Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all.

Haven't posted in a while ...

I have 2 balls, a corn, a grey banded king and about 11 lizards ...

My brother wants to get a kitten.

For those of you with a cat ... what problems have you encountered between reptile ownership and feline ownership.

(My reptile room is in the basement and therefore has no door..) Other than secure lids for the cages, is there any other precautions I should take if and when I get a cat?

Any thoughts would be appreciated ....

Joel

I've only had problems with the cats breaking through the screen tops, but I've fixed the problem, now they are content to watch from the other side of the glass instead of from the top. The snakes don't seem to get too stressed ot by the cats hanging arounf the cage, they come out more when the cats are there than they do other wise, even though they have plenty of hiding places if needed. The 3 cats I have still like to terrorize the rodents (rats and mice), but the snakes don't seem to mind too much. They seem to interact through the glass, safely, and both are quite curious. Just watch to see if it stresses them, if not then don't worry too much about it. That's my opinion from my experience anyway. Hope it helps. And make sure the lids are strong and secure! ^-^

Sara

The main problem I had when we HAD a cat was that he liked to try to knock the smaller snake enclosures onto the floor so he could get to the snakes. Make sure all your tubs or enclosures are either secured to what they are on, or heavy enough that the cat can't move them. He did a great job of finding my escaped Kingsnake, too. Shortly after that snack, the cat was gone.

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"I am a cop, and you will respect my authoritae!"-Cartman

Oh wait, I must have misunderstood your post. Sorry, couldn't resist.

>>Hi all.
>>
>>Haven't posted in a while ...
>>
>>I have 2 balls, a corn, a grey banded king and about 11 lizards ...
>>
>>My brother wants to get a kitten.
>>
>>For those of you with a cat ... what problems have you encountered between reptile ownership and feline ownership.
>>
>>My reptile room is in the basement and therefore has no door..) Other than secure lids for the cages, is there any other precautions I should take if and when I get a cat?
>>
>>Any thoughts would be appreciated ....
>>
>>Joel

I have had no problems with my cats, and there are 5 of them here. As long as I keep the enclosures well-closed, so that no one escapes-nothing has happened.

If you're really worried, you might put a door on your basement. Don't go for those little gate things they use for kids and dogs-kittens will go right over them.

-cat
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My Photos: http://chaoscat.lowerground.net/herps/

I have a bunch of cats here. I've never had a problem with them with my reptiles. But if you raise mice......

I'd go ahead and get the kitty. Secure lids are a good idea, of course, (cat or no cat) and if you have small birds, hang 'em up high. For the most part, my menagerie all cohabit quite peacefully.
Best of luck,
GratefulFred
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GratefulFred

his matrix with martin my cat

I've got 3 cats and there has only been one incident with an escapee BP. Found him behind the piano with a cat claw in his back...after a trip to the vet (no problems) he was back in the enclosure doing fine. Another escapee BP (I HAVE learned, really!) was found at the base of the garage door in the open with no cats around. I'm pretty sure the first offending cat got tagged and they have learned too. But other than that, they don't seem to bother each other. The cats stare and the BPs stare back, but neither seem stressed. I would just keep a playful kitten away for a while. Until he calms down and is too big to eat.
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thx,
ru4pythons

I would be very careful before getting a cat. my cat had a habit of watching my snake through the glass, stressing him 0uot when he was already a fiesty and skittish snake to begin with. So the only solution was to put the snake cage in a closed-off room during the day. I love my cat and my reptiles, but they don't mix well! Ya can;t blame the cat for being curious, to yell at them only confuses them because thye want that "prey" they see moving around in the cage, and cats will figure out ways to get at herps. I'd make sure your reptiles are in a closed off room.
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*~Ginevive~*

She is curious about whats in the enclosures. But she can't really see into my rack with the young BRBs, and they are the only ones that really move around. I have adult BPs but they're pretty lazy and the kitten doesn't have the time to wait for one to do something. My only active one is up really high so theres no way the cat could see. I'm pretty sure she has no idea that they're around. Also my enclosures are too tough to open for a kitten, or a cat. Come up with some sort of latch or lock so that they cannot interact and you should be fine.

That post was a great picture, I gotta hang on to that. I have a siamese cat and BPs too.