Cats and chameleons

[Newtoreptiles]

Hiya, I have discussed early and have got the bearded dragon. The cats at first were very interested, but honestly now don't care very much. They are indoor so don't have such a high prey drive. Is the chameleon still really not a possibility, or does it just depend on the chameleons personality. Not planning om rushing into buying one anytime soon. Mabye in the far future?

 

[elizaann2]

Chameleons are pretty sensitive. Something as simple as a ceiling fan can stress them out. If you do get a chameleon I would recommend that you put it in a low traffic room and make sure your cat doesn’t go in the room at all.

 

[Flick boy]

Hi I wouldn't trust cats near a chameleon they would stress it out as they are a threat and obviously perceived as a threat by a chameleon ,and cats will be cats , I've read stories ov cats killing reptiles and climbing and knocking enclosure over , the fact of the matter they don't mix , if you do decide to get a chameleon never leave them in the same room unsupervised not for a second

 

[nightanole]

Chams its per cham. As others stated ceiling fans and blowing blinds can cause hunger strikes. While others will literally grab onto the dog while it walks by and take a ride to far off places in the house.

But i still would not trust a dog or a cat around a lizard. They may get "played with" in a non predatory way. The cham might even be cool with it. But its not going to take much to say, get an infection from slobber from "cleaning" the cham. And one cat bite/claw and the infection may take out the cham.


I limit my interactions to "the beardy doesnt appreciate getting smelled" when its outdoor time. But the dog is not licking the lizard, it just wants to smell the funny toad.

 

[MissSkittles]

I have a couple of indoor cats and a dog, all of whom are old, fat and lazy. I love them to pieces but absolutely do not trust them with my reptiles. The fattest cat who is too lazy to play no matter what I’ve tried has been right there and trying to bat at one of my beardies when I was holding him. When my boy beardie made a suicide leap from my arms and tried to make a mad dash to get to my girl beardie, I pretty much had to fight off the dog to get to him first before he became a squeaky toy. They don’t really pay any attention or notice the reptiles when they are safe in their enclosures, but as soon as they come out it’s much different.

 

[nightanole]

I have a couple of indoor cats and a dog, all of whom are old, fat and lazy. I love them to pieces but absolutely do not trust them with my reptiles. The fattest cat who is too lazy to play no matter what I’ve tried has been right there and trying to bat at one of my beardies when I was holding him. When my boy beardie made a suicide leap from my arms and tried to make a mad dash to get to my girl beardie, I pretty much had to fight off the dog to get to him first before he became a squeaky toy. They don’t really pay any attention or notice the reptiles when they are safe in their enclosures, but as soon as they come out it’s much different.

My old hunting dog once tried to smell the water dragon. The dragon proceeded to latch onto the nose and wiggle for a few seconds. After that no more trying to hunt the water dragon

 

[dinomom]

Hiya, I have discussed early and have got the bearded dragon. The cats at first were very interested, but honestly now don't care very much. They are indoor so don't have such a high prey drive. Is the chameleon still really not a possibility, or does it just depend on the chameleons personality. Not planning om rushing into buying one anytime soon. Mabye in the far future?

I know this is controversial. But I have a cat, and he is a manic player, running through the house after his mice and balls. But the cham is sitting at about 7 feet in the air (on a table) with tons of places to hide. He literally does not move enough for the cat to give him a second glance. He won't budge from his basking spot or make any effort to hide when the cat walks into the room (and I mean he is still in a relaxed way, not in a "freezing" way). He even is comfortable coming to the bottom to his potty spot when cat is around. Most cats don't want to hunt something that is not moving or better yet running from them.

I honestly think that after a while, animals and people moving around become a part of the background. Now, if a new person comes in, he is turning sideways to the branch, freezing, hiding under the leaves, etc. and showing obvious stress.

I do not want my cham to be under low key stress but I don't believe he is. His room is closed at night for sleeping and the cat is only in his area for short bits during the day.

So I would say it is doable and depends on the animals.

However I would never have the cham out or on me with cat around as moving = interesting.

 

[Beman]

We have a cat and a dog... My chameleon is intrigued by both to the point that he will crawl all the way to the bottom of the cage to look at them. Now this is not a problem with the dog... She has been around him since she was 12 weeks old (she is 3 years old now) and knows not to get too close to the cage. They just sit and look at one another. It does not faze Beman at all. BUT I still would not trust her in the room alone with my chameleon enclosure.

The cat is a totally different story. He is an absolute hunter. He has tried to jump at the cage and at the cham in the cage. I had to put up a double high baby gate door and retrofit it with corrugated plastic zip tied to it about 6 ft high to keep him out of the room and allow for airflow. The cat is only 5 months old so he can still squeeze between the baby gate bars. Until he is large enough I will leave the panels on. Now additionally I do not take any chances with this cat. If I have to leave the house I close the actual door to the bed room. I know if he got in the chameleon would be dead.

I have not and would never have my cham out of the cage with any of my other animals in the room. This is simply just too high risk.

 

[elizaann2]

I have two dogs, one is pretty interested in my chameleons, the other is such a derp I don't know if he actually realizes that there is another animal around besides him. Regardless, I keep my chameleons in their own room and the dogs are not allowed in. I just like to be safe.

 

[Newtoreptiles]

I completely understand everyone's different point of views and experiences, from what I've seen my cats only seem keen on the beardie when she's eating her crickets and running around. No idea how they would react to a cham, but as they are pretty slow I guess they wouldn't really care. Obviously they need to be supervised and such, if I ever do decide I really want a chameleon then I will have to take precautions, thank you all. I mean I do want one lol, mabye in the next few years.

 

[MzLaurie11]

It really depends on your animals. There is no blanket answer because of the different personalities. My cat is a large cat and he adores me and has never messed with the chams. My veiled has learned the cat is not a threat and likes to hangout on me with the cat. My panther she is so sweet and timid is terrified. So i never have her around the cat. The one thing i do worry about is the chams tails as the cat reacts as if its a cat toy. Nevertheless, i am always with my chams when i take them out of the cages. In the pic below, they are laying on me and neither is shiwing signs of stress.

 

[Beman]

It really depends on your animals. There is no blanket answer because of the different personalities. My cat is a large cat and he adores me and has never messed with the chams. My veiled has learned the cat is not a threat and likes to hangout on me with the cat. My panther she is so sweet and timid is terrified. So i never have her around the cat. The one thing i do worry about is the chams tails as the cat reacts as if its a cat toy. Nevertheless, i am always with my chams when i take them out of the cages. In the pic below, they are laying on me and neither is shiwing signs of stress.

See I worry about posting pictures like this... And I do want to point out since you say that neither are showing signs of stress. It is in no way normal for a cham to sleep on a person. This is actually a sign of stress and shut down due to over stimulation.

All it takes is just one second for a cat to grab a cham... And your left with piercing holes in a chameleon. While I understand you feel this is ok with your animals I would caution against recommending it or showing pictures like this. It advocates that it is ok. And someone that does not understand will see this picture and will think it is perfectly normal and safe.

I am not picking on you in any way. How you choose to have your animals interact is totally your business as they are your animals. I just do not want new keepers seeing this and thinking this is safe. Or that a chameleon sleeping on you is a sign of a healthy chameleon when it actually is not.

 

[Newtoreptiles]

See I worry about posting pictures like this... And I do one to point out since you say that neither are showing signs of stress. It is in no way normal for a cham to sleep on a person. This is actually a sign of stress and shut down due to over stimulation.

All it takes is just one second for a cat to grab a cham... And your left with piercing holes in a chameleon. While I understand you feel this is ok with your animals I would caution against recommending it or showing pictures like this. It advocates that it is ok. And someone that does not understand will see this picture and will think it is perfectly normal and safe.

I am not picking on you in any way. How you choose to have your animals interact is totally your business as they are your animals. I just do not want new keepers seeing this and thinking this is safe. Or that a chameleon sleeping on you is a sign of a healthy chameleon when it actually is not.

See with me I'm paranoid about mixing animals, not only cause of them harming each other, but also transferring bacteria to each other lol. I am over cautious about stuff like that.

 

[MissSkittles]

See with me I'm paranoid about mixing animals, not only cause of them harming each other, but also transferring bacteria to each other lol. I am over cautious about stuff like that.

Paranoia and being overly cautious is always preferred when it comes to our animals. It takes a fraction of a second for something bad to happen and cause a lifetime of regret.

 

[dinomom]

See with me I'm paranoid about mixing animals, not only cause of them harming each other, but also transferring bacteria to each other lol. I am over cautious about stuff like that.

Yes and tho I love my cat more than life I know their oral bacteria is nasty.

 

[MzLaurie11]

See I worry about posting pictures like this... And I do want to point out since you say that neither are showing signs of stress. It is in no way normal for a cham to sleep on a person. This is actually a sign of stress and shut down due to over stimulation.

All it takes is just one second for a cat to grab a cham... And your left with piercing holes in a chameleon. While I understand you feel this is ok with your animals I would caution against recommending it or showing pictures like this. It advocates that it is ok. And someone that does not understand will see this picture and will think it is perfectly normal and safe.

I am not picking on you in any way. How you choose to have your animals interact is totally your business as they are your animals. I just do not want new keepers seeing this and thinking this is safe. Or that a chameleon sleeping on you is a sign of a healthy chameleon when it actually is not.

You make a lot of sense Beman. I will not post it again.

 

[Beman]

You make a lot of sense Beman. I will not post it again.

Thank you. And again I do not want you to feel like I am picking on you at all. We just get so many new keepers here and as a community have to be so careful about what we put out there for them to see. Thank you for understanding.

 

[Gingero]

I though that this video would be a good contribution to this thread: Can you keep other pets and chameleons?

 

[Helen Oushen]

У меня есть две собаки, одна очень интересуется моими хамелеонами, а другая такая сумасшедшая, что я не знаю, понимает ли она, что кроме нее есть еще какое-то животное. Тем не менее, я держу своих хамелеонов в их собственной комнате, и собак туда не пускают. Я просто хочу быть в безопасности.

 

[Helen Oushen]

common situation