Who here keeps chameleons while having cats/dogs?

[jamest0o0]

I’m trying to set up a reptile corner in our finished basement, but I do have cats. Besides the obvious cat proofing of an enclosure, my concern with a Cham would be the stress of seeing the cats walk around. Anytime in the past I could tell they weren’t happy when a cat would walk in the room. That said, chams are the same way with people until they recognize us as not a threat, then they generally chill out. So for those of you that have cats or dogs, did you notice over time your Cham didn’t get bothered by them walking around? This is all assuming that they couldn’t get to or harass the Cham in anyway.

 

[Beman]

I have dogs and a cat. Beman is fine seeing either but I also had dogs with him in the room where his cage was when he was young. Not sure if that made a difference. Now my daughter's cat from hell is another story. I had to put up a modified baby gate on my bedroom door to keep the cat out but not block airflow to my room. Beman would barely move and the cat will try to climb the cage. Which yes would cause Beman to freak out. So no more kitty in my room for Beman's safety. I have never had a cat with such a high prey drive and honestly swore I would not allow my daughter to get one due to having a chameleon in the house. But I broke down. We work around it but I will never have Beman's cage in a room with our cat again.

 

[Sherbertsmysunshine]

I have two dogs and two cats that could be near my cham. I put up a curtain wire and made a little room with dark curtains, so my chameleon couldn't see the other animals. This also helped when people were over. The dogs never cared to look for him, but the cats would venture past the curtain a few times. It only took a couple squirts with the spray water bottle to get them to leave him alone, and my cham had his own little room.

 

[jamest0o0]

Thank you both for the input!

It’s tough with cats because they are so unpredictable. I have a fairly large Savannah, so I’d definitely need things sturdy, but he hasn’t bothered our crab/aquarium. I’m confident I could set things up in a way they couldn’t break, I just hope a Cham could get fine with seeing them walk by occasionally. I’ll have to look at my options for visual barriers just incase.

Luckily, our cats don’t hang out in the basement much other than to eat and use the litter box(which are in a different room anyway). Neither of them are big on staring, even when our pet crab is walking around in his tank they ignore him, but that said I don’t trust them for a second and given the chance I’m sure they’d try something. So far they bother our house plants the most, but I’ve been using this natural bitter spray that’s been working pretty well to deter them.

 

[MissSkittles]

I don’t think any of my chams have ever been bothered by seeing my cats or dog. I do have my some fake plants hanging on the front of my enclosures and maybe that helps them feel more secure. My cats and dog have never messed with trying to get to the chameleons. When stepdaughter lived with me, she had a kitten that had too much interest in the chameleons for my taste, but there was no easy way for her to reach them.
Now, one of my chameleons is bothered by one of my beardies. I’ve blocked the view as much as possible, but every now and then he goes and crams himself in the corner to the one little area where he can stare at her and gets all fired up.

 

[Beman]

I think as long as your cats don't have a high prey drive and will leave the cham alone your good. Beman has never reacted to anything with my pets. I mean my puppy when she was a baby would put her front feet up on the stand and sniff the cage. Beman would come from the basking level down to the bottom floor to look at her. Never saw any sign of stress with Beman with anything except another chameleon.

 

[jamest0o0]

Well you all are giving me some good hope then! I miss being part of this community, feels like a part of me is off not having a chameleon . Finally have somewhat of a solid plan in place though.

When I had Cham’s the cats weren’t able to go in the room and the few times they did my panthers would show stress colors, but probably because it was something new they weren’t used to.

 

[Beman]

Well you all are giving me some good hope then! I miss being part of this community, feels like a part of me is off not having a chameleon . Finally have somewhat of a solid plan in place though.

When I had Cham’s the cats weren’t able to go in the room and the few times they did my panthers would show stress colors, but probably because it was something new they weren’t used to.

Need to get back in on the fun hun. That could be… Beman’s cage was in my living room next to my desk where he saw my family and dogs all the time. And that was when I was dumb and had him in a small cham kit so he was not that far away from the ground. He was 4 months old so from that point on he was always in view and able to watch us. Only time he ever freaked out was when he saw my panther cham walking by his cage on me when he was roughly 11 months old. Went black and hid. Never saw that reaction though when he saw any of my veileds though. He barely would fire up seeing them.