snakes and cats

[Chee]

I've tried searching but I couldn't find any topic that gave me the answer I was looking for. So, snakes and cats. My cat, a lazy, fat tabby named Garfield. Is rather curious about the strange legless creature that now lives in the room with him and me. My snake, Nazeer, could care less about my cat. My worry is whether I should let my cat sniff and investigate the snake or should I teach my cat to simply always avoid the snake? And what do you guys who own cats as well as snakes do?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

The danger is for your snake not the cat and it is best to keep them separated.

Whether your cats want to play or see your snake as a prey remember that your cat can inflict severe lacerations to your snake, and I am sure that you do not want be back here asking for help because your cat injured your snake. (this has been seen before on this very forum)

[KMG]

Here I searched for you. Read up.

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/searc...archid=1099926

[Heeltoeclutch]

The link doesn't work for me - I was actually searching this very topic a minute ago, see if this works:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/searc...archid=1100715

I have seen videos where the snake and cat get along just fine; I think it depends a lot on the temperament of the cat. It is of concern to me as well because we have a cat and he will be sharing the house with some snake at some point.

[KMG]

The link doesn't work for me - I was actually searching this very topic a minute ago, see if this works:

http://ball-pythons.net/forums/searc...archid=1100715

I have seen videos where the snake and cat get along just fine; I think it depends a lot on the temperament of the cat. It is of concern to me as well because we have a cat and he will be sharing the house with some snake at some point.

I guess they time out. Yours is doing the same as mine but it worked right after I posted it. Its the OPs fault for being a drive by poster that they didn't get to see it.

Now its time for them to learn to search for themselves.

[Lefitte]

I have 5 cats and a brand new snake so I'll admit I understand cats far better than snakes currently. In my opinion, it's a good idea to let your cat investigate in a safe way. The first day I had my setup, I let my cats investigate as long as they weren't pawing at or stressing my king out. The lid was safely on it at all times and I don't plan on them ever interacting outside of the tank. I encourage my cats to smell things when I take them out by offering them to smell and allowing them to smell the soiled substrate this way they learn what that thing over there is. After the initial curiosity, it's all about teaching them to respect her space [which for me means the whole desk she's currently on]. They aren't allowed up by the tank at all unless I invite them on to my lap while I sit there watching her where they're allowed to stay calm on my lap or forced on to the floor. It seems to me that when dealing with cats, you have to get as much of their curiosity out of their system before you can start teaching them rules about that thing. It's worse with the younger cats and if you have a cat who is really attached to you [my biggest problem is my baby's jealousy.. He keeps sitting and glaring at the tank because I've been spending a lot of time near it]. My three oldest cats haven't even noticed my snake one bit, they don't care at all.

I might be new to snakes but I've had cats half my life. I also own birds and fish so dealing with potentially harmful cats is a must.

[Bluebonnet Herp]

Nope. Ain't gonna happen.
One of my cats is somewhat afraid of the snakes, if not he wants to kill them. The other cat thinks they'll be the best cat toy since catnip scented, stuffed birds. As a general rule, I wouldn't mix any non-human species of any kind, unless it's a community fish tank or a farm.

[artgecko]

I'd say the safest thing would be to not let them interact at all and to make sure the cage is as secure as possible. I've had my seemingly-uninterested cat (who is also usually as lazy as possible) knock over a glass gecko terrarium with dire consequences for one of my geckos. It happened during a small 5 minute window of time when I was moving and forgot to close the door of the room the geckos were kept in.

The cat may not intend to kill the reptile, but It could very well knock over a cage if not secured properly or cause a lid to cave in if it sat on the lid, etc.

When I have my snakes out, my cat is not allowed on the couch where I sit with them. He seems very interested, but he looks at them in the same manner that he looks at his "wand" toys... So I take that as a bad sign.

The smell of strange animals can also stress out some snakes, or cause others to strike (I've heard of boas showing feeding response to various animal scents), so I'd be leery of it for that reason too.

In the end it is your snake and your cat, but I'd highly advise that the cat not be left alone in the room with the snake cage unless the cage is extremely secure.

[Chee]

Lefitte Thank you for your post, my main question wasn't if they would be friends but if I should let the cat sniff and investigate. My cat is also the jealous type. I'm sorry to hear about your gecko artgecko, my cage is on the flood and too heavy to move so there's not fear of things being knocked over, though there is the potential for screen cave in but my cat hasn't shown much interest in sitting on the cage. And as I stated in my first post, I did search myself for several days, I must have been using the wrong search terms. pythonminion I love that you used the term 'non-human species' I have been keeping my cat at bay, close enough to see but not close enough to touch.

[Darkbird]

For me, I don't allow any interaction between my reptiles and my non reptile pets. The dogs and cats generally see them as either food or a new toy and the birds usually fear them. With 6 dogs sometimes it can't be helped, mostly because they want to know if the thing I'm holding is a treat or not. But I do my best.