Having both a bearded dragon and a cat at home at the same time can surely be challenging. But can they become friends? Read on to find out.
Across the US, the domestic cat is one of the most popular household pets. During the 1990s, bearded dragons started gaining in popularity as well. In fact, the number of bearded dragons as household pets is on the rise as people are perceiving this small lizard as more than just an exotic pet.
If you plan on keeping them both, you may be wondering if a bearded dragon and cat can be friends. We will address this topic in this article, as well as how you can introduce them so they can co-exist in your home.
You do need to properly plan out the meet and greet session if you want them to be friends. Below are a few pointers on how to properly introduce them.
- Find the Right Breeder
When getting a bearded dragon, you must ensure that you go with a reputable breeder. This is important as a good breeder always ensures that the animals under their care are treated right and handled with proper care.
If the animal is abused by the breeder, it may be aggressive and fearful, making it more challenging to befriend other kinds of animals.
- You Need to Maintain Control of Both Animals at the Same Time
This might be a job for two people, where one person would deal with controlling the beardie and the other person should focus on handling the cat.
You should keep an eye out for their social cues around one another and how they behave when together. You should watch for signs that they are getting aggressive while interacting with each other. Observing them will allow you to instantly take steps if there is any unexpected aggression.
- Take Proper Care of Them
In order for both your pets to behave properly with each other, they will need to be taken care of properly. That includes ensuring they have a safe and comfortable habitat, and food, and are properly groomed per their requirements. As far as food is concerned, you can get canned food for cats available in all stores and online as well.
Having a dubia roach colony is an easy and quick way to ensure a food supply for your beardie as dubia roaches are a highly nutritious food that provides the bearded dragons with the nutrition they need.
- Supervise Them When They Are Together
Even after you have ensured that your pets have everything to be on their best behavior and you have complete control over them, you must still supervise them when they are together.
You may be totally confident about both your pets behaving well with each other, but you never know what might cause an unexpected incident to be triggered, and you should definitely be there to handle any situations that come up.
- Be Patient
The process of introducing your bearded dragon and cat will require you to have a lot of patience. These introductions and meetings need to be taken slowly so they have enough time to get familiarized with each other. Both the bearded dragon and the cat will need time to figure out if the other is a friend or not.
They need to have time to be comfortable with each other and get to accept one another. You should allow them time to investigate by sniffing and observing each other. This time is normal as all pets need time to get adjusted to each other.
What’s Common Between Bearded Dragons and Cats
In order to know if they can be friends or not, we also need to find out what they have in common.
- They Can Both Be Affectionate
Both the bearded dragon and cat are known to have a very close bond with their owners. Many bearded dragons will have a positive reaction to being picked up and will also engage happily in cuddling with you. They enjoy cuddling on your chest and neck the most, as this helps to keep them warm, being cold-blooded animals.
The domestic cat is well known to be friendly, sitting wherever they fancy, whether it be on your bed or your lap. Both of these pets just need to form a bond and build trust with their owners to become very affectionate creatures.
- They Are Both Pretty Friendly
Out of all the reptiles, the bearded dragon is one of the friendliest. They normally don’t show any negative behavior or display any aggression. They have a very friendly and easygoing temperament, making them very popular amongst first-time reptile owners.
Cats are also very friendly toward their owners. They like to stay close to the owners and nuzzle close to the body whenever they have the opportunity. They will cuddle up in your lap all day as long as you feed them well and keep stroking them.
Cats think they play a vital role in their owners’ lives, so they are sometimes a bit entitled. Both these pets can be super friendly, provided you raise them well.
- They Both Tolerate Other Animals Well
The bearded dragon is a placid animal that gets along well with the other pets in the house. Cats, on the other hand, are sassier. They usually display an attitude to the other pets but learn to tolerate them soon enough, for instance, growing more tolerant toward a new puppy.
Cats normally don’t love the other pets – they just accept them as other members of the house, tolerating them enough to co-exist with them.
Final Thoughts
If you introduce them carefully and socialize them from a young age, over time you can expect your bearded dragon and cat to get along pretty well, and even become friends.
Bearded dragons and cats have even been known to cuddle and play with each other. So if you were in doubt if a bearded dragon and cat can be friends, hopefully, our article has made it clear for you. Just be sure to take proper care of them to keep them happy. Good luck with your pets!