Well, they've been in the tank for about ten hours now! I've kept the light off and have been trying to leave them alone (although they don't appear to react to my presence).

I was shocked at how active they were when I took the bag out of the box! They were circulating around the bag flashing colors. Upon entering the breeder net, each one found a comfortable place to park, turn down the color and rest. None have really moved much since being put in. One of them was floating on the surface during acclimation, but came back to life with the new water. I wasn't expecting much from him, but he seems fine!

Tomorrow I'll turn the light on and perhaps they'll be a little more active (I hope they develop an appetite soon). In their white "resting" color, each has a slightly different sized dark spot on the dorsal mantle. I can't imagine I'll be able to use this to tell them apart in the long term, though.

Dan

Congratulations on the new babies!

Nancy

Dan, that's so cool! Congratulations! :smile:

Glad to hear they made it. How many did you get? Mine (probably brothers and sisters of yours...) spend most of the day hanging around on the bottom of the breeder, until I put food in with them...

Well, they've been in the tank for about ten hours now! I've kept the light off and have been trying to leave them alone (although they don't appear to react to my presence).

I was shocked at how active they were when I took the bag out of the box! They were circulating around the bag flashing colors. Upon entering the breeder net, each one found a comfortable place to park, turn down the color and rest. None have really moved much since being put in. One of them was floating on the surface during acclimation, but came back to life with the new water. I wasn't expecting much from him, but he seems fine!

Tomorrow I'll turn the light on and perhaps they'll be a little more active (I hope they develop an appetite soon). In their white "resting" color, each has a slightly different sized dark spot on the dorsal mantle. I can't imagine I'll be able to use this to tell them apart in the long term, though.

Dan

Good luck Dan!

When does the re-education start? Tomorrow? Or has it already begun (I noticed you didn't mention food, so I assume you're holding it back from them until they swear allegiance to you)?

When does the re-education start? Tomorrow? Or has it already begun (I noticed you didn't mention food, so I assume you're holding it back from them until they swear allegiance to you)?

Honestly, I think they're planning to re-educating me!

I have five of them. I did have five small mysids and one or two amphipods in the breeder before I put them in, just to let them have their first meal on their own terms.

Once those are gone I'll start giving them food at different times of the day, as was suggested in the other thread.

Hey Righty, I don't suppose you have a hatching date for these little guys, do you?

Dan

I'll look up the hatching date. If I forget to, bug me. :smile:

I usually feed them at night, around 8, 9, 10. Around then they all leave the bottom of the tank and swim around and pounce on live food.

Glad they made it all right!

PICS or it didn't happen

I usually feed them at night, around 8, 9, 10. Around then they all leave the bottom of the tank and swim around and pounce on live food.


Good tip--I'm adding it to my Google Notebook on cuttlefish! Is this about the time the light goes out, perhaps a little before or after?

They ate all the mysids overnight, so this morning I thought I'd test them by putting in the two smallest shore shrimp I could catch. Two cuttlefish made chase. The first tried once and then gave up when it got away. The second tried repeatedly, eventually got a good tentacle grab, drew him in, and tried unsuccessfully to eat him. He had his arms wrapped around the shrimp's abdomen (the body length of the shrimp being about twice the cuttle's ML :) and the combined mass was swimming around in circles for about 45 seconds before he decided to give up and let go!

I fished them out and put in a few more mysids for them. The mysids are kind of cool, but it'll be nice once the cuttles are big enough to take the shore shrimp (which love flake food!)

Probably won't have pictures for a while--don't own a digital camera.

Dan

My cuttles are all eating the shore shrimp. They don't like the heads though... The shrimp are at least twice their size. It is quite amazing to watch the fight, the shrimp always loses :grin: . At least now I can feed them once a day!

I put the five biggest P. vulgaris (about 1.5 inches) in my main tank in hopes that they might breed. I was shocked to find one in each of the breeder tanks with the cuttles. They had to climb out of the water to get in there... My daughter was a little worried they would eat the cuttles (I was too...) but I was able to remove them from the breeder tanks and they have settled into the live rock.

Coincidentally I've done the same thing with my big shrimp, but haven't had trouble with them in the breeder yet.

The size differential between my cuttles/shore shrimp seems about the same as yours. The trouble mine are having is surely psychological...they've travelled three thousand miles into a different water system and different food in only a couple days. I don't want to rush them into new food, too!

Dan

I'm worried about one of my babies. Since this morning he's been floating at the top, holding onto the net. If he loses grasp he'll swim around in right-hand circles. He doesn't appear interested in food, changing colors, or going lower in the water column.

Has anyone had a similar experience?

Dan

Ive not seen that specific behaviour before, but perhaps you can isolate it, so it doesnt have competition in eating. ive had to do this before for the 'shyer' ones.

It being able to swim...even if its strangely in circles only is a good sign. When they get weak and die, they have difficulties swimming and sometimes become a clearer white color in which the bone can actually be seen.

My cuttles are all eating the shore shrimp. They don't like the heads though... The shrimp are at least twice their size. It is quite amazing to watch the fight, the shrimp always loses :grin: . At least now I can feed them once a day!

I put the five biggest P. vulgaris (about 1.5 inches) in my main tank in hopes that they might breed. I was shocked to find one in each of the breeder tanks with the cuttles. They had to climb out of the water to get in there... My daughter was a little worried they would eat the cuttles (I was too...) but I was able to remove them from the breeder tanks and they have settled into the live rock.


Its funny how they leave the heads when they are still young!! its pretty exciting to watch the little guys grab shrimps 2-3 times larger then they are!!

Originally posted by Paradox
Its funny how they leave the heads when they are still young!!

I don't like the heads either! :yuck:

Found two heads this morning :)

I'm a little worried about Paradox's comment about sick cuttles becoming a clear. Even my healthy ones seem to occasionally turn translucent to the point that you can see the cuttlebone.

Dan

Mine do that too, occasionally... and of course, I am still worried about my babies too, this morning Scrunchy refused to eat and she always eats... otherwise she looks fine.

what ive noticed with the clear skin teture is that they stay like this all the time when they are weak. Most of the healthy ones wil seem to react when I go walk over the and look down intot he net. They usually will have a slight flash of red for a moment. The sick ones that Ive observed will not react at all, not move or eat, and are a really transparent color.

In the adults, they stay white and often rest in spots that I wouldnt normally see them.

Do your babies react by color changing at all?

Some of them change more than others. If I go over to the tank they generally don't respond. If they spot some food they might change color a little bit, or they might just be in a colorful mood. I would say 60% of the time they're that translucent white color.

I'm quite sure my sick one won't be with me much longer. I just came across a small shrimp chewing on his arms. I took out the shrimp, but I don't know if he'll be able to eat again.

Dan

I'm so sorry about your little sick one, it doesn't sound good :sad:

Yeah, he's circling the drain, so to speak.

The other ones seem pretty good today, though. Immediately after I said they spend most of their time white, they decided to stay a darker color.

I am having a bit of a food crisis. My mysids are gone already and the cuttles aren't eating the shore shrimp consistently. I spent the evening at the beaches and tidepools but couldn't find any critters. Tonight I fed them tank amphipods, and I believe I'll be able to do that until Thursday when my next batch comes in.

I'm debating whether to order more mysids or get amphipods because the mysids cannibalize so fast, even with regular feedings.

Dan

Have you tried frozen mysids yet? I am soo lucky mine are eating the shore shrimp, I couldn't keep up with the mysids, at least the shore shrimp eat flake food!

He did not feel this sacrifice a vain or empty one, and we will not debate his profound wisdom at these proceedings. Of my friend, I can only say this: of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most human.

http://www.st-hypertext.com/images/misc/khan/kirk_spock.jpg

I'm so sorry. RIP Sneezy. :cry:

So sorry to hear about little Sneezy... :sad:

your sneezy reminds me of the birthdefected one i had when my eggs first hatched, sad, but part of life.

Well, my first food crunch is over! The hundred mysids I originally bought didn't make it through last weekend, and my new shipment arrived today. Monday they ate all the amphipods I could find, but on Tuesday and Wednesday they shunned frozen mysids.

(I have an in-law who's job is creating supply and demand forecast models for jet engine parts--obviously supply chain management is not my talent!)

Of my four cuttles I have two that are noticeably larger. One of the smaller ones seems to be hanging out near the top like Sneezy was doing. He changes colors and goes after food like the others, but he was a bit slow to the punch and missed out on most of this morning's feeding. I will probably separate him into another breeder like Paradox mentioned to make sure he gets food.

Dan

I have one like that, Baby A. One day she missed the shrimp twice and then was too embarrassed (or defeated...) to try again, she refused to eat for a day and then the next day, caught the shrimp on the first try. She is with Cuddly so I am keeping an eye on her to make sure she gets her share... It is a good thing that Scrunchy is in her own net breeder or no one else would get any food!!! I have seen her take two shore shrimp within 15 minutes. She is definitely bigger than the other two.

They can grow at very different rates because of thier ability to get food. As adults from the same batch, the largest reached 3 inches while the smallest at the same time was 1.5 inches..

Seperation is the best option when they are young and competing for food.

I have seen birth defects as well. Such as blindness in one eye that at one time swelled up to the size of a marble to later deflate.

Sorry I might have missed it but where did u obtain the eggs?

Look in the "cuttlefish care" forum. You won't have to search very far.

Well, it looks like my other sickly little guy didn't make it. I'm kind of surprised, even though he's been "on the roof" over the last day or so, he still seemed interested in food and was flashing colors earlier today.

Anyway, of my three left I've got two that are relatively big, and one smaller one, about equivalent in size to his newly deceased brother, but more active and presumably healthier.

I feel bad about not having food for them for a couple of days, it might have made the difference for this little guy (Sneezy had already stopped eating this weekend, so I think it was too late for him either way). But, live, learn and keep perspective.

Dan

Sorry to hear about your latest loss... :sad: Now you have triplets like me...

Sorry to hear about your latest loss... :sad: Now you have triplets like me...

Well, I bought five because I expected some degree of attrition. I try to keep my relationship with my aquarium life relatively professional--with these two little cuttles I don't have the same sense of loss as many owners who lose their cephs after long and interactive lives.

Above all I have high hopes for my triplets, though.

Dan

Do your triplets have names?

That's the fiancee's department. Now that they're few enough to be distinguished I think there will be names.

Dan

We're still all new at this, but maybe we can begin to develop guidelines, like how much food 5 baby cuttles will eat in a day. Everyone seems to be underestimating. Just how much food must be onhand when they arrive?

Nancy

I feed a lot. I collect pods and feed like, 30-50 per day for 16 cuttles I still loose some.

The problem I was having with the mysids was that they are very cannabalistic, so if I got 100, then within 5 days, I had 0. I was feeding the cuttles 2-3 per day so that meant I should have only used 15 mysids. I am having better luck keeping the shore shrimp alive and happy. They eat flake food, and I feed 1-2 of these shrimp to the cuttles every day.

Well, today is what I would call the first "normal" day for my three extant cuttles, T+ one week. I fed them this morning about ten before I turned the lights on and saw each of them eat. It struck me today that my two biggest ones have grown noticeably. The smaller one shows all signs of health and vitality, but is a little shy about catching food. He's just a bit too cautious in swimming up and he'll launch his club a little too slow and tap the mysid instead of grabbing hold. Nonetheless after a couple tries he ate two this morning (the bigger ones each ate three or four).

I fed them again a few minutes ago and all ate. The little one was still a little too cautious and scared most of his potential meals away. I tossed in a small shore shrimp to see if the big guys would go after it, and oddly enough he landed by my little guy who proceeded to hook him in the gills and swim around for a second or two before letting go!

When I say the first normal day, this is the first time they've all accepted food and shown aggression more than once. They're getting used to me being near the tank, and they're more colorful during the day. If I can get the big guys to eat the shore shrimp, I can let them have their fill and then put mysids in so the little guy doesn't have competition for food in the coming week.

Dan

If I can get the big guys to eat the shore shrimp, I can let them have their fill and then put mysids in so the little guy doesn't have competition for food in the coming week.

Dan

Good luck with that.

Hey Dan,

Glad to hear your cuttles are adjusting to their new home! :grin:

One of them is eating a shore shrimp as we speak!

I think there's a lightbulb that goes off in their heads at the pivotal moment, "Hey I can eat that thing!" One day you can drop it in, it'll swim right in front of them and they won't notice. The next day they've all got their arms out like dowsing rods the instant it hits the water.

I also like the way he grabbed hold of the telson and just eats his way forward :)

Dan

Hooray for successful little predators! :cuttle:

Well, for one of them, at least :)

The two bigger ones were both interested in the shrimp when I put him in, but I put a second shrimp in for the other cuttle and he wasn't interested. I'm going to run out of mysids tomorrow morning, I suspect he'll be ready then. I can't believe how fast they grow.

Dan

We need to figure out how many mysids people need to get started and feed the baby cuttles until they will take larger food. How many did you order?

Nancy

I don' t think the issue is figuring out how many they eat, its how do you keep mysids alive. I would say a baby cuttle 'can' or 'could' eat 4-10 mysids a day, but the question is will it? Or, will it not want to eat at all for a few days while the mysids eat each other or simply die. The problem I had before I switched to pods was the space needed to actually keep mysids alive and happy, and the price of shipping was killing me. I hate feeling obtuse on this area of cuttle raising, and the best advice I can give is get way more than you think you need.
I prefer amphipods because they don't eat each other. I am gearing up to order these guys
http://www.mariculturetechnology.com/Foods.htm#Frozen scroll down to marine shrimp janitors and feeders. :D

From two data points, 100 mysid shrimp lasts me about 4 days. I expect to run out tomorrow morning after feeding perhaps 50 of them to the cuttles--the rest are cannibalized.

For this most recent order I considered getting 200 instead of 100. But at the rate of cannibalism, 200 mysids would really only last another day or two. Its kind of like how you pay twice as much for the 30 year mortgage to save a couple hundred bucks a month :)

The trick seems to be to keep the mysids well-fed. I made two small brine shrimp hatcheries out of 20 oz soda bottles, but I ordered cheap eggs and I have trouble getting them warm enough:as a result my mysids are only being fed every other day or so, at best.

I considered amphipods from Sach's. You get about 30 for slightly less than 100 mysids. As above, only about 50 mysids survive to feeding, so its pretty much a draw. I haven't had any luck finding either locally so I'm glad my little guys are moving towards shore shrimp.

Dan

Well, the little guy died this morning. Late last week he was happily eating frozen mysids, and then he just stopped. I continued trying to offer them. I hadn't ordered another shipment of mysids, but the other day I did scrounge a few live ones to offer but he wasn't interested anymore even when they were right in front of him. Last night he started the surface-hover of doom.

This one does hurt a little bit because--even though he was smallest--he was the only one who'd eaten a frozen mysid. I thought he was a fighter, albeit a bit shy!

Otherwise the remaining two are eating shore shrimp voraciously. I think there's a growth spurt associated with shore shrimp, similar to how I understand bimacs react to fiddlers.

They're not interested in frozen mysids, but they might be too big to care for them. Maybe I should freeze and thaw a few of my shore shrimp and see if I can get them acclimated before they're too old and inflexible :)

Dan

So sorry to hear about your little guy :cry: .

I thought of freezing a few shore shrimp too :grin: , I am going to wait a little bit though, since I am having such good success keeping the shore shrimp alive.

I know what you mean there. I haven't lost a single shore shrimp in captivity, bad karma to start freezing them :)

Hey guys,

Just to let you know, as some people have asked, I am paying attention, I just want to see what you come up with without me sticking my big nose in and telling you what 'I' know. :smile:

:grin: Thanks for looking out for us, Righty. Are you trying to push us out of the nest so we fly on our own? You will catch us if we fall, right???

:grin: Thanks for looking out for us, Righty. Are you trying to push us out of the nest so we fly on our own? You will catch us if we fall, right???


Fall? Try dropping like flies :wink:

Actually my cuttles just finished eating. That's good news because they usually just eat in the morning--this is the first time either has had two shore shrimp in one day!

Dan

Dan. I'm so sorry to hear about your little one, but I'm really glad that your other two seem to be doing so well.

Sorry about the little one. It's hard to lose them once you get to know them. Glad your others are doing well.

Nancy

Sorry about the losses... It happens sometimes even if youve done everything correctly.

And yes, I notice shore shrimps will cause them to grow much faster then any other foods. I feed them a lot at that age, to get them big enough to tackle shore caught local crabs, because those are free =)

Hey, does anyone have a good technique for clearing out the shrimp heads? They're too big to grab with my eye dropper and two small to grip with a pair of chopsticks (for an untalented guy like me, anyway).

I take the net off and clean it every two weeks or so, but it would be nice to find a way to keep it tidy in between.

Dan

I use a large medicine dropper (it's for giving toddlers liquid medicine - I think it holds 1 tsp). I can usually get the shrimp head up to the top of the breeder tank and then I can scoop it out with my hand.

My two babies are each about an inch long now. I had a close call with my food supply, I ordered a new load of shrimp from Sach's in the middle of last week, but they had already run out for the week, so I didn't get the order until today after the long weekend. Luckily I learned my lesson from last time so my cuttles didn't have to go hungry at all.

They love smaller shrimp but are still a little anxious about ones bigger than they are. They will follow them and hunt them but typically wimp out in the end. They'll tire out after an hour or so, at which time I'll usually throw in some small ones (which they eat right away) or leave the big ones in overnight (most of the time they will eat them in the night).

Last night I left the big ones in because I didn't have any smaller ones. One of the big ones had been eaten, but interestingly enough the other had been killed but otherwise untouched.

Dan

Dan,

I think your cuttles (two of them!) must be eating more than mine... I just placed my second order of shore shrimp from Sachs (due Wednesday). I still have about 20 shrimp left, so I have enough to last until Wednesday... Mine typically eat one shrimp a day.

Mine will eat two small shrimp per day or one larger shrimp.

My fiancee and I will be out of town for ten days in August for our wedding, so we're going to have the neighbor boy feed them and have a ceph-friendly service company stop by once in the middle to make sure things are OK. By that time I imagine the cuttles will be out of the net breeder but not yet ready to have the whole 75 to themselves. I plan to build a divider out of egg-crate and fiberglass window screen.

Dan

Hi, I'm "the fiancee" (Beth) Dan refers to from time to time. Dan takes care of the babies while I get to enjoy them. I'm starting to dip my toes in the water learning about cuttlefish. I've been enjoying this website- especially all the photos. My current oil painting-Ink eating a crab- is from this site.

The cuttle fish are getting so big. Dan is right, we really have seen them grow each day. Since I get to name them, I will name the larger one Chubbs and the smaller one Checkers.

I like watching them in the morning before I leave for work. Feeding time is exciting, but in the morning, you really get a sense of their personalities. One likes to clean his arms, and the other usually is "walking" around.

I hadn't realized before we got the cuttlefish how much time they are benthic and "walking" with their #1 and #8 arms. They look like really big headed bipedal aliens sometimes.

:welcome: "fiancee"... cuttlefish are addicting (this site is addicting too...) glad you are enjoying the little guys. My three are from the same batch as Dan's. Off to feed the triplets!

Since I get to name them, I will name the larger one Chubbs and the smaller one Checkers.


Named for Chubbs Peterson, the golf pro in Happy Gilmore played by Carl Weathers?


http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e100/cocothomps/537b3624.jpg

Welcome Beth, it's nice to hear from you! Glad you're enjoying the cuttles.

Nancy

:welcome: Beth!

Would love to see a pic of your oil painting! I believe the pic you are painting from was one of my favorite octopuses!

Somehow I missed this thread! How exciting to have all these babies thriving! Any pics yet?

Carol

Carol,

We've been procrastinating taking pictures because we don't have a digital camera and because Righty's website is full of perfect pictures of cuttles that look just like ours :)

Dan

My cuttlefish make a lot of it.

My cuttlefish make a lot of it.


:lol:

They wouldn't be if they weren't eating well.

And boy are they eating well. A medium sized shrimp for breakfast and two small ones for dinner!

I spent most of yesterday with the system down doing maintenance and trying to fix a couple of drippy bulkheads. Lo and behold one of the wily cuttles escaped my divider and was sitting on top of one of the rocks! I'm really lucky Beth saw him or he would have dissapeared forever like Bill!

So anyway, I have a new and improved divider and even gave them a little more space. After growing up in a net breeder they've really taken to their new space well, they love digging in the sand and climbing on the rocks. I was worried having more space would give them trouble finding food, but it seems they're better hunters in the tank than they are in the net.

I'm still fascinated watching them square off. Just as interesting to observe when they don't square off: I had them in a two quart paint bucket all afternoon while I was working on the tank and they behaved very well together, even "cuddling" occasionally. When I let them go back in the tank they squared off almost immediately. Its difficult not to anthropomorphize their behavior: it would almost seem that in the stressful, unfamiliar environment of the bucket they conserve their strength and benefit from eachother's presence. Then the moment they feel confident of their surroundings again they're back to showing off for eachother.

This morning I noticed Checkers has a thin white ellipse on this mantle just behind his eye. I've read of octopuses getting sucker marks while battling their foes, but this looks a bit too big to be from a sucker. He seems to be eating and behaving normally though, so I'm not too worried.

Dan

Does the mark look like these?

http://stickycricket.com/cuttle/cuttle_slideshow/cuttlefish_0037.jpg

Yes. Its a bit smaller relative to body size. Other than the fact that its white it doesn't appear to interfere with his color or texture changing abilities.

Does this mean they're not playing nice?

I originally thought they were bite marks, but not we aren't so sure. Someone at TONMOcon told me that they could be a fungal infection, but I haven't been able to find any information.

In my earlier groups of cuttles there were a number of those marks. In subsequent batches, there were very few.

I'd give you a dollar if you could get video of the mark being inflicted! :D

Even without seeing it happen, I strongly suspect Chubbs being behind this. They appeared overnight (now that I got a good look at him there are two more smaller marks on his other side) within days of when the two began this squaring-off behavior.

I realize that's not very rigorous, but it does make more sense to me right now.

Have you known these marks to heal, at all?

Dan

It seemed some of them went away in the later groups.

Ive seen this too! At first I didnt know what to think, but I later decided they were bite marks! They were always circular or semi circular. They usually healed sometimes leaving a scar that you can only see because that area doesnt change color as well and would stay dark or black.

Ive thought of illness or fungus, but my instinct really believes bite marks. My current batch were all females and no marks have appeared in the entire 7-8 months of having them. My last batch were 3 males and 2 females. There were often marks, usually on the smaller cuttles.

Given the shape of the cuttlefish's beak, I wouldn't think the bite mark would be circular. Maybe they're suction cup marks (hickeys???)? I haven't seen this on mine, but I will watch closely from now on. I don't remember ever seeing anything like this on my S. officinalis. I had "butt-burn" and secondary bacterial infections, but I never saw and intraspecific injuries (of course my tank was 8 feet in diameter!!).

I'm going to do a little research...

I had always assumed that they were bite marks too. I once had an officinalis killed by another cuttle and it was covered in such marks too.

Boo common shore shrimp

Hooray crabs!

About a week ago we ordered a new batch of shore shrimp. Paul didn't have any all week (Ernesto?), but instead sent a free order of the tiniest fiddler crabs he had to last us until he could get some shrimp out after Labor Day.

The cuttles were very curious about the crabs as soon as we put them in, but it took them a couple hours before either one tried to strike. And even then they didn't have much luck: they would grab hold and fumble for a bit until they realized that theses things are hard and not soft like shore shrimp. Even worse when they struck one that was crawling on the divider screen: the cuttles are used to tagging a shrimp and pulling it into them but are mighty shocked when they "retract" and are pulled into their prey!

I was on the verge of panic last night that I wouldn't have anything they'd eat for a week when I looked in and saw one of them with his arms wrapped around the most awkwardly shaped bundle with little crab legs sticking out.

And then later that night we found the carcass of the largest of the crabs that had been put in: he looked intact, except he was completely empty with a little hole in one of the corners!

After this batch of shrimp is up we might switch to fiddlers. Each crab costs more than twice each shrimp, but I need to see how many they eat per day. Paul also sells them in smaller lots, so I need to talk to him to see if he can accomodate larger orders.

Also, an update on the marks. They've appeared on Chubbs a grand total of twice. They completely heal in about 2 or 3 weeks. Although I still haven't seen it happen, I believe they're inflicted by the other cuttlefish. Despite a lot of squaring-off, I haven't seen any new marks in over a month. Chubbs isn't quite as submissive to Checkers as he was before, and that might have something to do with it--he doesn't just let the other push him around as much.

What's funny is that for all the time they spend doing their male-male behavior, they still spend a lot of time sitting or swimming together peacefully.

Dan

So your little cuttles have a new skill - they can eat crabs! They have so much to learn when they start out.

It's good to see you're getting the same wonderful personal service from Paul that I did. We were always able to work out something and he did his best to give me exactly what I needed - small fiddlers or larger fiddlers or female fiddlers, etc.

Please keep up the detailed reports - they're fun to read!

Nancy

Congrats!!

Im always excited about that time when they switch to crabs. For me, that means I dont have to pay for thier food anymore though..

Typically, the cuttles dont use thier feeding tentacles on crabs. They seem to dart in really fast with all arms open.

I found another carcass this morning. I put a couple crabs in tonight, but they're still a little clumsy in catching them. I saw one strike, pick up the crab, then drop him after a few seconds. I noticed that he didn't use the tentacles.

The little guys just need some more practice. Tourist season ends after tomorrow so we're going to see if we can't find some little crabs at the beach. The only bait crabs we've found might be OK if we had an adult S. officianalis! If the beach doesn't pay off we're going to make Paul Sachs real happy over the coming months :)

Dan

Ive found that crabs are easier to find in areas like bays with rocky shores. When I first looked for collecting spots, I went to all the beaches with sand and found nothing. When I went inland more, the shore of the bay is calmer and with a lot of rocks. When the tide goes down, turning over the rocks that are a little higher then the water level revealed some crabs...

Hope that helps i nyour search.. It took me a couple days to find a good spot.

We've tried a few spots in the past to no avail. There aren't many rocky areas around here, but where there are we do sometimes see dead crabs in the tidepools. Its just a matter of finding where the live ones are hiding!

With the spots I frequent, the rocky shores arent neccessarilly natural.. They are landfill and the rocks are more of remnants of old and crushed roads, which I guess are a combination of stones mixed with concrete. not the best description, but i hope this may help you find a spot.

I was playing around with Chubbs a few minutes ago: sometimes I will chase him around the front pane with my hand until he calms down and sits in it. I figure I'm not stressing him out too much because he never inks and he always will sit eventually. He'll sometimes wrap his arms around my fingertip and feel me up a little day. Today, sure enough, I felt the little tiny prick of his beak. He let go for a seconds, then bit again and held on. After a little while of his beak embedded into my finger I gently shook him off.

I wonder if he's practicing for the fiddlers!

Well my shrimp arrived within minutes of the departure of the last fiddler.

I'm not sure if Checkers has been eating the fiddlers: I've only seen it happen maybe half the time, and I'm pretty sure Chubbs was the culprit. I convinced Checkers to eat a krill last night. I've tried to offer them a few times with little luck. This time when he wasn't interested I decided to get aggressive and start poking the shrimp around near his arms. He wasn't happy with that at first but as soon as it touched the underside of an arm he was on it like stink on a monkey!

He wrapped around it so tightly I couldn't get the feeding stick off. I'd try to pull it a little bit but only succeeded in pulling the cuttlefish in little circles around the tank. He didn't seem to mind.

Chubbs likes the fiddlers but can't eat very much of them and doesn't seem to eat as often--I wonder if he's full enough to last for a few days or waits until he's really hungry to take one on. Either way we're likely going to go through a few more batches of shore shrimp before switching to fiddlers as a staple.

Dan

why is there no pictures of these guys?!?!? i want pics they sound soo cool!

Because I do not yet own a digital camera. Supposedly we're getting one as a belated wedding gift, but we're not holding our breath :)

Dan

Both Chubbs and Checkers are eating krill. Dan will feed them live shrimp in the morning, and then I thaw krill and feed them in the evening. More labor intensive as I often have to work the shrimp onto a stick and convince the cuttlefish that this is good food to eat. But now I have the routine down and I look forward to it. Our cuttles are getting used to food on a stick and sometimes will swim for it as soon as I put it in the tank. They haven't eaten the krill from my hand yet- I miss feeding them by hand, but maybe it'll come with time.

Checkers passed during the night.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/dbhyslop/rotj.jpg

Whereas Chubbs stopped eating suddenly, Checkers hasn't hunted for 4 or 5 days, and during that period would only take a couple bites of frozen krill when encouraged to do so. He had been just as active over the last week however perhaps a bit more easy to surprise. My parents were in town and disappointed they didn't get to see the feeding tentacle!

We're very happy with the experience of keeping cuttles, although I think we were expecting to have a little more time with them. We'll definately keep them again in the future, although I think we're going to get an octopus next.

Dan

:sad: Sorry to hear that your cuttle passed on... I think mine are nearing the end of their life too. I see more secretive behavior and they don't beg for food like they used to.