Ok, probably could have phrased that better though my dragon has been 'free-range' quite a bit. I do not plan on just letting a hatchling loose in the house but with cats, I do like an animal that can protect itself if it's going to be out in the house around the others. Dragons are too intelligent to be kept locked away in a quiet room 24/7 IMO which means they need to be in the main part of the house. Cats are the same way. This means that the tank is in the main part of the house (not in the reptile room where the snakes and tortoise are kept) where cats may find a way to open it. Wyrwrenth's cage is actually open-topped though the cats do not bother her as they know better. When we foster, they also have to learn the dragon is not to be messed with. If a cats claws are trimmed properly, they can not harm a beardie with regular scales. Yes, teeth can kill a dragon but in my girl's case, I'd be amazed if a cat with that intent could get that close first. I'm more concerned with cats losing toes than one of them hurting her to be honest. She grew up with the cats and treats them with respect unless they bother her. Then they find they lose chunks of fur and have a furious little dragon chasing them. Cats aren't stupid and neither are dragons. The same went for my last dragon. Neither ever were harmed by a cat, dog, or any other creature (except the lightning bug my first dragon saw the same time I did...).

Either way, silkies are out as their skin is far too fragile in my opinion to have and I'm not very fond of the look either. Should a cat/kitten tap a leatherback with trimmed claws, I'm just curious as to whether or not it would hold up the same as a normal dragon. Their scales are part of their protective armor and I'm not sure how much the leatherback part would affect that. Obviously, they will not be tossed in with a pack of hungry barn cats but I do want to know if they are out and a cat taps them, if that will be more damaging than to a regular dragon because it only pisses off a normal dragon, not physically hurts them.