Cat disaster:( scratches

[galofthetao]

Hello all,
I have had a disaster. My husband gave my snakes water last night, per my instructions and I wake up this morning and there is my pied female beside my bed (her cage is in my room) and she had scratches on her. She is in shed and the shed is all scratched up and she has these tiny scratches on her skin. They seem superficial although I have a vet appointment in an hour just to be sure. Apparently my lovely persian found her and decided to play. I don't see any bite wounds on her and no deep wounds but when I first picked her up she was striking, obviously terrified. I have soaked her in a dilute iodine-betadine bath and applied some wound healing ointment specifically for snakes although honestly the white parts on her make it difficult to see how bad scratches are, just see pink lines (not red). I went and checked on her tank and the lid was not completely latched, last time hubby does anything. Anyway, I just want to know if anything like this has happened to anybody else and what they did, and how they helped their herp heal. Please no hateful comments, I am well aware of how important it is to have a secure lid, this was a complete accident and I cant tell you the mortifying feeling I got when I realized what happened. Any stories or related info would be appreciated.

[infernalis]

Welcome.

Kudos on booking a vet visit so quickly!

Hateful comments are frowned upon here ;)

The closest thing I have ever had happen was (my fault) I left a cover open for a few minutes and the darn cat jumped into the enclosure, But the snake was up under the hide, no real harm done.

Your course of actions were right on target.

http://www.thamfriends.com/mat.jpg

[kenchenzo]

i have three dogs which i keep well clear from the snakes.
the burm might see them as food?.....

[dragunov.762]

my cat is afraid of my snakes but my kingsnake kept rubbing her nose on her screen lid (she is now in a custom build enclosure). you can use neosporin (no pain killers just the original) and it should heal. thats what my vet told me to do.

[Freebody]

years and years ago i had some boas, somehow my snakes had gotten out of the cage, it lifted the lid with the weights on it and didnt knock anything over, i have not idea how long she was out of the cage for but i walked into my bedroom to grab my dirty cloths or somthing and looked over and their she is ice cold and just sitting on the floor ina little ball,... crazy thing is i had a 95 pound pitbull that hates animals, if he found her he would have surely eaten her. I was so lucky :)

[TylerWortman]

Freebody,

How big was your boa at the time of her escape, length and weight?
Also, what did you use for weight ontop of the cage?

My brother has a 20 high with a solid top that doesnt lock so he always stacks and stacks things ontop to "secure" the lid. I'd just like to see how strong snakes are.

My cages latch dont worry :)

[Reptile_Reptile]

my very first BP eve was her name i had my sister change the water while i was at a friends house and she never replaced the bricks on the corners and the she got out and unfortunately i only know she died cause i found a little bit of her flesh on my floor. fyi flesh not just scales. my family has 3 dogs and 1 cat. luckily i dont have to deal with that anymore R.I.P i loved that snake more then i loved myself she was my first snake after 12 years of wanting a snake avidly (correct use of the word avidly idk) and i was devastated

[presspirate]

I am not a cat fan.:no: I had a friend who had a young BP escape from his cage, the cat got ahold of it and decided to play with it for awhile.... He spent over $400 getting that snake fixed up. He'll never breed, and he was just the sweetest little thing.:no:

[galofthetao]

Thank you all soooo much for the stories and positive comments, this place is wonderful!! Just an update, her scratches are very superficial and looks like as longs as I medicate her with anitbiotic ointment she will be just fine. Some one asked about how big she is, I'd say she is a 500 gram pied ball python. I can't tell you all how scary this was and I am so greatful to you guys for listening and sharing. I will definitely be back here, this is a lovely reptile community. :)

[presspirate]

Glad to hear things worked out. I'll bet the hubby got an ear full.:yes:

[D&J-burgos]

I've had a similar event, our ball python escaped from his habitat, and our cat found him behind my drum set... however, our cat will no longer enter the room...so bp 1 cat 0

[presspirate]

I've had a similar event, our ball python escaped from his habitat, and our cat found him behind my drum set... however, our cat will no longer enter the room...so bp 1 cat 0
Now that... in my opinion is a happy ending.

[Reptile_Reptile]

go bp... i cant stand cats (except mine) and even he has huge restrictions he cant even get into the half of the house i keep my snakes in its either living room kitchen or outside for him (my friend has his bp literally smacked out of his hand by his gf's cat and it made me to paranoid)<--- its his fault tho read my rant on the rants page about my friends bp and you will see... he is a no good snake owner atm im trying to change that

[D&J-burgos]

i was just reading your rant lol, and yeah...its the girls cat, and the ball (Toki) is mine, if have him out the cat wont even come in the room with him..so im not too worried at the moment

[shaunyboy]

Hello all,
I have had a disaster. My husband gave my snakes water last night, per my instructions and I wake up this morning and there is my pied female beside my bed (her cage is in my room) and she had scratches on her. She is in shed and the shed is all scratched up and she has these tiny scratches on her skin. They seem superficial although I have a vet appointment in an hour just to be sure. Apparently my lovely persian found her and decided to play. I don't see any bite wounds on her and no deep wounds but when I first picked her up she was striking, obviously terrified. I have soaked her in a dilute iodine-betadine bath and applied some wound healing ointment specifically for snakes although honestly the white parts on her make it difficult to see how bad scratches are, just see pink lines (not red). I went and checked on her tank and the lid was not completely latched, last time hubby does anything. Anyway, I just want to know if anything like this has happened to anybody else and what they did, and how they helped their herp heal. Please no hateful comments, I am well aware of how important it is to have a secure lid, this was a complete accident and I cant tell you the mortifying feeling I got when I realized what happened. Any stories or related info would be appreciated.


hello and welcome i think you have handled the situation great

i could not have suggested a single thing more you could have done

just keep an eye on the wounds for infection

keep them clean with a dillute iodine soulution


if the wounds are dry and scabbing then things should be just fine

cheers shaun

[Lankyrob]

When my 8inch Corn escaped he was found by one of our cats - scratch up the score to Snakes 2 cats 0!!! At 8 inchs long he was throwing himslef at the cats face and the cat was more scared than the corn snake was!

[Reptile_Reptile]

^_^ pwn that corn is awesome

[Freebody]

Freebody,

How big was your boa at the time of her escape, length and weight?
Also, what did you use for weight ontop of the cage?

My brother has a 20 high with a solid top that doesnt lock so he always stacks and stacks things ontop to "secure" the lid. I'd just like to see how strong snakes are.

My cages latch dont worry :)
my boa was about 7 feet long, about the thickness of a 1 litre pop bottle. i had the cage weighted down with 15-20 pound flat stones on all 4 sides. she did it so sly she didnt even knock over one of the stones off the lid. when snakes get that big they are Very strong :P

[nanna]

My cat is fascinated with Dakota I have even found him on top of the viv that is when a squirt gun comes in handy. He will remember that day for a while. :yes:

[Freebody]

my feret likes to sit infront of my retics cage and watch her alot. its funny that my snake pays no attension to him, but if im standing in the kitchen thawing out rats, just the smell will get her out and searching for food. so its clear she does not see him as a food source, but i bet she would eat him if she was not in the cage lol

[Lankyrob]

Our cats love the top of the vivs, lovely and warm for them!! I leave them to it to be honest, dont see that they are doing any harm whilst the vivs are all locked up. They are put outside whenever a snske is coming out for a cuddle or being fed tho, not worth that risk.

[Reptile_Reptile]

the whole dander thing is an issue with me i would never let my cat do that. bad idea in my opinion

[Freebody]

the cage is locked up their is no danger for the cat :P

[Lankyrob]

I should say that all my vivs are solid wooden ones with sliding glass doors on the front. Having ancat sleeping on top,of them presents no danger to the snake or the cat.

[Reptile_Reptile]

ok makes sense didnt realize.