Here's some pics of Thomas, taken a few minutes ago.

I was "juicing" the aiptasia, trying to keep the tank clear for Thomas.

Of course, he couldn't stand that something was going on without his approval, so out he came! :mrgreen:

The last shot I tried to get my hand in there so you could see his size. He looks almost small compared to my hand due to the angle the picture was taken. In reality he's about as big as your hand with all your fingers spread wide, with his tentacles longer than that even.

Notice he's mostly white/grey now, only barely brown/reddish when he gets excited or has strong emotions (I assume it's because of his extreme age):

http://members.cox.net/mbrown777/Thomas10.jpg

http://members.cox.net/mbrown777/Thomas11.jpg

http://members.cox.net/mbrown777/Thomas12.jpg

http://members.cox.net/mbrown777/Thomas13.jpg

And here's a shot of Thomas' tank, it needs the weekly cleaning, didn't get around to it this weekend because of inlaws in town for Easter:

http://members.cox.net/mbrown777/ThomasTank.jpg

Maybe he is white/grey because he is calm and secure in his environment... or else he has grey skin instead of grey hair :grin:

Maybe he is white/grey because he is calm and secure in his environment... or else he has grey skin instead of grey hair :grin:

:mrgreen:

Thomas is a really beautiful octo. :tentacle:

Very nice pics of Thomas. He looks so relaxed and happy.

Do you still see any yellow in the gray, or is he mostly a solid gray? If you look at the photo of young Ollie at the top of the page, you'll see the mottled gray and darker color that's so common in bimacs. There's some yellow mixed in there too, but it doesn't show up in the photo.

Nancy

How old is he now? I noticed his eyes looked white and am curious if you see a pupil or if this is because of age? Boy do I miss having an octopus! Enjoy him!!

Carol

Thomas used to be so much more brown than he is now! Haven't noticed any yellow yet, I'll keep an eye out though.

That's another thing I forgot to mention, his eyes look completely different these days, almost like he has cataracts. I can still see the black pupil slit, and I believe he can still see out of at least one eye, although how well at this stage I'm not sure!

I am trying to enjoy him as much as I can knowing that his time is short! :sad:

Ink had cataracts develop towards the end. And yes...enjoy every minute!

what a beutiful acto. i have never seen an octo like him before. what did the LFS say?


chris

Are thomas and the mantis still getting along? I have heard stories of larger mantis shrimp attacking their reflections and breaking the glass.

When I got Thomas, he was about a 3 month old brood stock from OctoPets, this was back in late May of 2005.

So far the mantis and Thomas are still doing ok, Thomas wanders all around the tank when he's out, so either one or both of them have learned not to mess with the other!

At his age, I'm not sure how motivated Thomas would be to try and take on a mantis now anyway! Plus I'm not sure how well he can see these days... :smile:

That greyish colour is one we see often in the aquarium and we associate it with periods when the octopus is "relaxed"

J