Hello everyone,

I'd like to know some more about the behavior of mothers protecting their eggs. I've always understood this to be a time of passive behavior: the mother simply rubbing the eggs.

Have your octo mothers ever shown aggressive behavior?

Basically, the divers I've been speaking with aren't used to unusual requests like octopus eggs. They're afraid of being bitten stealing a festoon :)

Dan

I don't know about biting, but even mother octos in tanks put up quite a struggle to guard their eggs. I remember what a difficult time Debbie (dbbga) had getting Jetta (a briareus) separated from her eggs. It took two people and wasn't easy.

You need to hear from divers with more experience how this is done.

Nancy