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I've read that Sailfin Dragons a quite receptive of human handling and can make pretty good pets. I'm curious if that means they would get along with other animals too.

I have two cats, and they're both well behaved around reptiles. They show some interest in the smaller lizards that scurry about suddenly, but other than that they ignore them (they're well aware they would be in huge trouble with me if they bothered any of the reptiles).

Still, I acknowledge that most reptiles see cats as predators, and there's a short period where it takes them to get used to their presence and realize that they're perfectly safe. What I'm curious about, is that since sailfin dragons get to be about a meter long, would they consider my cats to be predators at all? A meter is a little over 3 feet long and easily larger than both of my cats.

The reason I'm interested in them, is that they're supposed to be a more reasonable cousin of iguanas, but should I worry about them attacking my cats? How well would a sailfin dragon get along with a cat?

Spidercat
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These lizards are actually not well receptive to human handling. While most lizards can be tamed down and don't commonly bite does not mean they are not stressed. In fact sail fin dragons are easily stressed which is why it is recommended that at least three walls of a sail fins cage is covered to reduce stress of the outside environment around him and reduce damage caused from snout rubbing. Your lizards should be kept out of visual range of your cat. As far as letting them roam free your cat should be separated at this time.

Just because your cat is OK around one lizard doesn't mean there won't be an uh-oh moment or he will be friendly to all lizards. My cat likes one of our dogs but not the other. The lizard you have now might not be so shy around your cat, but if the new lizard takes off, you won't be able to stop your cat's natural instinct to hunt. Unless you have a fat lazy cat.

But in short to answer your question yes, your cat will stress out your lizard. You will stress out your lizard until it becomes used to be handled. Please if it isn't already too late do your research before getting any animal. This requires reading books and checking more than one reptile forum or Google answer.

Spidercat
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jess
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I don't have lizards. I do have cats.

Even if your cats "get along well with lizards" that's really only a heuristic about what they will do with the next one. Cats are not hierarchical animals like dogs. Every cat negotiates with every other animal on its own (not based on an established pecking order). My point is simply that your cats are more likely to tolerate nicely the presence of a new lizard (lizard smell, appearance,... will all cue the cat into "this is one of those") but at the same time the individual dynamic will be different. A faster / slower / larger / smaller / more aggressive / more shy animal of any type will get a "new" response.

Dan S
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