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I own three beautiful geckos in a rack system i built. 1 male, 2 female, all in seperate cages. I built the rack the common way most do it - white melamine board with 28 qt rubbermaid containers.

Ok, so my girlfriend and I are making the big decision to move in together. She was given a cat when she was very young which she is very close to - it is 14. Except for in college, when her mom and dad helped take care of it, the cat has always relied upon my girlfriend. Her parents are unfortunately going through a bad divorce so her cat, which would have been able to stay in the household (if there was one), will not have any care unless my girlfriend takes her. So...

As I am slightly allergic to cats the geckos will be put in the master bedroom which will be off limits to the cat. However, to be 100% cautious, as cats are natural predators it would almost likely be interested in the cages at some point and try to get in the bedroom. My question is how do I design something on the rack that keeps them cat free in case the cat gets through the door? (someone leaves it open, etc) I was thinking 3 things:

1) Put several metal bars vertically down the back so the cages cannot go out the back side of the shelf. Then use similar bars that are secure to a cat, but removable to a human, to secure the cages from coming out the front of the shelf.

2) Same idea as above, but make screen doors on the front and back.

3) Design a naturalistic vivarium for the females and sell the male (as i do not want to breed or incubate eggs) and make sure whatever cage i buy is very secure. I have thought of doing this before - so i was wondering if this would be a way to make the work seem valid...

Thank you!
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livXpreshun
1.1 High Yellow Leopard Geckos "Halo & Storm" [seperate cages]
0.1 Patternless Female Leopard Gecko "Wave"

"It takes a certain maturity of mind to accept that nature works as steadily in rust as in rose petals." - Esther Warner Dendel

I've got 6 cats that have coexisted with my lizards for years. None try too hard to get in my tanks although sometimes they'll swat at the glass etc. Sometimes they even sleep on top of the cages. I just give them a little swat if I see anyone looking too interested. Unless the containers in the racks are pretty clear the cat my not even notice the leos.
-Alice

My cat and geckos are fine together. She (the cat)will go outside and hunt lizards, but inside, and around my geckos she's awesome. She sleeps under the shelf they are on, and loves to look at them. I handle the geckos on my bed, right next to the cat. I put them on her once, she didn't like it though. Once one got out, and she sat by it and 'meow'-ed for quite a while until I went over and saw what the fuss was about. They are too big for a cat to eat, so I wouldn't be concerned, but then again, you could have one of those devil cats.

i havent read the other replies so i'm not sure on what suggestions you have been given but if the cat has been an indoor cat its whole life then it shouldn't be too much trouble. and you really only need lids on the tank and keep the master bedroom door closed. my cats have only been interested in the smaller lizards. they dont really care about the leo.

My cat actually only goes to the gecko cages to watch the crickets that may be in there. The geckos don't move enough for her. Heh!

Thank you everyone. That gives me at least some peace of mind. However, you can never tell my girlfriend this, but yes this cat is sort of a devil cat (I call it evil every once in a while and my girlfriend gives me "the look" - yeah ladies, you know what i'm talking about!) I will take the necessary precations just to be on the safe side. I guess I was worried because cats kill mice and hamsters all the time. Thanks again.
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livXpreshun
1.1 High Yellow Leopard Geckos "Halo & Storm" [seperate cages]
0.1 Patternless Female Leopard Gecko "Wave"

"It takes a certain maturity of mind to accept that nature works as steadily in rust as in rose petals." - Esther Warner Dendel

I'm kind of late in replying but I just have to say a few things!

The only thing the cat will be interested in is the crickets! We resorted to keeping all our crickets in a 5 gallon tank with a latch lid, after our two cats figured out that the "Cricket Keeper" lid would pop open if swatted "just right" or knocked over from a height of three feet.

Other than that, they like to bask under the heat lamps like the geckos do (even though they get into trouble when caught)!
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0.1.0 African Fat Tail
0.1.0 Leopard Gecko
1.0.0 Flat Tail House Gecko
1.0.0 Long Tail Grass Lizards
1.0.0 Betta (Past away 3/17/04)
1.1.0 Cats