cat knocked over enclosure?

[ladyavery]

Hi guys! I am new to this whole thing, so sorry for my lack of terminology etc.
I got a beautiful female B. Boehmei about a month ago, and she's wonderful. I have a very simple enclosure for her, she's on dry coconut fibre and her hide is a little light piece of wood that is kind of hidden in the dirt, and a small water container. Today, I put two crickets in her enclosure (they're usually gone in a few hours) and left the room. My roommates cat has never noticed the T exists, but noticed the crickets and knocked her enclosure off the shelf where she's sitting... Only about two feet off the ground. Lid popped off, some substrate fell out, I found her immediately buried under some of the substrate, she ran into my catch cup, and I gently put her enclosure back together and put her back. She seems to be okay, but understandably I am concerned.... I have her back on the shelf, in a dark room and the cat has been locked out. I also found the two crickets and took them out so they aren't added stress.... Is there anything else I can/should do other than just keep a close eye on her?

I always have been more of a dog person.
Thanks for any of your help and guidance!

 

[Rigor Mortis]

I'd keep an eye on her and keep that cat OUT from here on out. As long as she doesn't have any hemolymph leaking from anywhere she's probably fine. Can we have a photo of the T and her enclosure as they are now?

 

[Poonjab]

Every time I hear one of these stories, it solidifies my reasons of why I will never own a cat.

 

[Rigor Mortis]

Every time I hear one of these stories, it solidifies my reasons of why I will never own a cat.

Cats and spiders can exist in the same household, just not in an area where the cat can directly interact with the spiders. I'd even be worried about a curious dog if the spiders were at dog-level.

 

[Poonjab]

Cats and spiders can exist in the same household, just not in an area where the cat can directly interact with the spiders. I'd even be worried about a curious dog if the spiders were at dog-level.

I’m not saying they can’t. If people want to own cats and T’s, more power to them. In my personal life, it’s just not worth the hassle to me.

 

[Jesse607]

A little off topic, but I've lived with three cats in my 20 years of T keeping. The first one was absolutely bent on destroying any other life form, especially if dirt was involved. Lots of precautions and booby traps were involved. One I had after never paid attention to the enclosures except on rare occasions, but only when I had them open...but he would stare at the roach bin for hours at times. The last one I had never gave a crap about any of my creatures, she even watched tarantula matings and rehousings without the slightest interest in interfering...she was an anomaly I imagine.

 

[Asgiliath]

A little off topic, but I've lived with three cats in my 20 years of T keeping. The first one was absolutely bent on destroying any other life form, especially if dirt was involved. Lots of precautions and booby traps were involved. One I had after never paid attention to the enclosures except on rare occasions, but only when I had them open...but he would stare at the roach bin for hours at times. The last one I had never gave a crap about any of my creatures, she even watched tarantula matings and rehousings without the slightest interest in interfering...she was an anomaly I imagine.

Big same over here! I also have three cats living in a relatively small home with myself and my 19 tarantulas.

I keep the T's on tight shelves so the cats can't jump onto the enclosures or anything around them. I'm not sure if the cats even know the tarantulas exist tbh but they sure do excited when the cricket box comes out

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

3 cats, 3 scorpions, 4 amblypygi, and a mess of crickets. None of the cats has ever shown the slightest interest in anything but the crickets. But just to be safe, my babies are all on a shelf with blocked access so the idiot cats can't jump up there if they ever change their minds and get curious.

 

[RowanFG]

My dog is scared is spiders and any escaped crickets so I'm not too concerned.

 

[Smotzer]

This happened to me! My cat is obsessed with any type of insect, he is always watching my praying mantises. He would always try and knock over the enclosures when I was rearing moths. He is less interested in the tarantulas, but he does know they are there, I had to put shelves up high on the walls so he wouldn’t try and play with any of my critters.

 

[Gavin Sons]

Our cats getvup on my boys dresser and look in the T enclosures. My solution was to use some of that rug tape that hold area rugs in place under each enclosure. Just tacky enough it takes some effort to dislodge them. And my one cat is a real B.

 

[Leila]

OP, glad your tarantula is likely okay

I was not so lucky when one of my cats figured out how to open the closet door where I keep my Ts on a shelf. The cat knocked down one of the enclosures, and when I found the disaster, the T was dead.

I now use one of those child-proof things for door/cabinet handles. Tough lesson to learn..

 

[ladyavery]

Can we have a photo of the T and her enclosure as they are now?

She seems okay! It's really hard to get a pic of the enclosure without the glare of the plastic she's got about 4" of substrate in there, but I have plans to add some more and bought her a real hide the other day. The guy I got her from had her on about 1/2" of repti chips and a full red solo cup as a hide so even tho it isn't perfect yet, it's better than it was for sure.

Thanks everyone - I'm so relieved she's okay. I'll definitely be more vigilant about keeping the cat out and that's a great idea @Gavin Sons.

 

[viper69]

Hi guys! I am new to this whole thing, so sorry for my lack of terminology etc.
I got a beautiful female B. Boehmei about a month ago, and she's wonderful. I have a very simple enclosure for her, she's on dry coconut fibre and her hide is a little light piece of wood that is kind of hidden in the dirt, and a small water container. Today, I put two crickets in her enclosure (they're usually gone in a few hours) and left the room. My roommates cat has never noticed the T exists, but noticed the crickets and knocked her enclosure off the shelf where she's sitting... Only about two feet off the ground. Lid popped off, some substrate fell out, I found her immediately buried under some of the substrate, she ran into my catch cup, and I gently put her enclosure back together and put her back. She seems to be okay, but understandably I am concerned.... I have her back on the shelf, in a dark room and the cat has been locked out. I also found the two crickets and took them out so they aren't added stress.... Is there anything else I can/should do other than just keep a close eye on her?

I always have been more of a dog person.
Thanks for any of your help and guidance!

Cats kill Ts, they have the genes for hunting in them.