I recently got two little hermit crabs. I also have a cat at home.
My cat sleeps in my room, but he won't stop bothering the crabs. My hermit crabs' tank is located on my dresser, which my cat can access.
How can I prevent my cat from bothering my newly acquired hermit crabs?
It's far more likely that:
You said your cat was "bothering" the crabs without any details; I assume you are keeping the crabs in a closed tank to keep the humidity up for them, which will also protect them from the cat. They're something new in the cat's environment, and they're naturally curious creatures, so it's not unexpected that the cat would want to investigate this new thing, especially since it has small creatures moving around inside. That said, if somehow the cat were to get into the tank (improperly secured, for instance), the crabs are very well equipped to defend against the cat with their hard shells and claws.
However, on my first point, a quick Google search for "will two hermit crabs kill each other" returns thousands of results from forums, retailers, and pet care sites on hermit crab aggression, why they attack each other, and ways to prevent it. As that's not the topic of this question, I'll leave that to your own research or a future question if you need more help with it; I only mention it as the greater threat than the cat, and one that has been well documented.
My second point is, unfortunately, less well documented; I have friends who used to foster kittens, and lost one to hermit crab food poisoning, after which they discarded all the existing food and replaced it with one that was non-toxic to cats. However, searching Google for this topic only gives results on "can you give hermit crabs cat food," "what should I feed my hermit crab," and "why did my hermit crab die," nothing related to toxicity to mammals in commercially prepared foods. As this was many years ago, it's very possible that foods for hermit crabs have been reformulated to prevent toxicity in common household mammals, but I would still strongly recommend you research the ingredients in the specific foods you're using to ensure they pose no danger to your furry friend.
I had to do quite a bit of digging to find these answers.
I was unable to find information on whether or not a cat would eat a living crab, but I did find that they can eat cooked crabs and shrimp. this article says that cats will eat crab meat as a treat given to them by their owner, but I highly doubt you'll feed your pet to your other pet. Most of what I found just said that cats will eat crabs. I'm not 100% sure if it will mess with a living one though. I did find a video of a cat fighting a crab. But from what I watched; the cat showed no interest in eating the crab. So just as a precaution, I'd say you should keep the cat away from the crabs. NOTE: the video is not really a source of information, but it's as close as I could get.
