dont you change it for a narrower but taller one, i have a tank with a perspex shelf half way up for my snake with holes cut in for access, not only doe's it give the snake more room it is nice to see them clearly and it's cleaner for feeding.


Because Leos are not aboral?


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## crazyg (Feb 3, 2008)

but wont a new born baby be in the same room as you ???????

mine is you get advised to keep it in your room till there six mths
plus it feeds every 4 hours


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## Spider Call (Mar 23, 2007)

Well... With people about saying health visitors not liking it XD 
They also probably did not like the fact mum let the cat sleep IN our cots with us when we were babies.
We have pictures of her under the covers next to us with her head on our pillows <_<

A leo in a tank is far cleaner than a cat in a cot, and personally I do not see a problem as long as the cage is kept clean, and a dust free substrate is used.

We were not allowed furry pets in our rooms until I was around 11, but that was because of Asthma.
However when the cats nearly killed a slow worm when I was about 5, I had it as a pet for a few months while it got back to health.
That was allowed in my room, cause it was not dusty and was kept clean.

-shrug- I know someone who kept a baby leo in her room, and her baby slept in her room too. 
They had had no problems..... The leo died though ; ; 
But the toddler loves our snake and tarantulas and stuff... You just have to make sure it has a lock that he/she can't reach.


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## pearl (Jul 11, 2008)

sorry faith my bad i don't know to much aboiut leos and thought they were climbers


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## Faith (May 17, 2007)

pearl said:


> sorry faith my bad i don't know to much aboiut leos and thought they were climbers


Nope we would have loads more space if they were lol and my living room wouldnt resemble a zoo lol


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## fantapants (Jan 4, 2008)

Iwas refused a homebirth as i had a smallsnake stack in my bedroom. Only when i had got it moved into the didning room was i allowed to have my daughter athome. And in hindsight, it was the correct decision by the health authority. The fact that most people dont get their animals fecal samples done regularly and that reptiles can harbour crypto, salmonella and other germs is a good enough reason to keep them WELL away from a newborns bedroom. Dont forget that when you have had no sleep is the perfect time to get forgetfull and lax with handwashing and hygiene. I have 4 kids, its tough as hell.

Also, my 8 year old sone kept his very much loved leopard geckos in his bedroom. He cleaned them out every day and looked after them better than most adults would. After a few months of them being in his room he started having breathing problems and developed a rash. A few trips to the doctor and some allergy testing later, it turns out he has developed an allergy to the geckos and the nutrobal. The dermatolgist and asthma nurse says that the constant irritation from the geckos has encouraged an allergy to develop and triggered his asthma. there was no way to predict that this would happen, but thats enough reason for anybody not to keep animals in the bedroom. My son has had to sell his geckos and is only just getting in control of his breathing difficulties. His rash cleared up within a few days of the geckos going.


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## Trinacham (Sep 17, 2007)

sparkle said:


> i just wouldnt...
> they can be noisy at night.. barking etc


Don't babies sleep through noise?


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## pam b (Mar 3, 2005)

Trinacham said:


> Don't babies sleep through noise?


 oh that that old chestnut were true.:rotfl:


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## Trinacham (Sep 17, 2007)

:lol2: I dunno, never had a baby.


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## vetdebbie (Jan 4, 2008)

Mbar said:


> Would the baby fit into an exo terra? :mf_dribble:


Gosh, are you implying babies DON'T fit into exoterras?mg: I won't be having any of them, then!!


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## Mbar (Aug 12, 2007)

> Gosh, are you implying babies DON'T fit into exoterras?mg: I won't be having any of them, then!!


What babies or exo's? 

Actually it would be safer inside an exo as any spare crickets would be out in no time and snacking on the little cherubs nose :whistling2:


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## solidius (Aug 15, 2006)

You know i dont know why i asked this question on these boards some of the answers i half expected but jeeze people judge way to quick.

It was a what if question and i think many people missread the post how can i possibly downsize 4 leos in a tank from a 4ft to anything smaller be realistic .

I wanted to find out if there was any health reason so before u all start calling health inspectors chill out.

I would rather sell the leo's than sacrifice a childs health sometimes u have to sacrifice things for greater good as much as i love my leos i would be sad to sell them .


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## solidius (Aug 15, 2006)

im not trying to jusify keeping reps in room as a child but some people have said a load of bull .

right child getting hold of reps there is such a thing as viv locks all mine have this .

Salmonella fair enough can be on reps but unless it travels in the air how the hell can it get on or near a baby in a locked tank so all the people who have viv in living room are at health risk there.?

And if u dont wash hands after handling reps or in genral then you shouldnt have reps to start with .

And fire hazard? the difference of a tank causing any more damage than all the other electrical appliances we have in our homes kettle fridge though not in same room are we to say u will never have electrics in a childs room .

Its like the mad people who turning things off by mains power incase they catch fire but somehow we all trust the fridge and the freezer lol funn that 


I can understand the health visitor angle asits their job to make sure of things like that and i dsont think they would buy into how clean u keep it etc thats the only valid point in this whole thread.

But some of the other stuff is just made up stuff that doesnt make any real sense


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## sparkle (Mar 21, 2007)

Why cant you keep them in your own bedroom or did i miss that>>>

just a thought


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## sparkle (Mar 21, 2007)

Trinacham said:


> :lol2: I dunno, never had a baby.


 
:2thumb: boy you can tell..

i have had 2.. and trust me sneaking around not making a noise after trying to get them to sleep for hours only to be ruined by a naughty leo..

id be fuming LOL


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## pam b (Mar 3, 2005)

sparkle said:


> Why cant you keep them in your own bedroom or did i miss that>>>
> 
> just a thought


One i've been thinking as well.


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## solidius (Aug 15, 2006)

If i could keep them in any other room what would be the sense in asking this question ?:whistling2:


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## pam b (Mar 3, 2005)

solidius said:


> If i could keep them in any other room what would be the sense in asking this question ?:whistling2:


 Well you have your answers, do with them as you please:whistling2:


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## Faith (May 17, 2007)

solidius said:


> You know i dont know why i asked this question on these boards some of the answers i half expected but jeeze people judge way to quick.
> 
> It was a what if question and i think many people missread the post how can i possibly downsize 4 leos in a tank from a 4ft to anything smaller be realistic .
> 
> ...


Erm we managed to keep over 100 reps in our house and not one is in a bedroom.
We have mostly leos so im not sure about your point. Why not move it around and put them in the living room?


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## tinkrebel (Dec 29, 2007)

solidius said:


> I can understand the health visitor angle asits their job to make sure of things like that and i dsont think they would buy into how clean u keep it etc thats the only valid point in this whole thread.


I've kept reptiles for 15 years, and have 3 children (15, 11 and 1) I've never had a health visitor question me about the reptiles or tell me that they were unsafe. I've also never had a health visitor ask to see where the baby was sleeping (different health visitor each time as well).

I did have a midwife who said she couldn't attend a home birth for me, because of the snakes (she had a phobia) but would be able to get another one to do it with no problem, so again there appeared to be no problem with health issues.

I don't see that having reptiles is any more of a risk than having domestic pets, but I personally wouldn't keep reptiles in a child's room purely because of a child curiousity and probably wanting to play with them. 

I do know that guidelines recommend keeping the baby in your room until it is 6 months old, so perhaps you could do that, and give yourself time to work out other possibilities.


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## sparkle (Mar 21, 2007)

solidius said:


> If i could keep them in any other room what would be the sense in asking this question ?:whistling2:


 
so you cant keep them in any other room but your babies.. why??

the hubby said no... you have red carpet... you cant be bothered moving furniture>> without us knowing why you seem very selfish

well youve heard what people have said..

and since it wasnt what you wanted to hear then theres not much point in continuing the thread..

as I have said I wanted to know WHY you couldnt keep them in your room.. since you asked the questions and wanted answers initially its only normal for the people replying to ask you questions so they can give more informed answers .. seems you dont like that part of a forum .........


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## solidius (Aug 15, 2006)

sparkle said:


> so you cant keep them in any other room but your babies.. why??
> 
> the hubby said no... you have red carpet... you cant be bothered moving furniture>> without us knowing why you seem very selfish
> 
> ...



i dont have the space in other rooms simple as come round if u like 
do u not think that could i put them in another room i would hence why they are currently in the room to start with being thats the room thats empty .And try to understand keeping them in that room would be a last resort hence why i asked advice to start with .


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## solidius (Aug 15, 2006)

tinkrebel said:


> I've kept reptiles for 15 years, and have 3 children (15, 11 and 1) I've never had a health visitor question me about the reptiles or tell me that they were unsafe. I've also never had a health visitor ask to see where the baby was sleeping (different health visitor each time as well).
> 
> I did have a midwife who said she couldn't attend a home birth for me, because of the snakes (she had a phobia) but would be able to get another one to do it with no problem, so again there appeared to be no problem with health issues.
> 
> ...



i thank you for a intelligent reply . Least someone talks sense still on these forums


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## Marinam2 (Sep 4, 2007)

I'm reluctant to participate any further in this thread but i dont agree with any body here so far.

Marina


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## pam b (Mar 3, 2005)

Marinam2 said:


> I'm reluctant to participate any further in this thread but i dont agree with any body here so far.
> 
> Marina


:lol2: And thats why we love you Marina.


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## fantapants (Jan 4, 2008)

sorry but if you cant fit a 4ft leo viv in your bedroom, where the heck do you expect to fit a baby. and a cot. and a bouncer. and a nappy bin. and a chest of drawers. and a baby bath. and a car seat. and a pram. and a high chair. and a nappy bin and all the other baby stuff. would it not be more prudent to empty your master bedroom of everything except the bed ( put it all in the spare room!) and then add a babies cot. and a chest of drawers for human clothes in adult size and also in baby size. THEN put the geckos in the spare junk room instead of putting your baby and geckos in the same junk room together? 

basically if you get rid of all of the un necesarry stuff you will be able to put the baby in your room and have enough space in the spare room to have a mini zoo. you really need to focus on getting space in YOUR room for a cot, not worry about the geckos. but there is always an alternative...


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## Marinam2 (Sep 4, 2007)

I can understand what he saying, my house isnt exactly a mansion either. MY secondary bedroom is only 3x2mtrs and my bedroom only contains a bed two bedside tables and two chests of drawers thats it!!

My living room won't contain a birthing pool so i have had to sacrifice that and will have to make do with the bathtub!!
I cant even get a full sized couch in my living room!!

Marina


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## fantapants (Jan 4, 2008)

Marinam2 said:


> I can understand what he saying, my house isnt exactly a mansion either. MY secondary bedroom is only 3x2mtrs and my bedroom only contains a bed two bedside tables and two chests of drawers thats it!!
> 
> My living room won't contain a birthing pool so i have had to sacrifice that and will have to make do with the bathtub!!
> I cant even get a full sized couch in my living room!!
> ...


hey, we all start out small. I had a bedsit years ago and i couldnt shake a cat in there. BUT when i had my baby i didnt worry about where i was going to put my shoe collection in the babies bedroom when i found out i was pregnant. i reckon the clue is in the words _*BABY'S*_ bedroom!. surely MY shoes would goin MY bedroom?!


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## sparkle (Mar 21, 2007)

solidius said:


> i dont have the space in other rooms simple as come round if u like
> do u not think that could i put them in another room i would hence why they are currently in the room to start with being thats the room thats empty .And try to understand keeping them in that room would be a last resort hence why i asked advice to start with .


 
thanks for the invite... but i wil pass on this occasion


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## Ssthisto (Aug 31, 2006)

Now, I don't have kids and never intend to, so my answer will be based on the animals themselves.

I would personally reduce the floor space they take up by housing them each *separately* in vivariums with 18X18 floor space, 12 inches tall, stacked one on top of another. That's about the same size as a four-foot viv stood up on its end, coincidentally... would that fit anywhere in another room?


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## sarahssnakes (Feb 19, 2006)

i have to agree with tinkrebel(think thats the user name lol) here,i have 5 kids in a 3 bed house with 1 leo,3 bd's,6 royals,1 corn,4 chams,2 boas 13 rabbits,5 g pigs and 2 cats not once has my health visitor or midwife said any thing about the reps or animlas i have,heck i even got one of my beardies of my midwife:whistling2: and they have never once asked to see where the baby sleeps and tbh if they did i would tell them in a cot and no you cant see it!!

you could always keep the leo's in smaller tanks singely,then stack them on top of each other?

oh and 3 tokays to forgot them lol


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## Trinacham (Sep 17, 2007)

sparkle said:


> :2thumb: boy you can tell..
> 
> i have had 2.. and trust me sneaking around not making a noise after trying to get them to sleep for hours only to be ruined by a naughty leo..
> 
> id be fuming LOL


lol I was the youngest child of the family so never even had babies around.. not even cousins. I just thought they slept through most noise! Haha :lol2: 

I guess this point alone should make up your mind then. If they bark in the night they're gonna wake the baby. I would put the baby in your room. For the first few months people usually have the newborn in their room. But after that I dunno.... sorry. If you have no other rooms then I guess the only other option is to rehome.


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## medusa0373 (Mar 18, 2008)

I just wanted to say something, kind of nearly off topic.

Everyone has pointed out that midwives and health visitors will have fits about germs that reptiles carry etc and that in one case the lady was not allowed to take her baby home until she had moved her snake stack from her bedroom.

What about those skanky disgusting houses which are never cleaned, where the parents live in filth and yet have babies - surely there are more dangers from bacteria and germs in places like that, than from a leo viv. And yet those parents are not stopped from taking their babies home and are not made to clean up.

My ex-tw*t of a partner used to do a job that took him into other people's houses, and the stories he used to come home with about the state of some of the houses was enough to make me feel sick - and the majority of them had babies or very young children. Eeeeeeeuuuuugggghhhh.


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## Chance (Jun 14, 2008)

In my opinion its down to your personal choice. Youre the parent of the child at the end of the day. I would have no problems doing it with my own kids so I dont see a problem.

Sod the health visitors e.t.c they are just out to get people, you dont have to let them in the bedroom anyways just keep the baby in the living room when they come round.

Rob


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## FoxyMumma (Jun 29, 2008)

At the end of the day its your choice, I know I would never ever keep any animal in my babies room, I have enough problems with tummy upsets...colic... teething... sleep problems because of noises etc, my little one will be crawling soon and I will be putting a baby guard up infront of all my vivs and tubs because of the salmonella risk etc I wouldnt like to risk it, I know babies need to be subjected to certain kinds of germs to build up a strong immune system to them but is it really worth it when you can have a smaller viv and keep them in a living room?


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