Stupid question about adult boas and smaller pets. Help, please...?

[Rakshasi]

I don't want to sound stupid, but this sounds pretty dumb in my mind. I will not let that feeling stop me from asking, however.

My grandfather bought me another boa. He is roughly 6'. Is there any chance that the scent of my cat will bring on a feeding response? My snakes are in my room, as it is the calmest, quietest place for them. My cat (all of about 6 lbs at the most) likes to be in here when I am, so her scent is everywhere. She does not pester the snakes, and is not allowed near them, on their enclosures, etc. When I am not home, my door is shut and she is not allowed in.

I've never had a problem with her scent exciting my cornsnake, other boa, or the two ball pythons. I've had all of them very close to her (NOT INTENTIONALLY), and they weren't interested at all. It would be one of those things where I'd have a snake wrapped around an arm, and I'd be cleaning out soiled bedding, and I'd not even realize the cat was close to them (either sleeping, or trying to rub on me because she's in love with anyone that gives her attention). I don't know if it's different with such a large snake.

Should I lock the cat out when I have Marley out and about in the room? Dogs, too? I'm asking in advance because Marley is in the "settling in" period as of a few hours ago. The cat was nowhere in sight (for once...) when I put Marley in his new home to relax, so I didn't worry about it then, and obviously didn't see a reaction.

Thank you so much in advance! I really hope that didn't sound like too dumb of a question. I'd asked one of my fellow snake keepers, but he said he had no idea because he never had cats, dogs, birds, etc around his snakes.

[JimiSnakes]

My siamese cat helps me clean the cages of my boas, just kidding...well, not really. My cat is almost always in the Snake room (warmest room in the house) and, other than laying on some stuff from time to time, he causes no abnormal behavior with any of the twenty various boas that I have. They just kind of ignore each other. This is only my personal experience though. Maybe others can contribute their experiences to get a better variable. If the cats were raising cain in there and/or stressing the snakes out, then I would boot the kitty-cat outta the room! Haha, but if they are minding their own business and not doing any of that, I wouldn't worry to much about it. I'm not saying to let them hang out in there without being supervised though. Good luck!

[sweety314]

We've got snakes in 3 rooms of our small house, and the 4 cats roam around. Occas. when I'm handling the snakes, (esp. the bigger ones) the cats come up to look and smell and will hiss. Norman will deliberately try to take a swipe....head or tail. If any of the tails are hanging down, Norman will try to hook it w/his claws. I think it comes from the predator/prey/fear instincts. I actually, under controlled setting, put Freddie's head in front of a cat's face, and the cat jumped 3 feet and ran off the bed.

The cats have made the snakes nervous, b/c the cats like to sit and stare at the snakes thru the snake tubs and tanks, but the snakes don't go into hunt mode w/the cats nearby.

With all that long-windedness said, I WOULDN'T deliberately leave the snakes and cats alone. Hera is big enough she could eat them (at least Candy the little queen), and the cats seem more inclined to attack, and would claw up / fight the snake. I don't put them together. No reason to chance it and find out the hard way with loss or injury of either pet species AFTER the damage has been done.

[Rakshasi]

Thank you both for your replies!

I would never leave Lexi (cat) unattended in my room. It would be a disaster waiting to happen. Not saying that she would be too interested in attacking the snakes (though i would fear her trying to intimidate them, anyway), but I also have many, many knick-knacks and random breakables on shelves. She's young, so she would have a field day if I left her in the room alone!

This morning, I think Marley scared her. She was staring at him through the temporary tub he's in and he rested his head on the water dish so that he appeared to be staring directly into her eyes. I'd heard that cats dislike being stared at, and I've stared at Lexi to test the theory. She certainly does seem to get fairly insecure/uncomfortable. Marley maintained that position for about 10-20 minutes, and Lexi was doing all sorts of things to make him stop. Ducking so that he couldn't see her, walking a few steps away...he must've been in "rest mode," because he didn't move at all. Finally she took off and hasn't looked at him since. He's moved around since then, of course, but even when he was moving, she gave a very quick .01 second glance and went about her business.

Again, thank you both for the input!

[Pork Chops N' Corn Bread]

I've never heard of any snakes killing cats but I've heard of plenty of cats attacking snakes

[Rakshasi]

Jake -
I'm sure some "wild" big snakes have eaten feral cats, but I would, too, if I didn't have any other food resources! But, I know what you mean about cats attacking snakes. I don't trust my cat around the snakes, rats, rabbit & ferret. She's mostly out and about in the house, so I make sure everyone has a "safety" zone. The snakes are safe when I'm not home, as the cat is locked out of the room. The rats and such all have good-sized tupperware containers in which they can feel safe if the cat ever takes more than a slight interest in them. All cages are padlocked and on the floor, as well. They weren't, but a friend of mine had a parakeet for around 8 months with no problems with her cat, and then one day she comes home to the cage on the floor, and the bird gone. She later found the bird in the garage, torn up pretty badly. Prior to the incident, the cat showed no real interest in the bird with the humans present. Apparently, cats are extremely sneaky about how they truly feel about other pets.

Now that I realize she gets rather close when I'm holding one of my boys, I watch her like a hawk. She hasn't taken a swat at them, but it's better to be paranoid than to wait until something happens that could very well be irreversible.

[Ginevive]

I would never let there be a time when you're handling your snake and the cat is within reach of its head. Just like if you were holding it near another person; all you have to do is arrange things so that the snake is not going to bite someone's body, be that someone cat, human, wombat, anything.
I have had one of my BPs grab/comstrict my hand.. granted, it was not a boa like you're discussing, but I think a boa would be more likely to strike out b/c they hunt by motion.. caution is all that's really needed.
The only time my cat creates tension, is if he walks by my boa's cage while I am trying to feed the snake; the motion can attract his attention and take his eyes off of the intended prey target; I just yell at the cat and he is gone.

[Gooseman]

One of my friends, well, acquaintances really, lived in an apartment at U.T. and one day he made the idiot move of falling asleep holding his boa (8ft RTB female) and it disappeared. Roughly two weeks later one of his roommates pet chihuahuas went missing, and 3 days later the snake was found buried in the closet under dirty clothes with a big lump in her belly... so... my advice, be careful. Cats would probably attack and do more damage than a chihuahua anyways.

[ru55ell14]

Is there any reason to be worried about handling a cat or dog before handling a boa?

[starmom]

I have dogs and cats and I have never had a problem. I pet my dogs and hold my snakes. My cat is around when I hold my snakes. I pet my animals and then hold my snakes- never a problem