Anyone else have cat problems?

My cats come running when I am cleaning out my racks. They love to sit and watch the snakes as I take them out to clean out the tub. My one cat will stand on his hind legs to get a better view sometimes. If I put one of the snakes next to the cat (while I am holding the snakes head of course) he will smell the snake and look at me, smell the snake and look at me. It is pretty funny. Sometimes I see them laying in front of my rack systems watching the snake if it is moving. Anyway if your lid is the type you can remove and is held on with clips you should have no problem. If it is one of those tanks that has the lid that slides out of a track watch out it does not fall in to the tank. I had that happen to me with a 40 breeder. I had a monitor in it. The cats loved to lay on it.

i actually cover my rack with a sheet on the front to keep my animals out of each others contacts... I have one really high strung animal that is having a hard time adjusting to the cats. The animals that have the biggest problem with the cats are on the upper shelves, whereas the animals that couldn't care less are more towards the bottom.

I also reprimand my cats if they're pestering the snakes (one likes to bat at the tub... silly cat), with a water bottle/spray bottle. that usually makes them forget.

I dont use tanks anymore, but the cats KNOW they aren't aloud on the top of the rack, ever.

I suggest you purchase a product called "Sss Cat". It's a spray mechanism that will activate when your cat goes near something you do not want it to. This has worked with all of my cats around my snakes. Set it up near your tanks and I guarantee your cats will not go near them again.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Nate

Sarcasm, right?

My cat was always curious too...as long as you know your tank is secure and the snake can't get out and the cat can't get in, you will be OK.

Now, my cat is bored with the snakes and couldn't care less about what's in the cage :rolleyes:

---

Yes sarcasm. My cat used to always sit on top of my glass cages with screne tops. After a while he started breaking the screnes. I had to put a door on my basement to keep him out. I think he like it because it was warm. He seemed uninterested in the reptiles inside. He has on ocasion tried to steal Asf's while im getting them ready for feeding.

My cats used to sleep on top of my tanks. If I still had tanks I think they would break the screens as big as one of my boys are now. My tanks used to sit on my kitchen table, and the cats weren't *actually* allowed up there, so they never acutally watched through the glass. They were either on top of the tanks (which didn't seem to bother the snakes) or they were on the floor where they couldn't see the tanks.

They don't really mess with the rack at all, but I also don't have any animals in the bottom 3 shelves (soon to be fixed!) The only time they really pay attention to the snakes anymore is during feeding. Since I feed live they are much more attracted to the mice and rats that I bring home, and they like to watch the feedings.

One of my boys has gotten popped a few times, and squirted once or twice for getting too close or too focused on one of the snakes when I have them out. Now any time he comes in the room and there is a snake out, he squints his eyes and just glares at the snake from across the room... it's pretty funny. :P

Haha, also, a good way to correct the cat is making a low mrrrr noise as they get closer to the racks/tubs that increases in volume and severity the closer they get (I'm sure we've all heard this warning from a grouchy feline) and the moment they touch it, you make a quick, fftt sound. This is the correction mama-cats usually give their kittens if they the kittens wander too close to a dangerous area.

For adult cats, it's a "get away!" or "mine!" usually accompanied by a slap or a scratch.

Sometimes, to correct a behavior, using the animal's "native" language is more effective.

=^^=

Our 3 cats don't care about the snakes. However, the one cat who I adopted (she hates me too! :weirdface) loves to mess with the geckos.

She has pounced on top of Spike's cage and pulled him out like a ragdoll (you know that juggling motion cats do when picking up and playing with a toy using their front paws), leaving several small scars on him. Luckily he ran and hid, I found him after about 5 minutes.

The second time she pushed his cage off of the shelf, causing the lid to fall off and him to run out and under my bed (mind you, I woke up to a crashing sound because this shelf is right next to my bed)... Took longer to find him but he was unharmed and still had his tail...

I just keep the door closed now if I'm gone for a while and during the night. That cat has it out for that gecko, no matter how much I chase her out and spray her with the mister. She knows she isn't supposed to go in my room now, if she comes walking in all I have to do is say her name to scare her off. Doesn't stop her from trying though...

Thanks for the advice everyone! Its great to see so many responses so quickly.
I'd love to bad the cat from my room, but I live in a 1 bedroom apartment so that might be a little hard. So far, she responds to spray bottles, but limitedly...shes a very tenacious feline. I do have a screen top but since the cat's been up there so much, I used a towel on top of it to block visual contact. Its held down right now by a ~10lb bag of sand, so its not going anywhere. My snake has been hiding/climbing in his fake vines around the top rim of the tank though...is this a sign of stress or just hanging out behavior? I think he also might be going into shed but I can't quite tell. He's got a tiny pink tint to his belly but no hazy eye caps yet.

Also, I've been covering the one open side of the tank (other three walls are painted black) with a towel at night to help minimize snake-cat interactions.

My cats did the same thing at first when they first saw the snakes, and like another person mentioned they soon got bored with it. Now I'm going through it again with the foster kittens, lol. Just make sure the tank is secure and that your two pets never interact beyond gazing at each other through the glass or screen. If you're still stressed about it you can always spray the cat with water when you catch it up there. The spray bottle is my friend on feeding day, because it's a real pain trying to drop feeders into tubs when you have four curious cats under your feet trying to get to the rodents.

Edit: Forgot to add that the only real problem with the cat sitting on the lid is that over time they can cause the screening to sag, so if you're worried about that keep it off.

Set up a 10 gal with a super strong screen top and get a mouse with a wheel, I did this with a mouse that one of my snakes refused to eat and now my cats (6 of them) find the mouse tank WAY more interesting than the snakes.