http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/8062/closemg7.jpg
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/323/longgz1.jpg
http://img452.imageshack.us/img452/2157/oblend1mt8.jpg
http://img452.imageshack.us/img452/452/ooctpc0.png

Cool! I like the red eyes, and those are some LONG arms!

Fluffy? FLUFFY? So, OK, I named Sistrurus after a snake (but a pygmy snake) but an octopus named after a CAT? Betty or Grable maybe for those great legs but Fluffy? Need more pictures!

Hah..when I was really young, I named one of our Kois in the backyard fluffy!

ahhh, my problem with "Fluffy" becomes obvious, young I cannot claim.:old:

admitably young (16) :P when i first asked my parents about keeping an octopus they went on about how furry/fluffy pets were the best pets so i couldn't resist

Love your new avitar! With explanation, I have decided I like the name too :sagrin:

Cute octo! Any idea what species? Looks like maybe O. Rubescens to me.

Yes, Fluffy is quite a name! Nice looking octopus.

Where did you get him? - I'm trying to put the source on the List of Our Octopuses in addition to the other data.

Nancy

Well, maybe Fluffy is not so Strange for an octo after all:

http://item.express.ebay.com/Apparel-Accessories_Womens-Clothing__Emily-Strange-SPOOKY-Sabbath-Octopus-Tshirt-Top-Jr-L_W0QQitemZ300139953523QQihZ020QQddnZApp arelQ20Q26Q20AccessoriesQQadnZWomenQ27sQ 20ClothingQQddiZ1410QQadiZ1406QQcmdZExpr essItem

I like the name and your reasoning is awesome!!!:sagrin: He's very cute! My octos have always had very different names especially if my sons or daughter get into the naming.

the seller said he was a briareus. i bought him off ebay from Florida.

Looks pretty green to me. I believe he is Briareus.

iv noticed that one of his eyes sticks out more than the other and the other is whiter it can still change color though. is their something wrong here?

Hmmm, I would pay close attention to it over the next several days.

We've had a lot of octopus eye problems recently. Some discussion and remedies are already on the Octopus Care forum.

How large is your octopus - is it a young one or older?

Nancy

another concern, a 1/2 inch section of arm got bitten off and propelled out of his conch shell "den". all of the parameters are fine but i did a small water change anyway. the new starfish(sand sifter) might be stressing him out but i think boredom is more likely so i boiled a couple of plastic balls and put them in the tank. hes still resting in his conch shell as usual so i don't know what he will think of the toys. hopefully they wont stress him further...

another 1/2 inch portion of arm just got bit off :/

another concern, a 1/2 inch section of arm got bitten off and propelled out of his conch shell "den". all of the parameters are fine but i did a small water change anyway. the new starfish(sand sifter) might be stressing him out but i think boredom is more likely so i boiled a couple of plastic balls and put them in the tank. hes still resting in his conch shell as usual so i don't know what he will think of the toys. hopefully they wont stress him further...

another 1/2 inch portion of arm just got bit off :/

Hmm.. are you saying crabs are taking the arm tips off or do you think the octopus is severing them?

i think the octopus is and he is noticeably redder today, could it be bothering him that i am always in the room? (the tank is in my bedroom)

How long was your tank up and running before you added the octopus?

hes no longer showing red i think the red was just because i was feeding him. the tank cycled in a month then i let it run another month with hermits and a damsel in it. the parameters were stable throughout that month.

The reason that most people on this site recommend waiting three months before adding a cephalopod is that it takes that long for a tank to mature. A tank can cycle in a month (especially with live rock), but it needs time to build up a good population of bacteria that will break down the waste that an octopus produces. It takes at least three months for the population of bacteria to be at a level that they can handle the amount of wasted from a cephalopod.

I hope your little guy is ok, but it is a little worrisome that he bit off one of his arms...

he only bit a the tip but i just looked at him in the tank and he was very red again and moving lethargically with his eyes somewhat withdrawn, once he noticed that i was watching him he slowly returned to his normal state but im very worried at this point...

on a slightly higher note the eye i was worried about seems fine today

I would recommend a water change at this point, maybe there is something in water that is stressing him out. You can do several 10% changes over the next day or so. If you are really worried, you can do up to a 25% change, but in general, you want to change the water slowly, so the octopus' system has time to adjust.

i normally do 2gallon water changes daily. because of the out put of my RO unit i can only do 2 2gallon water changes a day. ill do the extra water change every day for the next week and see how he does.

You have a 55 gallon tank, correct? Is there anyway you could purchase some more RO/DI water and mix up a bigger batch of salt water? I usually keep about 20 gallons of salt water in a rubbermaid storage bin, that way if there is an emergency, I can do a quick water change.

50 gallon. since im not paying for this setup myself (cant get a job until i get my license). after dishing out the money for the r/o unit they would be hard pressed to buy more water.

another <1/2 inch section of arm showed up in the tank. earlier this week he got into the filter system and half an arm got ripped up by the pump (i have since replaiced the netting with netting that will not clog and come undone). now im thinking he could have gotten some sort of infection from the filter and it could be spreading. im getting some tetracycline later today. maybe it will help...

You can get RO/DI water at the grocery store or at Walmart. It isn't that expensive and it may save your octopus' life.

yesterday i gave fluffy his first dose of tetracycline, and he got to be more active than usual overnight. he played with the little floating ball in the tank for the first time (as far as i know) and he moved a shell to make a new den. previously he had just tucked himself away in the conch shell. his newfound interest in his surroundings is encouraging (:

little update, fluffy hasn't bitten of any more arm tidbits and has become less shy especially around feeding time ;) and his arms that he arrived missing are growing back quickly. in another thread i saw that some people found their octos did not seem to like the tetracycline but so far fluffy hasn't had a problem with it. He still seems to favor one eye ,the other shows less color and doesn't protrude as much, but when excited the eyes look the same. this hasn't gotten worse and doesn't seem to be causing any problems for him.

Awesome. Some great news!

glad to hear Fluffy's doing better!

Still keep a look out on his eye. The tetracycline should fight off anything bacterial that is associated with the one eye being different from the other. Good to know the octo is doing well. Also watch to see if more arms get bitten off because if so you could have a problem. I wouldn't worry yet though.

more good news, the eye seems to be back to normal. After today i think ill stop giving him tetracycline.

more good news, the eye seems to be back to normal. After today i think ill stop giving him tetracycline.

Usually, it's a good idea to continue to give antibiotics for some time after symptoms vanish to avoid the risk that a few resistant bacteria will re-infect. I'd recommend you keep up treatment for a short while, although others might know a lot more than I do about how this applies to cephs.

in that case ill keep him on it until Thursday or Friday

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3jE5pVgxJw

movie time :) turn sound of unless you want to hear what sounds like the heavy breathing of a murder movie star. that camera makes any noise stand out allot.

(hes still on tetracycline)

fluffy in hunt-the-feeding-stick mode

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga9CsVrpEFc

turn sound off unless you want to hear what sounds like the heavy breathing of a murder movie star. that camera makes any noise stand out allot.

I don't know, sounds almost like you are diving :wink:

He certainly has wonderfully long legs!

That red on the mantle, whilte arms is similar to what I've seen on a briareus before, but Fluffy doesn't seem to have much webbing between her arms.
Do you ever see a blue-green color on her?

Nice octopus!

Nancy

hes blue-green most of the time, but the in the second vid my dad was in the room to so that got fluffy a little extra excited. in the first vid thats actually their first time iv ever seen him with his legs so different than his head. he also often sports red blotches.

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/1333/legsii0.jpg

you can see the tree legs he arrived missing growing back.

Fluffy looks like a fun one.

If you get an opportunity, I'd love to see shots of how those new legs attach to the head area of the octo... I've been trying to learn about the musculature of octo arms, and I can't find much information on how they the muscles attach to the "brachial crown" where they all come together, and I hadn't even considered how the muscles might work as they're growing back. New suckers are added at the end, and the base just gets wider, right (as opposed to the growth happening at the base, for example)?

ill be sure to pay extra attention to those little arms of his and see about that picture.

ill be sure to pay extra attention to those little arms of his and see about that picture.

thanks! I appreciate it.

fluffy showing some leg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoNdoAV4Z2o

fluffy vs. feeding stick
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV-P4CKx8Z4

WARNING: lots o' pics

http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/4904/eathingsx2.jpg
eating^
http://img396.imageshack.us/img396/907/webbingsw9.jpg
leg webbing^
http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/8793/lilarmob3.jpg
little arm^
http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/8949/fluffgj5.jpg
more fluffy^
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/3082/m0arod6.jpg
more fluffy
http://img254.imageshack.us/img254/2802/fluffyps8.jpg
more fluffy
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/3999/moreir4.jpg
m0ar

Wow, great pictures and video! Keep them coming.

I'd say your id is absolutely correct.

I wasn't ever able to get very good pics, but here is a 4-month old briareus. Looks very much like Fluffy.

Nancy

drakanorn,
For arm length reference, how tall is your tank?

20" tall

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnnOC6I_TXA

I can see Fluffy's webbing in this video - he must be a briareus.

Nice videos - be sure to submit some of them to Tony (tonmo) to put in the video gallery so we have them forever!

So what did he do with the feeding stick after she disappeared?

Nancy

he kept it with him. he like to play with them for a wiel before giving them back, sometimes he doesn't feel like giving the stick back so he traps them under a rock. can i submit the higher quality vids or does tonmo have the same limitations as youtube?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Live-Saltwater-Octopus-Briareus-1-5-head_W0QQitemZ190159026391QQihZ009QQcate goryZ66788QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZV iewItem

same guy i got mine from. just look at the color!

http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/1958/bigfluffyan3.th.jpg (http://img169.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bigfluffyan3.jpg)
^^big pic of fluffy^^

today i was looking for his 3 small arms and got worried because one of them wasnt there. at fist i though he might have bit it off but after taking a recount i relized i didnt notice it because is big now! day to day hes been growing so much. already in the three wees iv had him his mantle has gone from 2 inches to 3.

epp just saw him ink for the first time. he was crawling up the side of the tank and couldn't see me turning the corner. must have startled him. he only retreated a small distance before realizing it was me though.

more vidio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aURjKCdSGo

Have your folks decided Fluffy is an acceptable pet yet?

my mom hasn't shown too much interest but i think shes used to the idea of the havening an octopus now. my dad thinks fluffy is amazing :)

as much as i looked forward to having an octo i happy to say fluffy has exceeded my expectations! never though id loose as much sleep as i did in the first week worrying about him. now i dream sometimes dream of octos lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDvGuH-F2VQ

iv got another vid of fluffy :)...and my hand.
he dug the pit under the rock he goes through

i didn't know he would grow this fast o.o actually i thought he was just about full grown when i got him.
how big is his mantle supposed to get anyway?
http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/3868/compairem7.jpg
i think the first pic is the third day i had him and the second is a little of a month later (yesterday)
my measurements are a ruff estimate but is you look at the proportions of his eyes and mantle you can see hes gotten allot bigger.

the 3 arms that he arrived missing now range from 4-6 inches
pic from a week ago
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/36/arms123ch8.jpg

anouther pic
http://img100.imageshack.us/img100/3194/newlo2.jpg

I believe Briareus' mantles get around 7 inches long. Overall I think they're around 30 inches.

Could you please comment on the hours that Fluffy keeps. Briareus is a nocturnal species but many of them change their habits to be around when their owner is active. When is Fluffy out and about?

Nancy

he pops his head out when i get home (4-6pm) then hes usually partially visible keeping an eye on the tv and myself until around feeding time and 6-7pm then he will come out and let me know hes hungry crawling across the glass and following my hand/face across the glass. feeding the way i do it last about an hour(my pic taking time) then he goes back to perching around and watching but hes more interactive during this time of day. past 10 when the lights are out he gets more active, this is usually when he plays with the balls in his tank(he also does this to some extent during feeding)

I am lookin into gettin a briareus, and i would like to know what you feed him, what he likes most, and do you have a picture of your set up(skimmer, filtration,hood and how it is secured..... also want to know if the astro turf will work for these guys.....are you in the USA, if so, where do you order live crabs from so they arent super expensive? thanks

i feed fluffy silversiders for the most part but i also give him prawn every once in a wiel. he seems to like silver siders more than anything. iv tried giving him chopped muscle once but he didnt eat it. i havnt tried crabs yet but most people get them from this site http://www.aquaculturestore.com/swinverts.html i can get som tank pics later today.

Where, and in what form, do you purchase silversides. A number of people have tried them as octopus food. How large are they?

Nancy

frozen silver side. iv tried a few different brands, but i'm using ocean nutrition silversides at the moment. these are diffidently the biggest iv seen with the largest reaching five inches long. in some brand 3 inches is large. i get them from my LFS or petsmart/co.

frozen silver side. iv tried a few different brands, but i'm using ocean nutrition silversides at the moment. these are diffidently the biggest iv seen, with the largest reaching almoast 4 1/2 inches long. in some brand 3 inches is large. i get them from my LFS or petsmart/co.

new octo vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1kGFIASONU

I always enjoy watching videos of Fluffy! He's such a pretty octopus and so graceful.

But I did see something that worries me - is that a glass thermometer or hydometer? If it's anything glass, please remove it and find some other way to measure. Fluffy is far too strong and can snap it in two very easily and it would be sharp and could hurt him.

Nancy

I really enjoyed that! One comment....Is that a cat ball and if so is there a metal bell inside? Not good if there is!

Loved the music and the credits!!!

Carol

i usually don't put the hydrometer in when he is active because im worried about that too, and if he pulled it down far enuff and it rushed back to the top it would break(i accidentally did that wile cycling the tank) useually i just put it in the morning when hes asleep and leave it long enough to get a good readig but it was cold that night and i was a little worried about the temp. (despite havening a heater on the tank)

the ball is just a plastic golf ball :)

You can find inexpensive digital thermometers. The Coralife Digital Thermometer is regularly $6.99, on sale for $5.59 at Drs. Foster and Smith. You could probably buy one at your LFS, too.

Nancy

Excellent video drakanorn -- thanks for sharing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDzm9gkgPd4

im a little worried because he is not eating as much as he used to. this might just be because he is sick of fish(or hes stopped growing like a weed). iv been pretty lazy with the variety but tommarow my dads going out to see about getting some grocery store shrimp or a different type of scallop(he didn't like the last kind). hes also been less active/interactive during the day maybe because hes eating less. hes still just as active at night as far as i can tell. all of the parameters are normal. :/

[edit] i think i found part of the problem. lately my room has been in the low 60's and the heater couldn't keep up. the temp in the tank is 4-5 degrees lower than normal. the last couple days i was measuring the temp a little to close to the heater not paying attention. iv got a heater running in my room now.

vid of fluffy hunting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zw-JChU_jM

Wonderful videos. To me, a briareus is like a dancer, such long legs and graceful movements.

Thanks for posting these!

I'm glad you discovered the problem with the heater - it would slow her down a bit.

Nancy

thats awsome! great videos.

Mark,