BPs and Cats

[punisher_reborn]

We were just wondering if anybody had any experience with a ball python and a cat. Would like to know you think its a good or bad thing? Should they not be around each other or is it ok?

[Gordon21]

uhm well earlyer today i had my big BP on the bed and let my cat check him out but my cat always attacks anything that moves so he went by him and just swated at his tail and the snake moved and the cat ran lol

[CoolioTiffany]

IMO, I wouldn't risk it. My cat is pretty damn curious and has tried to attack my snakes on a number of occaisions, so I would never let him even check out my snake or even let him sniff my snake. Anything that looks stringy he will play with.

[Gordon21]

yea what she said and by the way what imo mean?

[cinderbird]

cats are predators that kill things smaller than them that move. most ball pythons are smaller than cats, and they move. You should not let your cats and snakes interact, ever. you're literally asking for trouble.

I have some snakes i dont even dare to handle when my cats are awake because they are completely reactive to my cats, they get very antsy and i've even been bitten by a ball python because one of my cats startled it (id' rather ME get bitten than the cat).

[DarkComeSoon]

My cat went to bed with my BP laying on her...

[Boanerges]

yea what she said and by the way what imo mean?

In my opinion

[GoBoilers]

Like any introductions, common sense and supervision are required! I've let one of my cats "sniff" my baby ball (she was in my hand...quick movements can trigger a "prey drive" in a cat so I wanted to be sure that my ball was fairly immobile). My cat took one whiff, got a very offended look on his face and walked away in disgust. As my ball gets bigger, I'll worry less as balls (especially adults) don't seem to move fast enough to interest a cat...if anything, I'd worry about the tip of the tail which is string-like and tempting...but I'd really be surprised if any problems arise! But, again, I can't stress supervision enough!

[abuja]

My cat is fine as long as me and my mom are calm. She doesn't care. She'll stare intently at the snake, but never makes a move more than a curious sniff or touch with the paw. I trust her while I'm watching, but never if I took my attention off of the two.

[Lolo76]

Like any introductions, common sense and supervision are required! I've let one of my cats "sniff" my baby ball (she was in my hand...quick movements can trigger a "prey drive" in a cat so I wanted to be sure that my ball was fairly immobile). My cat took one whiff, got a very offended look on his face and walked away in disgust. As my ball gets bigger, I'll worry less as balls (especially adults) don't seem to move fast enough to interest a cat...if anything, I'd worry about the tip of the tail which is string-like and tempting...but I'd really be surprised if any problems arise! But, again, I can't stress supervision enough!

Ditto to all of the above! My younger cat will watch them if they're slithering fast enough, and will occasionally make a move towards swatting the tail (it totally is string-like). Aside from that I've never had an issue, and when I let them sniff the snakes it does seem to offend them... LOL. My dog is actually better with them, as he sees any small animals as his "herd" - and therefore needs to protect them at any cost. But with either the dog or cats, obviously supervision is highly recommended! I don't let my snakes wander without supervision anyway, so that's usually not a concern.