Cat Proofing?

[Airikah]

I’ve had my lady Penny for 5 weeks now, she’s on her 2nd shed, is eating really well, and is getting slightly more social.

My boyfriend and I have three cats. They really love Penny. They like to sit on top of her cage and watch her move, and they LOVE to snuggle with her heat lamps. We are working on training the cats (and anyone who has cats knows that’s a lengthy process) to not get on top of the cage. They (the cats) already broke one screen top, and I upgraded to one with a metal screen instead of the vinyl one that came with our setup.

Does anyone have any recommendations for lids/screens/mods that I can do for her to prevent the cats from laying on her cage.

Here’s Penny snacking on a spinach

Here’s her setup: 40 gal, reptisun t8 10.0, 100w basking bulb, ceramic emitter, heating pad on the bottom of the left side of the tank, walnut substrate. Basking 105, cool side 80-85. Lights on 8am off 10pm. Diet: baby bites, mixed greens, dusted crickets 3-4 times a week, soft mealworm treats. Still finding veggies that she will eat, she’s picky, but poops regularly.

Thank you!

 

[kingofnobbys]

NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO , the cats MUST NEVER BE ALLOWED IN THE SAME ROOM .

NEVER let the cats anywhere near the dragon when it's out of it's tank.

THEY WILL NEVER BE FRIENDS and the cats pose a huge danger to the dragon.

You can never train the hunt and kill instinct out of a cat, the cats see the lizard as prey and are working out how to get to it.
What your cats are doing are neither cute or amusing NOR HARMLESS, and their activity in such close proximity will be stressing the dragon and MUST BE BROUGHT TO A STOP.

If there is a mesh lid , IT IS NOT CAT PROOF , a determined cat will rip through wire mesh even.

There are four options for housing your dragon SAFELY from here forward :

option 1 : convert existing tank to a solid timber hinged lid
viewtopic.php?f=75&t=240221&p=1840683#p1840683

option 2 : convert existing tank by turning tank on it's side and turn the top into the front and add sliding glass (lockable) doors
viewtopic.php?f=34&t=246739

option 3 : move the dragon into a tub with a click clak style lid that has been modified , a 120L tub will be ideal for a juvenile up til it's first birthday ie https://www.bunnings.com.au/all-set-120l-plastic-storage-container_p2583852 , conversion is easy and quick
, and the latches that hold the lid on will make it cat proof ie viewtopic.php?f=34&t=233480

option 4 : invest in a solid timber front opening tank or build one for the dragon.

OR you can put an electrified grid on top so the cat gets a jolt of current as soon as it touches the lid.

There are other issues I can see too :

> substrate appears to be sand or gravel or some kind of seed … it is a severe impaction risk and needs to removed ASAP.

> lighting , the T8 10%uvb TUBE is too far away ,see this : viewtopic.php?f=34&t=235611
should aiming at 180 microW UVB / sqcm at the basking spot

> thermometers appear to analog dial type … these are very inaccurate.

 

[Airikah]

Thanks for the advice! The substrate is walnut but she doesn’t eat it and has very robust daily bowel movements. We are planning on getting rid of it soon and switching to a sand-mat. Her basking spot is actually pretty close to the light fixture, it’s just hard to tell because I was lazy and took that photo from the couch. I moved it up a few CMs just the same. And we have a laser temperature gun that we use to double check her tank temps. The stuck-on thermometers are just left over from when we first got her set up.

We aren’t handling her outside of her tank just yet because she’s still jumpy. When we do take her out the cats will be away in other rooms. I know they won’t ever be friends. Once she’s big they will probably be scared of her, they aren’t brave cats. I’m going to look for the electric mat before changing her tank around too much. It took her almost three weeks to settle in to her house and I don’t want to stress her if I can avoid it.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Thanks for the advice! The substrate is walnut but she doesn’t eat it and has very robust daily bowel movements. We are planning on getting rid of it soon and switching to a sand-mat.
<< walnut shell is one of the worse substrates you can use for dragons , even worse than calcisand because of how sharp the pieces of shell are.
I'd remove it immediately.

Her basking spot is actually pretty close to the light fixture, it’s just hard to tell because I was lazy and took that photo from the couch. I moved it up a few CMs just the same. And we have a laser temperature gun that we use to double check her tank temps. The stuck-on thermometers are just left over from when we first got her set up.

We aren’t handling her outside of her tank just yet because she’s still jumpy. When we do take her out the cats will be away in other rooms. I know they won’t ever be friends. Once she’s big they will probably be scared of her, they aren’t brave cats.
<<< domestic cats take down wallabies , possums , and skinks ( as large as bluetongues , land mullets, shinglebacks ) and dragons (as big as frill necked and water dragons wild bearded dragons) here , cats only come off secondbest when they take on goannas and crocodiles and larger pythons (who will kill and eat the cat) .
Your cats are perfectly capable of killing a full grown bearded dragon and cat turn on it in an instant in a ferocious and vicious attack ( I've seen this happen even to people with house cats ). The cats wont be scared of her, don't fall into that trap.

I’m going to look for the electric mat before changing her tank around too much. It took her almost three weeks to settle in to her house and I don’t want to stress her if I can avoid it.