my octo has been hiding for about a week now, i fed him last week, he ate his clam and retreated to his home as usual, but he has not come out sinse, this is not tipicall, i used to see it all the time day and night, i was re-aranging some rocks last night and accidentally dropped one on his home, he came out looked around and went right back in, it didnt look unhealthy and is obviously still alive, this makes me beleive maybe its a female that just laid eggs??
are there any other causes for this behavior?

Hi,
How long have you had your octo? Is it a bimac?
There are cases of octos taking some "quiet time", but egg laying is also a possibility.

Nancy

that sounds like a possibility...

only other case i had of 'denning up' was a bocki that was feeding on amphipods and wanted nothing to do with my offerings

ive had it for about 5 months, i beleive it is a briareus, it has always been a very aggressive eater, no matter what ive put in there, lately ive been giving it live clams that i bought at the grocerie store, there fairly large so the octo cant get them open, i usually let it play with the clam for a while then i crack it open for him/her the octo does the rest ive been feeding these clams for almost 4 weeks now so i dont think they have done anything to the octo.

its hiding place is a plastic shipwreck, the spot where it likes to hide in there is facing the back of the tank so i cant see whats going on in there, although im tempted to turn the ship around to see inside, i dont want to stress the octo out, im sure it picked that side for a reason

yes it sounds likely that its eggs.. i peeked at my briareus when she had eggs with no problems... other than an angry octo pulling me in lol...

i figured i would try feeding it, i put a peice of fresh shrimp (dead, figured it would smell) on a feeder stick hoping the smell would entice it to come out, the octo came out snatched the food and went right back into its den, which is also not normal, previous to this, the octo never ate inside of its den, it used to eat just in front of it, then when it was done it would discarge the shells if any and then retreat into its den.
and again i managed to get a good look at it, it looked perfectly healthy, i guess ill have to wait and see.

if it is eggs what should i expect?

probably about 50 - 200, 10mm long eggs hanging from the roof of cave in festoons of 10 or so... very obvious to see.. oh and an angry mum!

the time i dropped a rock on the den and the octo came out it was deep red, i figured this meant it was mad at me :(

Well yes, red does ussually mean that the octo is mad. Try looking in the rocks and maybe you'll be able to see a few eggs. :)

the octo now seems to be more agresive, whenever the damsel gets near the den opening the octo shoots an arm out at it, not so much as to catch it but seems more like an agresve act to scare the damsel away

That along with the other stuff nearly confirms that the octopus is caring for eggs. If you want to protect the eggs and the babys, I would take the damsel out .

i hadent thought of that, good idea although im not sure how im gonna catch it.
how long will it take before the eggs hatch?
will anything else in there be a problem, i have a small seahorse two serpent stars and one pretty big green brittle star?

once they hatch what should i do, from what ive read if i dont seperate the babies fast they will start to kill each other?

you will need to take out all the inhabitant to protect the octo-babies.. or have another tank ready and safe for them so you can catch them as they hatch, but i'd prefer the 1st option

They may take somwhere between 30 - 45 days depending on temp.

and yes, briareus will need to have seperate chambers each or they will be cannabalistic, maybe thats a good way to thin them down to more manageable numbers to start with :?

Just to let you know what could happen if the inhabitants aren't removed, initially the seahorse will eat the babies as they swim a bit more, as they get a little larger the star might get to them and the damsel will also play a part in eating and stressing the babies.

I'm not sure if the mother will ink after death, but if she lets out a lot, it can coat the babies gills and suffocate them if not removed quickly.

as far as being canabalistic, will they kill each other right away or does their population thin gradually? in other words if they hatch while im at work, would they all have killed each other by the time i get home? :(

how big are they when they hatch, will i be able to see them?

im assuming that briareus is a large egg species so the babies will not be planctonic

im open to suggestions on how best to separate the the babies

are they prone to climb out and escape when so small?

Hi rc,

This is what I've found out about that might help you:

It's best to remove the mother just before the eggs hatch, or maybe when the first babies appear.

The hatching is over a day or two, not just all at once, so you'd have time to get home and you would be able to see them.

Biarius produces large eggs and the young are well developed.

I've never heard of climbing out being a problem, but maybe someone else can respond to this.

Nancy

i have to take a moment and thank everybody for all the help, hopefully i will continue to get this kind of great advise, this is obviously a first for me, i did not intend to breed the octo but since this is out of my control i would like to do my best to see if i can raise at least a few of the little guys

Thanks Everybody

Rich C.

thats the right attitude to have.. perhaps aim for rearing maybe six or so as they are a huge drain on resources.. feeding especially :)

good luck

as far as feeding, fortunately next to my octo tank i have a 20g tank that has been running for a long time, ive been experimenting with cultivating copepods and amphipods, i currently have an army of little critters in there, i intend to use this as food, its kinda sad, these little critters have been living and breeding in there for so long ive become attached to those silly little things

i have to take a moment and thank everybody for all the help, hopefully i will continue to get this kind of great advise.....
Rich C.

Ya don't have to hope really :heee:

perhaps try finding out which online shops or LFSs near you sell amphipod kits??? save your wee friends :)

Try www.floridaaquafarms.com just in case the little ones eat to fast. :)

I believe that Octopets (see the Marketplace on the Forum Index) sells amphipods, too.

And the place I bought shrimp and crabs for Ollie from

http://www.aquaculturestore.com/products.html

is now selling mysid shrimp.

Nancy

Jim at Octopets told me that they keep their hatchings in relatively shallow water so that it's easier for them to catch the amphipods. I didn't ask the exact depth.

Nancy

i live very close to the beach, i was going to go down there one day at low tide and try to shake out some seagrass and plants growing near the rocks, i was told this is an excelent place to find amphipods

Yep it sure is, but they might swim away after being shaken out, that is if you're doing it in the sea.

best bet is to lift stons and sea weed and shake them into a white bucket with soem water in it and then scoop out the 'pods into another bucket so that water stays clean...

watch out for all sorst of things though!!! :) suppose that's half the fun!

yea, i intended on using a net or a bucket, im kinda hoping to find something interesting other than what im looking for :cyclops:

I know I'm kind of joining this discussion late, but...... Doesn't there need to be a male present to fertilize the eggs?

Spring

If it is a wild caught female, it could have mated with a male before and then stored the sperm. She would then use it to fertilise the eggs whenever she desires.

Joe's right, they can store sperm for weeks to months :)

Can male octos mate months before their natural lifespans and continue living after that?

figured i post an update
not much new, octo is still hiding, no sign of babies yet, i still havent looked into the den, im am trying to get a hold a miror probably something like a dentist mirror so i can look into the den without disturbing it

i did scrape the feeder stick on top of the den just to make sure mom is still alive, she wont come out but i did get a couple tentacles to poke out

the suspense is killing me, ive never seen newly hatched baby octos before :bugout:

Hi rc,

A couple of comments:

Even if she has laid eggs, they may or may not be fertile. Ollie and Ink both laid infertile eggs.

The amount of time to hatch will depend on you tank temperature, but figure something like 1 1/2 to two months.

You might try to see whether she will accept food by dangling her favorites on a feeding stick. Both Ollie and Ink continued eating.

Nancy

it is feasable that male octopuses could mate with several females from the age of sexual maturity, but i can find no information about octopuses and their mating habits other than the usual anecdotal stuff.

i would hazzard a guess that males can mate many times but still live the same approximate time as a female who is gravid and lays eggs. I dont think the male dies just after one mating.

Anyway, I ordered 1 more cuttle from the LFS and it should be here on thursday night. I thought it would be nice if I got fertile eggs :) Do male cuttles fight with each other for dominance...etc? Just keeping my fingers crossed and hoping I get one of the opposite sex.

i have been feeding my octo and does take the food, but only if i put it right in front of the den, she will not leave the den to get it.


Joel:
im assuming your probably not in the us, ive been searching for a cuttlefish for a long time :(

Yes, that's typical for an octopus with eggs. They don't leave the den. So you're doing the right thing in leaving the food where she can easily get it.

Nancy

Joel, cuttles normally lay eggs immediately after mating, then mate again and lay eggs again and so on.. but you might get lucky :)

Yipee!! Baby cuttles coming up (hopefully) but raising them will be a different story. rc, I'm in Singapore.

Baby cuttles hatch at a bigger size than octos, so they should be easier to cater for, just be prepare for allot of hungry mouths!!! Rearing 7 was hard enough let alone as many as a female COULD lay !!!

Will small shrimp be fine for the young? How small do you think bandensis cuttlets will be ?

duh, i just realized that it says that on the left hand side of the screen