Sorry for the late reply to this thread, but I asked the same when I joined. Basically, it's just easier to not invite trouble. Before we get either of our snakes out, the cats go into the bedroom with the door closed. They're happy and nap on the bed and snakes have one less thing to worry about (or be tempted to eat! I swear Cleo eyeballs the cats outside her cage "Yeah, I could take that...").