Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First, let me start off by saying that I am a lover of all animals, big or small, exotic or non exotic. I am posting this for a general response, love or hate and so on and so forth. In no way shape or form am I advocating animal cruelty or suggesting anyone try this.

With that said, let it begin.

I was in class today and my animal collection got brought up. I mentioned my 5 and a half foot red tail and people were very interested. My professor was concerned because I mention I had cats as well. He was worried about the welfare of said cats. I told him that all my snakes are very secure in their cages and even if a cat mentioned to get to the snake, the 5.5 red tail, that the cat would end up killing the snake.

He didn’t believe that one ounce.

I explained to him all that I could about the situation, the limitations and habits of the snake and the size and power of the cat, he still didn’t believe me.

Am I wrong to assume that my cat would kill my snake? I’m not going to go out and test it because I love my pets, but still, I would like some closure and assurance on this subject.

sean p. keen

BTW, my red tail is about 3-5 inches at its widest girth and my cat is about 2 years old. I know there are a lot of things that need to be taken into subject here, so, feel free to ask.

Ignorance and stereotyping again, the big bad snake and the poor defenseless little kitty cat.

LOL

First off I completely agree this is only for discussion, I love my pets and would never put them against one another. Unfortunately there are those who will.

I too have a cat, indoor. I have a 10' - 11' foot 16.5 year old boa. DUH I don't let them get together. I really wouldn't care to guess the ultimate outcome if those two were to go at it. In my case I think the snake if it decided the cat was a threat before the cat did a lot of damage she would or could strike/coil and eventually kill the cat. Eat it, don't think so. She has a hard time with small rabbits. BUT I think the cat would / could do so much damage to the snake in the process that the snake could die maybe even before the cat.

A 5.5' boa vs a cat....IMO cat food. Or more accurately , cat play toy.

The poor defensless kitty is anything but. Unless it's been declawed, cats are formidable predators. Feral cats don't exist on human leavings.
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Thanks,

Dave "Rainbows-R-Us"

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB)
4.12 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
2.1 Hypomelanistic BRB
0.1 Het for Hypomelanistic BRB
0.1 BCI "Elvira" normal from 1989
1.0 BCI albino / het-anery
0.1 BCI Hypo / het-albino
0.1 BCI Anery / het-albino
0.1 BCI Hypo (possible super)
1.0 BCI albino het stripe
1.0 BCI salmon hypo
0.1 BCI ghost

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

All my snakes are kept in cages that are key locked. All the cages are in the "snake" room. The door is kept shut and the cat is not allowed in. EVER.
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Thanks,

Dave "Rainbows-R-Us"

0.1 Wife (WC)
0.2 kids (CBB)
4.12 Brazilian Rainbow Boa
2.1 Hypomelanistic BRB
0.1 Het for Hypomelanistic BRB
0.1 BCI "Elvira" normal from 1989
1.0 BCI albino / het-anery
0.1 BCI Hypo / het-albino
0.1 BCI Anery / het-albino
0.1 BCI Hypo (possible super)
1.0 BCI albino het stripe
1.0 BCI salmon hypo
0.1 BCI ghost

lots.lots.lots feeder mice and rats

I live in the bible belt by the way if that helps. lol.

I live in the bible belt by the way if that helps. lol.

When I first read this statement, I thought, "Bible belt cats are no different from any other cats."

I think the cat versus snake question would depend on the "ground rules" of the "fight." If the snake were lying in hiding and the cat were unaware, the snake might be able to strike the cat, coil, and strangle before the cat could fight effectively. I just don't see any reason why the snake would do such a thing.

Likewise, if the cat were in hiding and attacked the snake when it was moving from one place to another, I think the cat would have a pretty significant advantage.

Of course, what most people imagine in this kind of situation is the "gunfight in the street" where both animals are put in a small, open, area and fight one another. The problem with this whole scenario is that neither animal really has an instinct for this kind of fighting. When the whole situation is so contrived, the results aren't very meaningful.

I've heard of someone having a boa constrictor of about that size and the cat being terrified of the snake. In that case, the cat wouldn't go close to the room where the snake was kept. The full story is that after the snake died, they had it stuffed and put it back in its cage. The cat still wouldn't enter that room.

Personally, I think your professor has a strangely contrived view of pet ownership. While I wouldn't ever let pet reptiles mix with pet cats, the notion that they are just waiting to drop gloves and fight one another seems silly. I'd think that both of them would be happiest ignoring the other.

Bill
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It's not how many snakes you have. It's how happy and healthy you can keep them.

There's only one way to find out who would kill whom, and I wouldn't recommend it. Most likely if the snake attacked the cat, it would be bitten and/or scratched badly, but not killed.

In any case, dogs probably kill a thousand cats a day in this country. He should worry about something that actually has a chance of occuring.

The snake may be powerful, but I have yet to see a snake fast enough to kill a cat.

Maybe a burmese python could kill a cat, if it was sleeping, but a red tail boa would loose to a housecat so badly it wouldn't even be funny.

Well, actually, it kind of would be funny to watch if you think about it, but that's not the point.

i agree ten fold.

This goes back to what rainbows-r-us was saying, about the big bad snake agaisnt the kitty kitty. I dont think my professor grasped the concept of size. It was more evil, devil snake and less on the cute and cuddly kitty.

Just remind him that cats are well known messengers of the devil and be done with him...

"The snake may be powerful, but I have yet to see a snake fast enough to kill a cat."

In many areas of Asia, cats are commonly eaten by larger constrictors. There's an interesting photo in the Barkers "Pythons of Australia" showing a rather fat carpet python after eating a pet cat. One of the old Frank Buck movies had a sequence showing a leopard being attacked and constricted by a large African Rock python. Staged, but still true. It happens VERY quickly.

Years ago, I saw my wife's cat walk into our room in the apartment (before marriage...so 32 years ago) and walk up to the burmese cage just as the snake prepared to grab a rabbit. The cat was about 6" from the rabbit (glass inbetween) when the snake struck and coiled, rabbit making normal rabbit sounds. The cat's eyes bugged out..and it slowly BACKED out of the room, never taking it's eyes off the snake/rabbit combo.

That said, your professor is out of line, and clueless to your situation.
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1.1 Blackheaded pythons
1.1 Woma (Juvie female)
2.1 Aussie Olives
1.1 Timors
1.0 Angolan Juvie
1.1 Savu
1.1 Juvie Bloods
1.1 Juvie Balls
1.1 IJ Carpets
1.1 Coastal Carpets
1.2 Macklotts
1.1 Papuan Olives
1.0 Jungle Carpet
2.2 Scrubs (on breeding loan)
0.1 Jungle/Diamond cross
0.1 child, CB
0.1 wife, WC

Escaped burms in Florida have taken pet cats as prey from time to time as well...

Chris

>>"The snake may be powerful, but I have yet to see a snake fast enough to kill a cat."
>>
>>In many areas of Asia, cats are commonly eaten by larger constrictors. There's an interesting photo in the Barkers "Pythons of Australia" showing a rather fat carpet python after eating a pet cat. One of the old Frank Buck movies had a sequence showing a leopard being attacked and constricted by a large African Rock python. Staged, but still true. It happens VERY quickly.
>>
>> Years ago, I saw my wife's cat walk into our room in the apartment (before marriage...so 32 years ago) and walk up to the burmese cage just as the snake prepared to grab a rabbit. The cat was about 6" from the rabbit (glass inbetween) when the snake struck and coiled, rabbit making normal rabbit sounds. The cat's eyes bugged out..and it slowly BACKED out of the room, never taking it's eyes off the snake/rabbit combo.
>>
>> That said, your professor is out of line, and clueless to your situation.
>>-----
>>1.1 Blackheaded pythons
>>1.1 Woma (Juvie female)
>>2.1 Aussie Olives
>>1.1 Timors
>>1.0 Angolan Juvie
>>1.1 Savu
>>1.1 Juvie Bloods
>>1.1 Juvie Balls
>>1.1 IJ Carpets
>>1.1 Coastal Carpets
>>1.2 Macklotts
>>1.1 Papuan Olives
>>1.0 Jungle Carpet
>>2.2 Scrubs (on breeding loan)
>>0.1 Jungle/Diamond cross
>>0.1 child, CB
>>0.1 wife, WC
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U.A.P.P.E.A.L.
Uniting A Proactive Primate and Exotic Animal League
www.uappeal.org

thats awsome, ive never heard of a cat being that scared
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jake

my addiction:
2 normal ball pythons (lazlo and izzy)
1 amelenistic corn snake (zyklon)
0.1 blizzard corn (blizz)

African rock pythons prey on leopards, so I think it's pretty safe to assume a burm could kill a housecat. Also, boas are plenty fast in an ambush situation. A large one could certainly kill a housecat, though I'm less certain about a smaller one as described.

>>First, let me start off by saying that I am a lover of all animals, big or small, exotic or non exotic. I am posting this for a general response, love or hate and so on and so forth. In no way shape or form am I advocating animal cruelty or suggesting anyone try this.
>>
>>With that said, let it begin.
>>
>>I was in class today and my animal collection got brought up. I mentioned my 5 and a half foot red tail and people were very interested. My professor was concerned because I mention I had cats as well. He was worried about the welfare of said cats. I told him that all my snakes are very secure in their cages and even if a cat mentioned to get to the snake, the 5.5 red tail, that the cat would end up killing the snake.
>>
>>He didn’t believe that one ounce.
>>
>>I explained to him all that I could about the situation, the limitations and habits of the snake and the size and power of the cat, he still didn’t believe me.
>>
>>Am I wrong to assume that my cat would kill my snake? I’m not going to go out and test it because I love my pets, but still, I would like some closure and assurance on this subject.
>>
>>
>>sean p. keen
>>
>>BTW, my red tail is about 3-5 inches at its widest girth and my cat is about 2 years old. I know there are a lot of things that need to be taken into subject here, so, feel free to ask.
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Chris Harrison
San Antonio, Texas

If he has children does he bubble wrap them prior to letting them out of the house? I have a cat that adopted our ball python and purrs rubbing up against the glass everytime they are in the same room. I would not want to put her in the snake's enclosure... most of the time, she peed on the couch last week... I would not want to encourage an altercation, but I really doubt there would be a fight.

Most snakes prefer flight to fight response. And if he is thinking that just because the cat is a mammal and alive that the snake wants to eat it... well he has seen too much tv. I was concerned when we first got our snake, now it doesn't bother me, the isn't going to be an altercation. (I live in the bible belt too). And for gosh sakes! Don't let him see any of the sci-fi tv snake movies, poor guy would never sleep again! Though it would make an interesting experiment...
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Bryan, Atlanta GA

1-0-0 Rescued Ball Python - Apep
0-1-0 Rescued Mountain Horned Dragon - Ki
0-0-1 Rescued Aggressive Bearded Dragon - Zeus
0-0-1 Rescued Non-Alpha Green Iguana - Bud
1-1-0 Rescued Rats... no wait... ROTTEN Little Cats - Ra, Bastet
0-0-1 Rescued Dieting Panda Hamster - Mr. Fluffy
0-1-0 Rescued Little Angelic Kitten - Isis
1-0-0 Horse... whoops... BIG Golden Retriever - Jake
0-1-0 Wife
2-0-0 Kids

wether the boa feels like constricting the cat, if it doesnt, the cat wins. and i also have a cat, so i know that cats only try to kill small snakes. the cat would probably just be interested
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jake

my addiction:
2 normal ball pythons (lazlo and izzy)
1 amelenistic corn snake (zyklon)
0.1 blizzard corn (blizz)

Would be the cross contamination of Coccidia Isopora from your cat to your snake, as cats are common carriers of such. I would be even more concerned if your litter box were within the same proximity of as your enclosures or if you handled your snakes after handling your cats or changing litter boxes, without first disinfecting your hands.
Many people maintain large constrictors and cats within the same household and manage to maintain domestic tranquility.
I would simply state your appreciation for concern and go on about my business. Should your professor not be willing to allow teh matter to end, I would simply indicate the negative impact feral cats have had upon all manners of wild fauna, should he require proof of such, simply suggest he review one of the following links:

myfwc.com/cats/

www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/speaker3.html

Keep in mind, accidents do occur and the likely outcome would be two injured animals. I have seen this happen twice before, on one occasion a BCI escaped and went after the family African Grey parrot and on another occasion, the family cat went after an escaped JCP. In neither case did any of the animals involved incur mortal injuries, but there were injuries none the less..

Best regards,

Jeff
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Jeff Snodgres
University of Arkansas
snodgresjeffreys@uams.edu
501.603.1947