"Cat tv"

Okay, it appears I went and got myself the best cat magnet ever. I bought four geckos. For the first week or so the cats didn't pay any attention to the terrarium, even though the pet store clerk said they probably would, her cat is fascinated by the small critters in their terrariums. Well... After day 10, my cats discovered their own interactive tv. The cats sit on the livingroom table and stare at the terrarium on the shelf (on bookcase type of thing so the cats couldn't jump ON the thing), RUN to sit there if they spot any movement, and even tap the glass if the geckos are close to the front glass- which is when the geckos freak and run for cover. Interactive tv. Sheesh. I'm desperately trying to train the cats to not get that close, because I'm sure it's stressing the geckos out, but you all know how stubborn cats can be, and I'm sure small critters moving around at eye level are irresistible.

What to do? The novelty was definitely not wearing off. Well, it hit me a few days ago. When I'm in the living room, it's no problem, I can keep the cats from bothering the geckos too much, and I finally figured out what to do when I'm not there. I now have a curtain stapled to the top of the bookcase, which I flip down to "cover" the terrarium when needed. Whew. Of course my cats are giving me dirty looks now for spoiling their fun... It can sometimes get interesting when you live in a household with many species of animals!

I think Nakita needs a couple of geckos to keep her entertained!! She always wants interaction, this may just be the think she needs!

Glad you figured out a way to keep the geckos safe from too much cat fascination!

Geckos... now that's something I didn't think of... I had considered getting Spike a little aquarium with fish it in to watch... but then I realized the tank would need to be cleaned regularly... and not to mention if a fish died, it would probably kill me. (I tend to get attached to things... ) It's kinda sweet your cats have 'pets'.

thats not so off the wall! I was thinking of getting some gerbils for Binky to watch. ( not just for binky, i am all ways thinking about other pets) I have a real big bird cage. I would love a small flock of Zebra finches. (Too messy for now) But i keep telling my self Binks would love to watch them just like a TV! I talk myself into it, then i talk myself out.

Or maybe a Ferret or a Rat. Rats are actually very good pets. They are smart and respond to human attention. If you can get passed the ickyness.

Great idea. Give the poor gecko's a break too. Wonder they dont have a heart attack with big bad cats watching em all the time. Cats are very persistant arent they?

They sure are... But the curtain is working out great, the geckos seem to enjoy it, move around a lot when the curtain is there. They're marbled geckos, a very skittish, arboreal species, so I was worried that they'd get too stressed out from the constant "observation" by the cats. It's funny though, I never figured geckos would be so interesting... One of them is a real big eater, s/he even goes to the food bowl when my hand's still in the terrarium, and the others are getting used to me too. One of them has this nightly routine of coming up to the front glass and staring at me... Yes, really. S/he does it every night, sometimes another one joins in too.

The curtain thing was a real challenge though, since I had to come up with something that wouldn't block air circulation from the terrarium.

Don't think that would work, at my house. Rowdy is very good at figuring out how to open things. I've seen how she and Opie react, when there's a lizard on the patio. Good thing, we have security screens or they'd be through them.

In years past, with other cats, I've found lizard parts scattered around the house. Ugh!!

I have a gold fish tank and my cats don't really pay much attention to it. these are so BIG fancy goldfish and I thought for sure the kitties would bother them. But they just go up to the tank look at them swimming and then walk away :LOL:

My sister has a real zoo, including an iguana, which the cats used to stare at all the time, poor thing. Well, the iguana is now bigger than the cats - now they run when she stares at them!

I started feeding the pigeons so that Ivo would have her own Cat TV. They don't excite her as much as they used to, but occasionally the neighborhood squirrel comes for a snack and she LOVES that! Although, she does still chatter at the pigeons from time to time.