[Cuttlefish Eggs]: Jabba, Jool, Ziro, Zorba - S. Bandensis

Eggs - Gen 2 begins

I guess they were not just "practicing" :sly:. As I passed by the cuttle tank today I glanced over and thought, "what are those 5 grape things doing in there, wait, WHAT? Where are my breeder nets?"
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Egg laying must but hungry work as all of them came out (and kept getting in the way) while I was trying to install the net.

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I think there has been some fighting as I have seen two (maybe three) circular marks on different individuals. The marks are not alway visible but are in different locations.

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@cuttlegirl , @Thales please look at the white ring on what I think are the two males. Initial thoughts were fighting as the marks are not in the same place (but close). They seem to be able to fade (possibly disappear) and I am beginning to wonder if it is a male marking.

It is hard to believe the size of the eggs vs the size of the cuttlefish. They are bitter than their heads! I know the first eggs are likely to be duds but they look pretty much like the eggs for the adults with perhaps a little less ink in spots. Neal gave me a frowny face when he saw the net because he thought I had ordered more eggs :rolleyes: because these are already a small fortune to feed even after graduating to shrimp and crabs. When I explained the eggs were from our cuttles, he was both impressed and slightly less frowny faced.
 
I hand feed at least on food item at night to be sure each cuttlefish gets something to eat. Jool has a depth perception problem when I hold shrimp near the glass. None of the the other three have this perception issue while hers is quite noticeable all the time. I usually hold her shrimp mid water but she did not want to come away from the newly installed net to eat (possibly to avoid being courted). The video is shortened but it took about 5 minutes to feed her. Not shown in the video was Neal's earlier failed attempt to get her to follow his finger to the shrimp :biggrin2:. Ultimately the shrimp slipped out of my fingers in the right direction while her near by piggy sibling was still enjoying his dinner.

 
Having read that they ALWAYS lay eggs in the deepest, darkest, most unreachable place, I was amazed at finding them on the substrate. However, there is such a place with good water flow at the back of the tank where the return pipe sits. Neal and I both think she laid them there and the return blew them free. I don't know how many days the eggs may have been there but surely they did not start out this size. I saw what might have been a sixth egg in the referenced location but when I went hunting with a flash light, I could no longer see the brown lump. It may have been the serpent that lives in the rocks as no other eggs have magically appeared. I look with the flashlight daily.

Zorba, the female (I think) medium sized cuttle comes to the front whenever she sees me and begs for food (or attention). Tonight she let me touch her arms with a thawed shrimp and took it using only her arms. This has happened only once before. I am not sure if it was this animal but am sure it is the same animal that always comes to the front. She refuses crabs and seems to want to be hand fed her entire meal (and would likely eat any time food is offered - should have named them after pigs or maybe their offspring will be named after the 7 deadly sins, starting with gluttony and greed :roll:). Humor aside, she is definitely my favorite and approaches my hand in the water. I am hoping she will come and sit on my finger.

We tried the frozen krill again tonight and Zorba picked one up from a rock that was offered to Jabba. Unfortunately, I found it sitting on the tank floor with only the head missing. I dangled/wiggled the remainder in the tank and three of the others came over with interest but none even strike at it. I am going to look for an alternate frozen shrimp. PE used to offer a large mysis (almost the size of shore shrimp in length but skinnier) but what I have found so far is much smaller and mushy. Everything I have found locally is mush (probably thawed, crushed and refrozen several times) as well so I will have to take a chance (again) on-line. Rumor has it that the frozen come from China/Tiawan and that there is a shortage this year. Fortunately, I can feed the mush to the tanks so it is expensive but not wasted food.
 
Sometimes the first eggs are not well attached, so this may be the case, but you will find large clumps of eggs somewhere, soon. I would put my hand in the water and the female would rest on top of my hand. Often if they know there is an alternative, they will refuse frozen. You could try letting them be hungry for awhile and then offer frozen. At least they are not spitting them out in disgust.
 
@cuttlegirl I remembered you posting that BabyA would sit on your hand and is my reason for attempting to allow her to make contact. Quite interesting how they all have different personalities.

The first attempt with krill did result in immediate rejection and I am not sure the head was consumed but it was at least severed from the body. These are pretty mushy so the texture alone may be a turn off. I am hoping to find something that I can at least hand feed and they will accept. They are too much like puppies to refuse them food, especially when they take on that smooth skin appearance and hover at the front of the tank staring at you :roll:. I don't know if it is better that they show puppy eyes or if you can't assume anything from the eyes at all like Zilch (the nautilus).
 
LOL, I KNEW you would know what I was talking about. Zorba is particularly adapt.

So far no more eggs but some fooling around. I have twice now (once very early on and then this week) seen clear round globs released. My first mention was wondering if this was an elimination form but now I think these are infertile eggs. The size and shape match but these have been clear and released directly into the water column.
 
I am really please with the middle one. It encourages me to keep working with this camera. When I broke my Canon I cried because I could not afford to replace it. This is a Nikon and I can't say that I have given it a fair chance.
 
Gen 2 - 8 total eggs
I found a lone egg a couple of days ago (8/27 ish), again out in the open. I though it may have been laid at the same time as the others but was not blown out of its hiding place because it was attached to a small amount of substrate and slightly smaller then the eggs in the net. However, on 8/30 there were two more eggs laying in the open on the sand so a total of 8 so far.
 

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