Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was feeding my baby Ruthven King today for the first time, I had the snake outside the tank. My cat was watching, and as he was watching the snake attack and eat the pinky my cat kept hissing and then ran to hide. I'm wondering if maybe the snake let out a musky smell that may have driven my cat crazy. Because I know my cat isn't afraid of anything smaller than him and definately not this snake, he's like the size of a worm, but he's a very beautiful snake. I'll post some pics soon.

My cat absolutely LOVES watching snakes eat. She'll sit and watch from the distance that I have let her know is the correct distance. She is fascinated and not scared. She also doesn't show any predatory instinct, (odd because she loves to eat my mice) just curiosity. It's strange that she obeys my distance requirments. This is the only time she pays any attention to my so-called rules.
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Martin Whalin

"It is foolish to let singleness of purpose deprive one of the joy and delectation of the many wonderful sights and sounds incidental to the quest."
-Carl Kauffeld
My Email

LOL My cat is a really good, cat, no front claws and doesn't bite, very friendly. Maybe he thought that he was next on my snakes menu LOL

My cat has broken through the screen top of my Western Hognose on several occasions. I thought he was trying to get to the snake and would be really furious at him. I would repair the screen and pledge to be more careful in closing the door to the room. I found him twice in the tank asleep under the light. I panicked and started searching for what might be left of the little snake. But, to my surprise, he wasn't interested in the snake at all. The snake was curled up in the corner of the tank and the cat was sound asleep. Anyone want a cat?

my cats are very well behaved also having grown up seeing snakes around all the time. they commonly lay on top of snake boxes to nap olivious of the occupant. what i find interesting though is, most of my snakes are used to the cats too and will often come out, eat, drink and poop w/ a watching cat laying just on the other side of the glass.....like it was nothing.

It's funny how cats differ in how they react to snakes. My cat loves to watch my snake crawl around or eat or just sit there, but she doesn't show any sign of wanting to hunt it or play with it. The day I got it my snake got out and I found him because my cat was staring at a pillow, eyes undialated and she wasn't twitchy or anything, so i picked up the pillow and there my snake was.
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~Banana~

On the one occasion that my cat was in contact with a snake (escapee) without my supervision she sliced it to shreds.
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Martin Whalin

"It is foolish to let singleness of purpose deprive one of the joy and delectation of the many wonderful sights and sounds incidental to the quest."
-Carl Kauffeld
My Email

Yeah, I wouldn’t think twice about what would happen if one of my snakes escaped. Though the cats sure do seem calm and not exhibiting predatory behaviors as I feed my snakes, I just know that they are thinking-"Oh yeah, $150 gourmet meal."
I used to have a fence lizard population in my backyard before I got the cats. Now I just have my collection and two cats indoors. That's how I realized first hand why NOT to let ones felines roam outside. BTW, I agree that it is weird that your cat doesn't like watching your snake eat. I would bet that it was the musk that startled your cat, but that is weird too. My cats seem to love the smell. After I handle some obsoleta that are a little nippy, I will see if I got musked by getting one of my cats and letting her smell. She will act like she just got a fresh pack of catnip if there is any musk. Oh yeah, passport, if you got a little human heat pad for your feline, it most likely would stop trying to get into that warm hide spot. Hope this helps. I got one for my cats after they would do the same thing, now they don't even want to jump up on my lap. Hmmmmm- And some people really think that their cats LOVE them?lol Later on guys-Brett