hi um my brother had just gotten an octopus bireas(sp) and the tank is a 2 gallon.He then is getting a 29 gallon for the octopus.But when we moved the octopus to the blue 10 gallon tub ,which has 4 years of live sand in it and a few live rocks that have been going for 7 years.and my dads water which has just had a 30% water change but after the second day it has lost its appetite and it has lost its tentacles,he was about 8-10 inches from mantle to tips of tentacle and now he is only 5-6 inches.he has plenty of shrimp with him so he wont starve.he also looks white all of the time not to mention he is more attentive and looks terrified.Can someone please help with the situation.

also he has no tank mates besides a few shrimp

sorry to bump but PLEASE!!!!!! help someone!!!!

Hi SS, Has the octi lost ALL of it's arms?????

Are the arms still in the tank or have they disappeared? If they have vanished I'm afraid it sounds like the autophagy disease, which can be brought about by stress (apparently the prion - a wee pre virus thingy) can be dormant in the cells until the animal is stressed, and unfortunately transport can do this. There is no cure for this and the best thing is to euthanise the octi (put it in a sealed plastic bag or container of seawater in the freezer, this is the equivalent of "putting it to sleep").

Then you need to sterilize your equipment. This disease is VERY contageous. Throw out anything you can't sterilize, tubing etc and yes sorry, the live sand, then soak EVERYTHING else in a 10% bleach/seawater solution for about a week, then rinse it in FRESH WATER about 10 times or so, until you can't smell bleach (to remove the bleach) , then soak in freshwater for a week, then leave dry for about a week...........THEN you can start reseasoning and cycling everything to seawater again. I know this sounds extreme, but the one time we didn't do this (we just drained cleaned and dried the tank) the next octi we put in got the disease too.


However, if the arms are still present then the octi has dropped them from some stress and may if given time regrow them. At this stage you will need to move very carefully and quietly around it and resist the urge to examine it every hour!!! It needs rest and alone time!!

Sorry to be gloomy, but it's best to be prepared for the worst case scenario

J

i just found news that the octopus got out last night and it was just lying on the carpet.he only has one tentacleand the rest look as if they were cut in half.when my dad put him in the tankit was just floating and the it came back to life it was where the pump was so mabe while it was lying there lifeless it's tentacles were sucked into the pump

i really dont know the whole story i wasnt there

Ok Then, The best thing to do is to keep him quiet and feed him. I would recommend feeding him twice a day. Once in the morning (clean out uneaten food as well) and once last thing at night (clean out uneaten morning food) then put a lid on the barrel and leave him be the rest of the time. He may not eat your food but remember if you have live sand/rock there may well be other beasties that he's munching on!

If you think he's getting an infection add a couple of drops of betadine (iodine) to the water. Do your standard water changes but try to do them at one of the feeding times. The trick is to disturb him as little as possible so he can destress. Hopefully you should start to see wee arms regrowing. THEN you can start acclimatising him to people. I'd start with 5 mins a day and build up!

Cheers

J

okies thank u so much you have been a big help i will do that um what do you think the success rate is of this in a percentage? (I f its too low i'll get a second opinion)


is 1% potassium iodine okay?

The intake of your pump needs to be covered with mesh or a sponge to protect your octi. As Jean suggests, do this while you're doing regular maintenance so that you don't disturb him more.

Nancy

ok um can u give me a sucsess rate?

Hi SS,

The survival rate will depend on the stamina of the individual and also how long it was out of the water. But I'd say 50/50. Get a 2nd opinion by all means. I've not worked with northern species, someone like Nancy or Colin may have more info. What I've suggested works with the southern NZ species.

Yes 1% Potassium Iodide should be OK (we just by a bottle of betadine for humans at the pharmacy!!!!). Just monitor him at feeding times you know colour, activity, how much eaten etc. With sick animals we keep a log book noting that kind of stuff, because staff have different duty shifts and it keeps us all up to speed. If your brother or Dad is helping you may want to do the same thing, that way you can keep disturbance to a minimum and you won't over medicate!!! We keep the log book on the lid of the tank, that way we remember to check it :smile:

Good luck and keep us posted

J

um........................Nancy says another thing while Jean says another ummm..... can i get a third opinion somewhere outhere

Hi SS,
Nancy and I are saying the same thing! She's just suggesting that you cover the pump inlet (which I didn't think of suggesting :oops:) T'is a very good idea to prevent further mishaps! But she's ALSO saying disturb your wee friend as little as possible at the moment!!!!!!!

Any one else out there with more advice for SS?????????????

J

you can just call me somo or somosuno which ever you like and /ok thanks
btw it look like he is getting better he is moving around in the tub soooo um i got nuthin' else to say! :mrgreen:


ANYONE ELSE feel free to give advice!!!

Ok will do Somo!!!

J

lol ps dont ask where the name came from i know its hard to pronounce let alone spell !!!!

Hi Jean i octopus_octo somos's bro :D and i treid to feed him but he was very slow on tring to catch the food (shrimp) and it (the shrimp) just walked away and he/she was didnt try to get it.

I dont know what to do???????

Jean would be the best one to reply to this, but in the meantime - you might try a piece of fresh or thawed frozen shrimp. It must be hard for your octi to catch anything with so few arms.

Nancy

Please help he isnt eating my brother droped the shrimp on it but it didnt move its just lying on its side. It is still breathing but he just isnt moving or eating!!!! HELP!!!! :shock:

I'm sorry guys but that's not good. He may just be too far gone. You could try Nancy's suggestion, or even put the food directly under him. They do rely heavily on their arms to catch and manipulate food, plus they have "taste buds" in the suckers so he may not be recognising the food as food.

I guess at this point you need to make up your minds as to how long you're going to perservere and how much the octopus is suffering. the description in Somo's last post sound like the point where we euthanise. I'm really sorry to hear this.

jean

when you say that do u want up to just put the shrimp directly under it for a while or wait to see if he eats it in a sec? thats what my bro did and he didnt move, he didnt even try to get it....

You could gently nudge it right underneath the mouth, but if he's so unresponsive I doubt he will eat it at this stage. I think the pump was just too much for the poor wee bloke.

J

he was found dead this morning and well.........

Well, that's no good...

Very sad. He had a hard life. Sorry... :angelpus:

If you plan to get another octopus, please wait until you can set up a real aquarium with a cover that you can seal to prevent escape. Also, protect all dangerous places like intakes to pumps. Then you'll have a better octo experience.

We have a lot of good information on our Ceph Care page (just click on Ceph Care above).

Nancy

Sorry to hear that :cry: :angelpus:

But as Nancy says you need to create an octopus fortress!

J

:sad: Bummer. So sorry to hear. I too recommend you set up a decent octo haven for the next time. They are deffinately worth the effort.

Carol

Thank you all for the support and well yes we are taking this slow.I have a question the pump that we were using while it was in there do we have to sterilyze it w/ bleah too?

HI Somo,

Yes, if you think there's a chance the octi had the autophagy disease than ANYTHING that came in contact with the water needs to be either dumped or sterilized.

J

okay thanks *mumble mumble* so that means i must stereliz alot of things *mumble mumble*

Fraid so.....but it's worth it to get rid of this disease.........we had to sterilize a 3600L tank, MILES of plumbing, re plumb what we could reach, rebuild the rockwork, and throw out $100's of nets etc and then remake all of those!!!

J

do octos need pumps, or does it just harm them? :confused:
by the way im soo sorry :sad: , this makes me more alert as 2 wut i should watch out for, when i get my first octo :bluering:

Hi Nini

pumps are a ggood idea to keep the water oxygenated etc as you can't use an aerator (bubbles get into the mantle cavity which can be fatal!!).....don't worry about asking questions that's how we all get the best set ups for our octopus!

J

so octos have a better chance of survival w/ a pump?

Not only a better chance, but just about the only chance...unless you live by the sea and can do partial water changes daily. (some people actually do...lucky sods)

Picking out the right pump and setting up everything correctly can be a daunting task...be sure to read Colin and Nancy's articles from end to end, before you get an octo!

greg

were can i read there article?

Hi nini!

I'm glad you asked that! We have a number of articles on keeping octopuses and cuttlefish available from our Ceph Care page. Just click on the Ceph Care button above.

Nancy

cool thanx