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Cats and Screen Tops

ZoologyGirl

ZoologyGirl

Under Tank Heather
Hi. I was wondering if anyone has cats might be able to help me out.

My cats like to jump on top of things (like most cats). The only thing keeping them off of my fish tank right now is the hood is too akward of a shape to be comfortable on.

However, when I get a viv with a screen top I'm a little worried about them jumping on it. How strong are the screens, are cats heavy enough to break them? And any ideas in general on how to keep them off?

Thanks.
 
I have that problem also, what I do is I take masking tape and place it sticky side up all over the screen, i kinda roll the ends over so they will stick to the top. The cats hate the sticky texture. I am afraid the screen top can't handle his weight!
 
I cant help much here other to say that when my sister had a rat her cat would sit on top the screen for hours. Sure enough one night there was a crash and the cat was in the tank with the rat. We fixed it a few times (I dont remember the exact tank but I know it was extremely easy to rescreen it) because the cat just kept getting on it, I dont remember what happened in the end, I can ask my sister. Luckily the cat didnt seem to want to hurt the rat I guess it was just curious because anytime it ended up in the tank it would jump out and run away.

Sorry its not much help :/
 
I don't want to speak for anyone else but when I visited susang she had a very ingenious system with wooden tops (ventilated with plenty of holes) that sat on top of her tanks. The cats could sit on top and not fall through.
My cat is pretty light (7 lbs) so I just let her sit on the mice tanks sometimes (my snakes are all in tubs) she has not fallen through (yet) lol
 
My fat cat liked to sit on top of my beardies cage. One morning we found him squished under the screen and the heat lamp (thank God it was off for the night) We thought he was dead, but we got lucky and he was fine. It's alway better to be safe than sorry. ;)

I like the special wood tops Jen (ghosthousecorns) was talking about. That is a great idea.
 
yep- i have oodles of kitties... i currently house my beardie in a 45 gallon tank on the floor in the living room (also used as the coffee table). but my fat siamese has fumped on it and the screen is pulling apart.... its not the first screen he has broken... i believe this is the 3rd screen top thats been ruined.... spoiled kitty!
 
We used to keep an 11.5ft boa constrictor who had a huge screen-top tank, and our cat *loved* to sleep on top of it at night. Neither snake nor cat ever had any qualms (this went on for years) and in fact, we joke around that the only reason she refused to eat guinea pigs (tried once when the pet shop was out of rats) was because they looked so much like our cat. :bird:

If you plan on keeping a basking lamp above the tank, that might deter the cat.
 
asymons said:
We used to keep an 11.5ft boa constrictor who had a huge screen-top tank, and our cat *loved* to sleep on top of it at night. Neither snake nor cat ever had any qualms (this went on for years) and in fact, we joke around that the only reason she refused to eat guinea pigs (tried once when the pet shop was out of rats) was because they looked so much like our cat......
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....... the cat hasn't sat on the lid lately, come to think of it I haven't seen the cat lately.....hum....:eats02:
 
be careful if you use heat lamps! i've lost 2 actual domes (not the actual light bulbs-hey were fine) to my cats throwing them off the 55 gallon boa tank and the domes crash to the ground.. UGH. i wish cats knew what time out meant!
 
I have a cat who used the lid as a springboard to jump up onto a higher surface (the top of a bookcase) -- and as the result of one too many jumps, he busted the lid & out escaped the snakey-boy (later quickly found in a pile of laundry sitting next to his tank). I've put a plant on top of the tank to dissuade the same cat from sleeping on top of the tank -- that worked ok for me...
 
Cegninedorf said:
I've put a plant on top of the tank to dissuade the same cat from sleeping on top of the tank -- that worked ok for me...
Click to expand...

This seems plausible and might work for me. We do that for our tv and what not, a couple strategically placed items to prevent the spot from looking comfy...seems to work ok.
 
What has stopped my cats from jumping on top of any tanks?

its an easy one, remove the top. I had one of my cats jump up on a 55 gallon tank and she stopped after that day. There was no hood and she got very wet.
 
A friend of mine apparently lost one of her snakes to such; details were vague since another friend (of hers, not mine) was caring for the snakes over school break, but the snake died and it had SOMETHING to do with a cat and a screen top :/

I just don't let my cats into the snake room (well, not until I'm done building new front-opening cages) because some of my screen tops are rather flimsy.

Generally it seems like built-in tops, like the kind you get with intended terrariums, aren't that strong. But when I buy separate tops that clip on, those seem quite sturdy!
 
I have a couple of cats and I keep my snake in my room which I've made a habit of closing off. My male cat (the biggest trouble maker) wants to come in my room from time to time. He was scratching at my door tonight while I was handling my snake. Would the snakes and cats be aware of each other without actually seeing one another? i.e. Can they smell each other?
 
One of my cats loves to lay on top of my snake tank. The tank is 18" by 30". I bought a large metal screen top, and I do check it daily to make sure its not coming apart. So far it seems to be standing up very well, and the cat often jumps from the ground up, its about 3 and a half feet from the floor, then will go from the top of the tank to the window nearby. I bought the screen top separate from the tank but as I said, I haven't had any problems.
 
Im having the same problem! Irwin fell through Suri's tank screen last week. Thank god she had a full belly and didnt go anywhere. I went to Lowes looking for something solid to lay across the tops.

I bought wood, and then rubber grippers to hold them in place. Thats the best I can come up with.
 
If you have the time to kill, let the cats in the same room with the snakes, grab a spray bottle (filled with ONLY water) and sit and wait. When they decide to get on top of the tank squirt them. They'll FREAK, and might come back again but doing this a couple of times will make them stop. Cats HATE being sprayed and will associate that spot with a squirt of water and leave it alone. Hopefully, lol.
 
Thats mean. I hate when people recommend spraying cats in the face. People do it on dog forums too.

There are other ways to discourage. Cats are finicky. You piss them off the wrong way and theyll start peeing and crapping where they shouldnt.
 
Jadie.Glitch said:
If you have the time to kill, let the cats in the same room with the snakes, grab a spray bottle (filled with ONLY water) and sit and wait. When they decide to get on top of the tank squirt them. They'll FREAK, and might come back again but doing this a couple of times will make them stop. Cats HATE being sprayed and will associate that spot with a squirt of water and leave it alone. Hopefully, lol.
Click to expand...

we think alike, i just though of this at work today and will probably give it a go.
 
JustineNYC said:
Thats mean. I hate when people recommend spraying cats in the face. People do it on dog forums too.

There are other ways to discourage. Cats are finicky. You piss them off the wrong way and theyll start peeing and crapping where they shouldnt.
Click to expand...
While I don't spray my cats in the face, I will squirt them on their body...and it's not a constant form of punishment, just when I'm trying to get them to stop a certain behavior, and I've had no repercussions with them peeing/pooing elsewhere. In fact, I don't remember the last time that I squirted them...! :p If they are acting up and I do feel the need to find the bottle, they just have to see it & they stop. :p However, I do agree that this will not work for every cat, every time.
 
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