hey guys, i know i havent been on for quite a while, but getting ready for college is crazier than i thought. well now im back and i have a problem. Our beloved Schlemm has gone blind. He still eats food, though not his usual 3 crabs, now just 1-2, and he sleeps a lot more.

its strange, because he doesnt act as though he is in pain, and still moves around the tank normally, though sometimes he runs into things.. this started almost 2 weeks ago and we thought he wouldve died soon after the eyes clouded, but he is still here and as buttheaded as ever.

since i was last on here up until the blindness, he actually looooooooved my dad petting him, but only him (odd, eh, he seemed to recognize my dad's skin) and had a nasty habit of squirting crab intestines on the living room wall. he also had managed a squirting distance of 6ft, and still continues to leave me crab intestine presents on his lid.

we had a lfs guy come over to clean the tanks and he was shocked by how many openings we had on Schlemm's tank, but he has never tried to get out, rather, after a trip to another class, he tried to climb back in!

my parents dont want another octo after schlemm b/c i'll be in college except for weekends, but i am determined to get another, because he has brought so much to our family and has really brought us back together. not to mention we love the reaction when people come over and the first thing they see is an octopus. ive got to say thats the best thing to see when u come home!

I'm not sure how long you have had Schlemm for, but what you describe sounds like senescence. Octopuses will typically go blind, be less active, and act differently than usual. Autophagy is also common in a senescent octopus. If this has been going on two weeks already, I would not expect you to have any more than 2 more weeks with Schlemm. Sounds like he had a good life.

Sorry to hear it, I think Shipposhack is probably right. It does indeed sound like he had a good, fun life.

Norgebyblood,
Sounds like you'll need a dorm and a roommate that will accept an octo tank :wink:

hahaha nah dwhately, ive got my own apt. but if i got another one i'd def. stay at my house, too much work for a small apt and getting all that to the second floor, lol. thanks for the info, i just thought senescence was quicker so now i have a possible timeline. ive had Schlemm since march, he is spoiled rotten. his favorite things were (cant see them now) duplo legos, a floating spongebob jellyfish, cartoons, and suprisingly, dr. phil, he'd get real excited when it came on... oddly enough,he wouldnt touch hamster tubes though ive seen so many octos with them! thanks for the help guys!

It is sad when that time does come. I had a bimaculoides named Pete who I had for 13 months! He was by far the most playful and animated of all the octopus I have had (over 20 in all). He would squirt water at my siamese cat when she would peek into the tank at him. He would also take the ping pong balls I had for him, floating on top of the water, and drop them out of the tank and onto the floor. He would stare at me and dramatically change colors, seemingly waiting for me to interact with him and put them back in the tank! I do miss him dearly.

It does sound like old age, but they can cope surprisingly well blind. We had young octopus come in that was blind (looked like old net injuries) and it had obviously survived just fine in the wild and it adapted well to the tank, remember their sense of touch is incredible and I suspect their chemoreception is also excellent.

J

WTH?!!!!!! He is still alive!!!!!!!!! It seems that now that everyone in the family has accepted his death, he has decided to live forever! he still eats every few days and other than the blindness acts fine, hes even more active than he was when i last posted. what is going on????

Haha, well that's good news I'm glad you get to enjoy some more time with your octo, as to whats going on...well I'll leave that to the experts.

Glad to know you have had more time with Schlemm than you had expected. I think you are the first person to report (at least over the last 18 months) of keeping a blind octo though. I suspected Trapper of limited vision in her last week but she was not totally blind (at least I don't think she was, she had stopped taking anything but Cyclop-eeze long before she stayed out in the daytime). Unfortunately, the increased activity may be the beginning of the end as I have read other reports that mention the same observation of males near the end of their lives.

Ink went blind and continued to live and eat about 4 weeks or more after she was done guarding her eggs. Towards the end there was increased, activity, almost like a pacing with really no purpose. And what a record for longevity in a home tank!!

well, he doesnt seem to be eating but he is still rockin and rollin. my mom is gonna take care of him now till he finally passes since i'm now in an apt in ucf.