Cats tolerating BP

[kath_]

Along with my BP I have a cat and a dog.
The dog doesn't really care and isn't interested so no worries there but my cat spends 80% of his time in my room which is also where my BP's tank is.
Naturally he's been really curious and probably not really happy about it. He's never gone near the tank except for one time and he hissed and batted at the tank. But other than that he doesn't do anything besides look at it occasionally. He was the same way when he met my dog.
The only problem is Ive been locking my cat outside the room every time I open the cage or handle my BP but he hates it and will pretty much slam and claw at the door until I let him back in.
I don't want to cause too much stress on either animal but if you guys think there's a way for them to be in the same room whenever I take my BP out so I don't have to lock my cat out then let me know.
But otherwise I'm just planning to keep kitty outside at all times whenever my BP is being handled.
I don't know. My cat and dog can be in the same room together without causing each other stress and they just ignore each other so part of me hopes that if my cat can get used to my dog, he could get used to a smaller pet but I could definitely be wrong.

[thingsthatmakenoise]

My cats ignore my bps entirely. I take them out for handling all the time and the only time there's an issue is when Nyx wants attention at the same time I'm holding one of our snakes. Usually I'll just tell her to go away or if she's being really insistent I'll put the snake away. For the most part the cats don't even care.

That said they are never out of my hands. I don't put the snakes on the floor, the bed, the couch, my desk; this way I always know exactly where they are and are far enough out of reach that danger isn't an issue. I would never, ever recommend putting your snake down anywhere while another animal is in the room.

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[kath_]

Hm ok. So I guess it is possible to have them at least tolerate each other. And yeah I'd never put him down with the cat in the room. That's just a disaster waiting to happen. Thank you for the advice. I really appreciate it.

[cletus]

My cats never bothered my snakes. They sure loved to torment the rodents though.

[kath_]

Precisely the reason I can't do live.

[thingsthatmakenoise]

Omg yes. My cats harass the mice we pick up for the baby snakes all the time!

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[kath_]

At least it's enriching for the cats I guess!
Well, now knowing it's possible for snakes and cats to tolerate each other I'll try to at least ease my cat into it once Buddy gets more accustomed to being handled by me. I don't want the two to interact up close and personal at all, I just want my cat to not really care. Maybe he'll just lose interest after a while.

[Nellasaur]

Honestly, I'd recommend just keeping the cat out of the room when you're handling the BP. It MAY be possible to acclimatize your cat to tolerate or not care about the snake, but I wouldn't be willing to risk the snake during that acclimatization period. All it takes is for the cat to decide he wants to be in your lap or arms one time while you're handling Buddy and then you've got an injured animal on your hands.

[kath_]

You bring up a good point. I really don't want either of them to get hurt and after some thought I think my cat would be better off just getting used to being outside the room than getting used to Buddy. No interaction is the best interaction.

[blue roses]

My cats pay no attention to my snakes at all, and i have 3 cats. The only cat that pays any attention to the snake tanks is my 12 year old cat whose always looking for somewhere warm to sleep, so she will occasionally get on top of a tank cover and sleep near the lamp. She's a featherweight size cat so there is never a problem. At her age all she does is eat, and sleep. My dogs pay more attention to the snakes when i take them out then the cats do, so when snakes come out, the dogs go out.