Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have an adult eastern box turtle that I keep in an indoor terrarium because I live in an apartment and don't have a yard area. My husband and I would really like to get a pet cat, but I don't know anything about how a cat would get along with the turtle. We would most likely get a kitten, so I doubt the kitten would be able to physically harm the turtle in any way. But I don't know if the curiosity would put any extra stress on the turtle or not? His terrarium doesn't currently have a lid, but it would be very easy to make a screened cover so the cat couldn't get to him, or the turtle could be kept in a separate room away from the cat if necessary. But I imagine at some point they would interact with each other, and I would hope it wouldn't be bad for them. Does anyone have any success stories or advice on if turtles and cats can peacefully coexist indoors?

I have two wonderful indoor cats and I keep all of my young turtles indoors for their first few years of life. One of my cats is very curious and mischievous. I personally think that it is because turtles tend to be slow moving, but my cats have never expressed any interest in the turtles other than a look or two. All the same, I do not allow the turtles to be exposed to the cats at ANY time. You never know. Even kittens' sharp teeth and even sharper claws could inflict a terrible, infectious wound to a turtle that may have lost some of its "flight response" due to captivity. Kittens are just too unpredictable.

One of our cats, Samantha, glaring at our Staffie, Zeke. She does not approve of us spoiling him so. I trust Zeke with even the smallest turtle...he protects them. Samantha, however, shows to loyalty towards them....just the typical annoyance and/or apathy.

Ihad an ornate boxie and a Bell's tort for a few years before I got a cat, Kitten also. My only issue at first was that she wanted to sleep with the boxie at night when she got big enough to climb up and in. Screen top solved that problem. Then she would sleep on top of the screen top near the heating lamps. SHe bumped them and I was afraid of a fire. I reinforced clamps to hold lights in place and planted mouse traps around the top of the screen. After a few weeks of getting occassionally stung by them she decided to sleep elsewhere. Haven't had any problems since and she mostly ignores them anyway now. Kittens though are curious, jut ask the mouse trap. :;

hee hee mouse traps for cats, how ironic, the rapid learning tool. I usually just yell at our cat or slap him on the butt if I want to change his behavior. Perhaps teachers should use mouse traps to discipline students. I had a elementary teacher that used to smack us on the hands with a wooden ruler, that really stung, but we learned to behave quickly, she would probably go to jail for that now a days.
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1.0 pastel ball python
0.1 mojave ball python
0.1 normal ball python
0.2 3-toed box turtles
2.3 eastern box turtles
0.0.5 3-striped mud turtle
1.0 northern diamondback terrapin
2.1 tiger salamander
1.1 red-sided garter
1.0 anerythristic red-sided garter
1.1 Iowa snow plains garter
1.1 Het butter stripe cornsnake
0.1 anerythristic motley cornsnake

Another thing to consider. If there is dirt a cat may try to pee in it. Kittens will naturally be more curious and some people have problems with kittens trying to chew on wires - you can get a product called bitter apple spray at most pet stores to put on any cords.

Definitely add a lid.

The fact that your turtle is an adult box turtle works in your favor (and the turtle's). They can close up tight if a cat bothers them. I have two big eight year old cats, two adult Eastern box turtles, an adult NA Wood turtle and a bunch of baby box turtles. I have the babies indoors in a covered tank in a room with the door closed so the cats can't get anywhere near them. The adults are on a screened in back porch. They have an enclosure that isn't covered, and in the summer the adult box turtles and wood turtle take turns free roaming the porch. The cats have full access to the big turtles and never give them a second look anymore, unless the turtles actually try to climb on them, in which case the cats get up and move. If I forget and leave the cats on the porch too long so they don't have access to their litter pan, they will use the box turtle enclosure for a litter pan. Kittens will be curious with anything that moves, so I wouldn't ever let kittens near little turtles, but as the turtles get bigger and the cats get older and get bored with the turtles, it ceases to be an issue. The big turtles and two cats will bask in the sun along side each other on the porch and I never give it a second thought. If you get them used to each other gradually, you'll not have a problem.

Thanks for all the feedback, everyone! It sounds like this will work out if we introduce the kitten gradually and make sure the turtle can be moved if he is appearing stressed, but that they should get along fine for the most part. I'm very excited about moving forward with it! Thanks.

My turtles are outside and we have an outdoor cat along with strays nearby, and no one has bothered any of my 5 outside yet. One of the funniest things I ever saw was my cat laying in the turtle pen and then one of my males started booking it towards her. That cat jumped up, got out of the pen and ran across the yard.

That's funny, would like to have seen that.
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1.0 pastel ball python
0.1 mojave ball python
0.1 normal ball python
0.2 3-toed box turtles
2.3 eastern box turtles
0.0.5 3-striped mud turtle
1.0 northern diamondback terrapin
2.1 tiger salamander
1.1 red-sided garter
1.0 anerythristic red-sided garter
1.1 Iowa snow plains garter
1.1 Het butter stripe cornsnake
0.1 anerythristic motley cornsnake

Last spring I found a little black 6 week old feral kitten in my adult male turtle's house. He was in there with her so I suppose he didn't mind the house guest.

In most cases a cat or kitten will not bother a turtle but cats HAVE killed box turtles so you need to keep a close eye on the cat until you know for sure how it will act towards the turtle. Cats can bite the turtle's head and kill it outright or cause wounds that become infected which may end up killing it. Turtles also can be aggressive. One of my turtles will see our cat in his pen and will rush out to try and nip the cat's toes or tail. He will chase the cat around the pen and won't stop until the cat is out of his pen!

But don't let this stop you from getting a cat-you only have to keep them apart if there is conflict. Tess