Hello, I'm really stressing on my new little octo. He/She I will just call it IT for now. It's name is Slimer. I have posted a few pics before. I have better ones now. Check them out.

My problem is I can not figure out what type of Octo it is. So I can’t determine the correct environment for it. Meaning Water temp and lighting. I have been going with the cold tank (no heater) But lately the water gets down too 68.1F at night with the lights off. Sounds good but when it’s that cold she is totally non active. Pale white in color. But like 7 or 8 hours after the light comes on the temp gets to 72.5 then Silmer starts to get all her color back and gets active. Do I need to keep the water a little warmer?

The lighting thing is strange also. Normally I was told low light levels. I tried that at first. But any time the light is even a little dim. She turns pale and balls up. Doesn’t even take the time to get to her den. But when I have the full lighting on she’s very active. Checking things out and looking for food.

The LFS I got her from had her at 1.021 salinity but I was reading the care info here on this site and it said they like it high like 1.024 to 1.026 or something like that. I have to print it out for reference. The water is 1.024 right now.

So any help figuring out what it is would be greatly appreciated. If you know of any type of octo websites that can help me determine the sub species would be great.

Thanks and Slimer Thanks you too.

It's possible that Slimer is a tropical octopus. Even a bimac can be kept in warmer water, and, as far as I can tell, most other octos offered as pets come from warmer areas.

Lets try this: make the water warmer, maybe 74 or 75 degrees, and see how she reacts. (You may end up having to buy a heater.)

Slowly bump the salt level up to a specific gravity of 1.025

Keep the light on for longer, 10 or 12 hours. Octopuses that like lots of light often dwell near the shore where lots of light penetrates the water. Slimer probably already has a place he can hide from the light.

http://www.cephbase.utmb.edu/imgdb/imgdb.cfm

Go to this website (Cephbase) and look at the octopus species. Lots of photos. Does your octo have false eyespots, like a bimaculoides? I haven't noticed them. Please give us another description of the stripes. Any other identifying marks that you notice? I came across an octopus with several stripes in my Cephalopods: A World Guide, will try to find it again.

Hope that helps little Slimer and you,

nancy

Thanks Nancy. I looked all ALL of the Pictures in that database. I have noticed a few that may be the actual species.

Octopus Burryi : Dark Striping sometimes, Dark Eye Band

Octopus Cyanea : Looked kind of like Slimer?

Octopus Defilippi : Long Skinny arms. Slimers long arm is about 9 to 10 inches.

Octopus Maya : Longituainal Striping. Slimers done that a few times.

Octopus Mercatoris : Looks like mine but this species doesnt like light. Slimer does.

Then the one I really think it might be is

Octopus Vulgaris : This does the Longituainal stripping, Extended Eye Bar, Basicaly all of the pictures I looked at of the Vul. looked very close.

What do you think? Here are a few more pics. I have a heater but I dont really want to use it untill im sure thats what it wants. I give the tank about 13 hours of light. Slimer does have a den at the top of the tank. Some times hes even sleeping on top of the rock. with part of his body out of the water. I was thinking may be cause of the cold water? it gets warmer at the surface quicker.

I have created a care sheet to keep track of water, salt, temp, conditions and activity of Slimer. So I can try to see if it's just a time thing or temp thing.

Thanks for the help

I looked at the pics of O. vulgaris in my books, and Slimer does look a lot like a vulgaris. That would be good and bad news for you.

Good news is that the vulgaris lives a bit longer, is a very attractive octopus, makes a good pet, and some of our members have kept this species. Bad news is that you're going to need a BIG tank. I'll have to look and see what we've recommended for species.

Also, the O. vulgaris - at least the one Slimer is likely to be - is called the Caribbean Common Ocotpus, and would like slightly warmer temperatures.

You can rule out Mercatoris, it's too small. O. maya has prominent false eye spots. O.cyanea probably wouldn't be sold here.

If Slimer is Octopus burryi, then he's probably an adult already, because the body is only 3 inches, and the arms 6 inches - hmm, isn't he bigger than that already?

So those are some comments, not a definite ID, but at least it's a start. Would like Colin and others to give their opinion, too. And please put Slimer and his tank in the OctoDB. I often look there for more info when I'm answering posts.

Nancy

Thank you very much for the info. I have Slimer in a small cube inside of my 75 gallon. So I may end up moving Slimer in to the big part of the tank. then may be get another smaller species with would also be a warmer water octo.

If it is a Burryi? Thats possable. The arms range from about 6 : short arm. and 10" the longest arm. It looks like it may of been cought in the wild. It's shorter arms were broken off a long time ago. They have grown back from the most part. Just a little stubby. the mantel length is about 2 to 2 1/2 intches long.

If it is a Vulgaris what size should I expect it to get? Any other info would be great too. Thanks again. I will look into the Data base now. Set Slimer all in there.

Thanks again

I'm rather new at keeping octo's (been fanatically obsessed for about a year) but from what I know vulgaris gets huge-not like dofleini, but huge and may be cramped in even a 75 gallon. Neat octo though. As a side note-which I'm sure you've heard before and already know-don't get the other octo until slimer passes away (about a year). Try a bimac from octopets or fishsupply.com.

Keep us posted! :D

Gabe

P.S. assuming he's a vulgaris.

Oh no! dont tell me that. It figures a bigger tank. LoL spoiled little guy. As for getting another smaller species I have a sealed cube inside of the 75 gallon. But I guess if it is going to get big then I will need to pull the cube out and let Slimer have the whole tank until I can get a bigger one.

Check out the cube picture.

Forgot to report as soon as the water temp hit 72F Slimer got all color back and poped his head out to see what was going on. I have feed him and now hes crusing the tank. So I guess I will do the heater thing. Should I try like 72F or a little warmer like 75F?

Thanks

hmmm..... not sure. try in between-like 74 or somethin. As for the sealed cube, you may want to leave it inside and leave it open: octo's have "dens" in the wild, and use stuff like jars all the time- he might like it. :P \

Gabe

by the way, if that avatars a pic of him, he's almost DEFINITELY a vulgaris.

Yup thats him. So how old do you think it could be? The mantle is about 2 1/2" and the longest tentical is about 9" long. Any Ideas?

Octopuses are solitary and it may not work out well to have two in a tank where they can see each other, even if they can't make contact!

As for the size of O. vulgaris, its body is around 8 inches (20cm) and arms around 32 inches (80cm).

Nancy

Oh, and as for the temperature, I don't think you should let the temperature drop so low and you should try to raise it a bit more - maybe to 74 and watch your octopus.

O. vulgaris lives in shallow waters on coral reefs, sand and seagrass - it forages both day and nigt. It eats crustaceans, fish and shellfish.

O. burryi is also from the Caribbean and lives in shallow waters.

Have you tried asking the place you bought Slimer where your octo came from? Even if they can't name a species, it would be a help knowing that it came from the Caribbean.

Nancy

The LFS said it was from Haiti. A Haittian? But who knows?

I have turned off all of my fans on the tank and Im watching the temp.
I think the heater will com in handy with this little guy.

Do you think that 75 gallons is to much for the size of him? I could just give him the entire tank now. Maybe even tip the cube over on its side and cover with some smaller rocks for a shaded den?

Thnaks again

Well, knowing he's from Haiti at least clues you that he's from warm water! No need to keep him so cool - the bimacs are from cooler water in the Pacific. But even they tolerate warmer water.

I was looking at Octopus "defilippi" which seems also to be found in the area. It's pair of third arms are longer. Is that the case with Slimer?

Nancy

Silmer seams to be much better now. The water is at 75F. Hes all active.

What do you mean by 3rd arms? He has shorter arms but it looks like they were broken off and regrew. 3 of them look like that. The suckers are all big up to a part that looks like it grew back. The leg is smaller at that point and the suckers are tiny from that point.

I attached a picture of it. Its kind of hard to see. The red light on my camera freaked her out so i have to wait to get more pics. I taped over the light. That might help. It gets all shy when the camera comes out.

One more thing. How much should she eat? I have been feeding her 2 or 3 good sized ghost shrimp a day. Is that too much? Not enough? There are some that got away in the tank but she cant get ahold of them. Also not getting the hang of the small hermit crabs. As soon as she touches them they pull inside and fall off the rock. Then she moves on.

Wow Check out these crazy Stripe displays! I have been thinking about changing the name to Stripe. This is the reason. I think it ifts him better. So Cool. Water tem is 74.7F

I whould say Slimers Happy now. Still if you know of any species that does this. Please let me know.

Hey Nancy

Here is a picture of His Legs. The best I could get. very active now. It looks like bot of the 3rd? legs have broken off at one time. But One of the 4th arms is the longest out of all of them.

dunno about that, but what a COOL octo! I'm green with envy. :mrgreen: By the way I still say the cube would make an excellent den.

Keep us posted on how he does

Gabe

I dunno about the species question, I mean.

Cool Thanks.
I was really thinking about the cube for the den. Thats a good idea. I have a water line inside the cube so I can keep from getting dead spots in the water. It would actually work out good. The back is black. That would become the top. and the sides are still clear so I could see in the darker area. If I do it I will post some pics for you. I have 50lbs of live rock coming this week so I'm going to wait untill I get that all taken care of before I do anything with the tank.

I need to find out about keeping it from getting out of the tank. I read a post about astroturf. Something like they dont like the feel or they cant get a grip. If any one can verify this please let me know. I'm building a new canopy next week. I was thinking about lining the lower sides of it with turf to keep it from pushing against the flipup sides. That may be enough to keep it from trying to escape.

That might work...why dont you just seal it up? :madsci: DUCTAPE! HAhaHAhaHAhaHAhaHAhaHAha! :cough: :cough: AHEM, excuse me. :shock:

Gabe

Ductape works for alot of things. but naaa. That would be too easy. LoL

just a quick reply to let you know the species... i'll add more later when im not skiving at work!

Its octopus aculeatus.. most probably from Bali in Indonesia, there is quite lot about that species on this site if you used the search feature you should find it. personally i have had that species a couple of times and i think the most recent other keep's octo was called 'shaggy'

C

Thanks for the info! I will look it up on the site after work today.

Thanks again

Glad Slimers warm now - I hate being cold myself!

You need to get him some more substantial food - try pieces of thawed uncooked frozen shrimp, maybe a piece of fresh scallop, fiddler crabs if you can get them. You might try a small live mussel and see what he does. Not all octopuses know what to do with shellfish.

Go to your best quality fish market, take along a photo of Slimer, and tell them you need a few samples! You can buy some frozen shrimp and keep them frozen, just slice off a piece at a time and make sure its unthawed and warm (I used to put shrimp pieces on the back of my hand until they thawed - it's warm there). He does need some live food from time to time.

Slimer is quite a performer with his stripes. Putting him in the big aquarium is a good idea, but you might wait until you get his food straightened out.

Nancy

Just reading some of the earlier posts - hey, a lot of us use duct tape - it can't go below the water line, and you should check it every few weeks to make sure it's not coming loose because of the dampness. But it works quite well!

Nancy

I knew it! DUUUUUUUCTAAAAAAAAAAAAPE! :madsci: :madsci: :madsci: HAhaHAhaHAhaHAhaHAhaHAhaHAhaHA haHAhaHAhaHAhaHAhaHAhaHAhaHAha!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:cough: :cough: AHEM, excuse me. By the way, how big does O. aculeatus get? (assuming thats what s/he-(did you ever find out which?)- is.) If it's wild caught it might be an adult.

Gabe

The size of O. aculeatus? Body about 2 1/2 inches (6 cm) and arms about 12 inches (30 cm). So you don't need a bigger tank!

It's day active and found on coral and rubble reef flats - it hunts during low tides and finds small crabs and fish. (Maybe that's why it didn't mind being partially out of the water.)

This species has arms that break off during the base when under attack.

Nancy

Thanks for the info on Species. I will search for info on them right now.

Hey I didn’t mean any thing bad about the ductape :shock: LoL.

I have just dealt with it under extreme lighting and heat conditions and it can get all nasty in a short period of time. I don’t know if it's bad or unhealthy for the critters but I know it smells like its not good when old tape is removed. Kind of smells toxic.

So I tend to stay away from and adhesive type materials that will be close to the water. Just my thing. Didnt mean any thing bad about the tape. Hope no one takes it wrong.

Thanks again. Just to let you know Slimer is way happy now. I think Thurs or Fri Slimer will get the full 75 gallon tank. I can already see he wants to move around more. cover more ground. I think he will be safer in the cube when I'm rearanging the new rocks. Just to be on the safe side.

Thanks for the info. Im going to do some searching.


I also noticed Slimer has been displaying the white and black stripe quite a bit now. I have a selvester looking cat that sits in front of the tank alot. Shes dark gray with a white belly. I noticed Slimer do it last time when the cat walked into the room. Do you think its a treat display or a mimic of the cat? its weird. Slimer doesnt show any signs of the cats bothering him. Any ideas.


Hey I also want to shout out a thanks to everyone here at Tonmo for all the help with the posts. Tons of information. Just have to dig a little.

Thank You All

I read somewhere,:read:, that octo's naturally "learn colors", based on what they see. Somethin about not knowing at birth, and learning "how to" by mimicry. Makes sense to me. :D Octopuses are smart suckers! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Gabe

Hello? Where'd everybody go? ECHO! ECHO! ECHO!
...hellooooooo...

Gabe
:lol:

Hey,

I was changing Slimers tank over so I gave been busy sealing it up.

I have removed the cube. Didn't tip it like we talked about befor because it was too long and it took up way too much room. But now that Slimer has the entire tank it has already taken a new Den. It's way up inside some rocks so it's hard to see it. I could see Slimers arms reaching down and grabbing any thing and every thing and taking it up in to the new den. It was cool looking.

Slimer is now also eating Fiddler Crabs. I'm going to go check out the Fish Market this weekend.

As for the weird stripe thing Slimerr does. I have seen pictures in the database of one doing the same display so Im thinking it may be a agressive display trying to scare the cat? But it only does it to that cat.

Any ideas on feeding in a large tank? I was thinking it might be easer to keep clean if I made a feeder box. Has any one ever herd of ant thing like that? I was thinking of a plastic breeder box with a small hole in the bottom and a tube about a inch into the box (so the crabs cant fall out the hole) Then Slimer could go up into the box and feed. Then all of the shells would be left in the box. Just a thought? Any ideas or Suggestions?

Thanks

Well, to tell you the truth, octos usually like to take their food back to their den, where they feel safe eating it. The usually don't eat their food where they find it. They may not even kill it until they get it back to their den, if it's something like a fiddler crab.

I have a funny pic of my Ollie when she captured a cleaning tool and she was hanging onto a crab with one arm while using the others to wrap around the tool.

So it might be convenient for you to construct this feeding area, but it probably wouldn't be what Slimer would choose.

Glad he's got the run of the tank. He must enjoy his life with you.

Gabe, about learning the colors, I hadn't come across that before.

Nancy

Morning Nacy,

Bummer on the feeding bin. lol. I ended up just netting the crab parts. I guess it wont be too much work cleaning up after him. I have noticed with slimer he always eats his food right where he grabs it. Weird. He ate a Fiddler last night right agains the glass. I could see the beak scraping the meat out of the crab. It was cool.

But I guess that could be because I was able to peek into the dens before. Now Slimer picked a den way up under a big rock. I was able to peek in but now Slimer has been crusing the tank and picking up all of the small rocks and shells. Then he drags them up into his new den. He actually filled in the back entrance so I can't see up in there any more. I'm not too worried about it though. Slimer always wakes up and gets super active every night when the simpsons come on. Weird. You can almost set your clock to it.

I think hes happy now. Thanks again for all the help. This place is the best for information.

Thanks

The discussion about octopuses watching TV was probably before you started reading our posts, but it appears to be true that octos watch TV.

We've had reports that they prefer cartoons :) So maybe that explains The Simpsons!

Here's the pic of Ollie with the cleaning tool she captured, and the crab can be seen up at the top of the stick.

Nancy

http://www.tonmo.com/phpBB/download.php?id=3220

awww Ollie's Cute. How big is ollie?

Do you take any special steps in feeding Fiddler crabs? Cut or break the pinchers? Or Should I try to get him on Frozen food? I'm asking because I gave slimer his first Fiddler yesterday. It was good sized but tiny claws. I dint even think about the tiny claws. I dropped it in and Slimer grabbed it right away. It looked like he was being careful of the claws. Kind of?

Basicaly Slimer got it and bit it in the head but it was still squriming for a few. Then I noticed Slimer drop it quickly. I took a close look and the fiddler got ahold of one of his suckers. It took it off. Didnt seam to bpther him much. I know they reproduce body parts rather quickly. The crab fell to the bottom of the tank and died.

I spent about 2 hours moving Slimer out of the cube and getting him all set up in the tank. Then I figured I would see if Slimer still wanted the dead crab. So I offered it to him and he was all cheered. Ate it up with the quickness.

So I guess I was just wondering how you feed fiddlers to ollie? The last thing I want is for Slimer to get hurt!

I think he also got a Damsel for a mid night snack. LoL. The Damsel kept following him around last night. The lights not on yet so I can't be sure. But I'm thinking about throwing 4 or 5 Damsels in the tank. It adds color and the occasional snack. That should be ok shouldnt it?

I did see the post about tv. I'm almost sure of the Cartoon thing. Slimer is always active when Cartoons are on. He doesnt really care about any other tv. Its weird. It totally looks like hes watching cartoons. LoL. He fits right in. I watch Cartoons all of the time.

Hi Aquaman,

About fiddler crabs - I wanted to avoid any injury to Ollie, too, so I found I could clip the claws of the crabs (I held them fast in big tweezers). I didn't have to remove the claws, just clip off the ends so they couldn't close. We have had octos injured by crabs, even fiddlers, and it's a good thing to avoid any wounds. I usually dropped the crabs in front of Ollie, but sometimes she appeared not to see them. She always found them, though.

Ollie died on Jan. 1 of this year. She grew quite large for a bimac and weighed more than 3 lbs when she died. Here is a pic of Ollie playing with me so you can see she was getting big. She was much younger in the pic with the crab.

I'm a little concerned about the damsels. We've had actual incidents of damsels bothering octos, especially their eyes. You must also be sure no copper has every been used on them, because octos can't tolerate copper. I think you'd be better off to avoid the damsels in the tank.

Say hi to Slimer for me!

Nancy

http://www.tonmo.com/phpBB/download.php?id=3221

Hello! Yer still among the livin! :P

Aquaman, I agree with nancy on the damsels. If you look at the archived posts, in almost all things on eye problems, it starts when an octo owner puts damsels in the tank as food for the octo. In most cases the octo goes blind before the end. As for the thing on the feeder box, as nancy said, the octo wouldn't like it, and ye may run into some problems. In the wild, octos bring food back to the den before eating it, creating a pile of shells. This is a telltale sign of an octo den (used by divers to find octos) and is suspected by some scientists to aid the mother octo when she blocks her den. this is merely speculation however, as male octos also collect shells,crustacean carapaces, etc. (often appearing "like some ghastly doormat"*) You can find more info on "octo doormats" at "The Cephalopod Page" (link provided) -'swhere I got most of my info. (Also where I found out about tonmo- check out the links!) You may get lost a few times, but you'll figure it out (that is, partially- I still get lost some times! Now, where's that info on O. Macropus, I saw it once before...last year...LOL :lol: :P ) Finally, about the cube. If you took it out, and you don't need to keep it intact, try linking it to the big tank. :D That's what I'm eventually going to do... I just need to wait till dad gives the OK and I'm gonna buy a second one. My current 50g isn't bein used cause first I hafta build a new cage for my lizard ;). Then I'm gonna get a second tank and connect em through a 1.75" (inside diameter) acrylic tube. (1.75" cause thats the size of da inexpertly(and DEFINITELY NOT waterproof) semi-repaired hole in the side of my tank. When I get the tank I've been eyeing at the store for awhile, the bimac I get'll be sooo spoiled-136g all to himself! :D :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :D) :P Whatcha think o' that? :)

Nancy, I got the info on octos learnin colors from some website and also on " ANIMALPLANET The most extreme: 'Toddlers' ". Dunno how reliable that show is, I've seen it wrong before. But it makes some sense and I read it on a website. Though, to be honest, I thought they knew at birth before. I do doubt their theory a bit though- personally I think if octos learn anything that way color-wise it's patterns. Just sayin what I've heard from educational sources that are SUPPOSED to be right. Also, is there an online vendor who sells (cheap) crabs? I'm rather land-locked, and dunno how Mr. Bimac would like to ONLY get baby clams.

Thanks!
Gabe

P.S. Hello to slimer!
P.P.S. Heres the link; http://is.dal.ca/~ceph/TCP/index.html.
P.P.P.S. If you notice the asterisk after the octo doormat description, its cause it's a quote from national geographic.

Please excuse my grammar. I was typing as fast as I could while I still had my train of thought.

Gabe

Hi Gabe,
Interesting what you write about the color. Will have to look into that.

As for your crabs -- I use
http://www.aquaculturestore.com/products.html

This is a family run company and I've been very pleased with the crabs and the shipping. I've also bought shore shrimp from them.

Since I live in a large city, shipment by priority mail isn't too difficult and the packages arrive in a couple of days. I think you'd want to discuss winter shipments with them - maybe they'd have to put in a heat pack.

So where do you live in Wisconsin? - I have a degree from the U. of Wisconsin at Madison - and yes, it was cold there! Also, we here at TONMO have an Introduce Yourself forum, if you're so inclined.

Nancy

Madison...ooooooh your lucky (warm!). I'm up just short of rhinelander. I can take trips to foster & smith any day- less than half-an-hour to get there! Actually, I live on a lake, but alls we got is freshwater mussels. I can get 'em during the summer, NOT the winter...BRRRRRRRRR!!!! :yuck: I'd get sick! Up here, you don't need one of these; :chillpil: , ya just step outside! (Of course if you DO step out side durin winter, odds are you'll need some strong, northern ale. :wine: I dont get more'n a sip due to my age though. :beer: Cheers! :cheers: Hmmm...I wonder...do ya think he'd like turtle soup? :coffee: ) Basicly, my point is yes, they would need a heat pack, most likely.

Gabe
P.S. Excuse me, I'm going to do my favorite sport (well, second favorite. My FAVORITE sport is worshipping the ceph god. :angelpus: :lol: ) HOT baths. :wink:

Something funny I found:
http://scottgreene.net/aquatics/octopus/octoxication.wmv
Apperently, this octo was some kinda addict! Kept on gettin a buzz from getting bit by a Chocolate Chip Starfish. :shock:

Hey Gabe,
That video was weird. It totally looked like it was into it or something. LoL.

Slimer is doing good. Eating red claw crabs. I think it likes the big tank. I added 50 lbs of rock and Slimer has found a very private den. I was able to peek in on it for a little while but Slimer has pulled all the small rocks and shells inside to make doors. So now if I look hard enough I can see 1 eye way back in the shadows. Slimer does seam to be very active around 5 or 6:00 Pm.

Nancy,
Thanks for that link to the food site. I will be placing a small order in a few days to give it a try.

Quick question. I have been trying to feed fresh clam, oyster, uncooked shrimp. I try to offer it on a feeding stick. Black and very skinny. So it's not too scarry. Slimer takes it holds it for a few seconds and then throws it to the side. I'm guessing it does not like the tase or smell. I used pices the size of the crabs I have been feeding. But they may of been too big. Should I try smaller pices? The size of the shrimp it's been eating? I let the food get to room temp before feeding. Should it be cold? Warm?

Any help would be great.

Thanks again.

Oh yeah. The weird color thing is not just dont to the cat not. Slimer did it too me the other day. It got all striped out and came over to the glass where I was. Then it started doing this weird head bob thing. So i did it back. Then Slimer did it. We went back and forth for 4 or 5 minutes. Then the cat jumped up to see what the heck I was doing and Slimer stopped alltogether. It was really strange. Any one know what It may of been doing?

Thanks

Absolutely NO idea. Maybe he was dancin. :P

Gabe

Ahhh...The old "headbob"!!!! All my bimacs loved this game! I think they are mimicing us, or getting a kick out of making us do it!!!

He's really cute! Did you ever figure out what kind? Reminds me of a Vulgaris.

Carol

My bimac did head bobbing too, as did several other bimacs at the time. I always thought it was a kind of greeting, like turning lighter when I approached.

As for food on the feeding stick, it should be room temperature. Not too big a piece - better to feed a couple of small ones rather than one large piece. It might be that he was not hungry or didn't like what you were offering. It takes some practice to get the feeding stick thing going.

Slimer is so photogenic - I like the way he seems to "walk" on his arms.

Nancy

Hello Everyone,

Slimer says Hi to everyone. Hes so active.

Hi Carol,

I'm not totally sure but I think Slimer is a aculeatus. That is the best can come up with. I checked alot of info on the net. Everyone here also contributed to the quest to figure it out. So i'm just going to go with that species for now. It all makes since. Long legs, Size, Water Conditions it likes, and Lighting. This is the strangest Octo I have ever seen. It is only active when the light is on. As soon as the light goes off or the water gets too cold it turns all white and balls up. My old Octo I had years ago was totally opposite. It only came out at night, I couldnt keep the water cold enough for it.

Slimer is a nice and easy very active species.

Hi Nancy,

Awww :oops: Slimer usually doesnt mind the camera except when hes doing the cool headbobing thing. Slimer does it weird. I have seen them bob up and down like a lizard before. But I have never seen one do it Side to Side. Thats how Slimer Does It. So weird and Funny. I have been trying to catch it on video with out sucess. I think its cause Slimer id looking at my face when It does it. So the camera might look weird to Slimer?

I'm happy to hear I'm not the only one doing it back. LoL. I was all getting in to it yeaterday. I actually started it. Then Slimer came over to the glass and got all stripped out and did it back. We went on like this for a couple of minutes then I noticed my roommate walking thew the room. He was all like what the? It was funny. Ofcourse hi didnt believe me that Slimer was doing it. LoL. Thinks I'm crazy now.

FOOD STICK:

I'm going to hold off on the feeding stick for a week or two. Slimers only been in there for 3 weeks now so It's still getting used to things. I have it eating red claw crabs. I have to fix the claws :goofysca: Dont like that part. But I got to do it just in case. But as soon as Slimer sees one. bam its over. Slimer has only eaten one crab at the dens entrance. Usually goes to the top of the rocks to eat. Then like a hour later Slimer takes all the body parts and dumps them on the far side of the tank. As far from the den as possable. Such strange behaiver.

Slimer is usually only out between 5:00PM and 12:30AM
My lights come on at 11:00AM and go off at 1:00AM

So maybe I can get some new pics today.

Hey this goes out to everyone.

Thanks for all the Ceph Help. This is the best place to find info on care.