I recently get a pygme or dwarf octipus, I will have pics as soon as i get a camera. Right now it is eating well, crabs, snails, silversides mostly. My first question is, will it eat the Conchs I have in there? I was also wondering what kind of toys and things would be safe to put in the tank for him to play with so he has stuff to keep his mind occupied? I just dont want to put anything that will get bad or desolve over time and polute the water or somthing, any ideas would be appriciated, thanks.

first of all else, mAKE SURE THAT WHAT EVER YOU PUT IN THERE DOSNT HAVE ANY COPPER ON IT!! I REPEAT\! NO COPPER!!!! octo dont like copper at all. secound, lost of peopler have had good luck with legos. octos for whatever the resaon, love legos. i will hand it off to the expets for the more indepth stuff.. obnemore thing and that is, dont be afraid to stick you hand into the tank and play with your octo that way. suck games as "lego in the water flow" and "tug-o-war" are popular games....


chris

dont be afraid to stick you hand into the tank and play with your octo that way.

Although I agree with everything else you said, I've heard that some dwarf species have a reputation for being agressive biters more than a lot of octos kept as pets. Particularly O.Rubescens. So some fear of putting a hand in the tank may be appropriate. Assuming it's not a blue-ring, the bite is not likely to be life-threatening, but many dwarf species have a venom that has some effect on humans, and as with any envenomation, some people can have life-threatening allergies to octopus bites similar to bee sting allergies.

See http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/octobite.php for more information, for example.

Also, putting your hand in to play might be well recieved once your octopus has become acclimated to your presence and is friendly towards you. Otherwise you may be terrorizing him if you stick your hand in and chase him around.

Dan

Thanks for the help guys, ive let him grab me one time so far, but im still a little scared of getting bit. I think im more afraid of him than he is of me, lol, but ill pick up some legos and see what he does, thanks again.

Baby toys, ya know the plastic rattles, etc. seem to be a big hit. At the Baltimore Aquarium, they had a stash of different items they would give the GPO for enrichment. One was one of those baby toys that is shaped like a ball but has plastic beads running through the plastic wires. They also used empty gallon milk containers. One of my octopuses loved a large green mega block. There was something about having to drag it down to the bottom and then he would release it to float back to the top. Any cleaning tool was also an instant toy. Another octopus, think it was Inklet, had great fun pulling the magnetic cleaner magnets apart and letting the outside one smash to the floor. Best bet is to experiment with different items and see what catches their interest.

Baby toys, ya know the plastic rattles, etc. seem to be a big hit. At the Baltimore Aquarium, they had a stash of different items they would give the GPO for enrichment. One was one of those baby toys that is shaped like a ball but has plastic beads running through the plastic wires. They also used empty gallon milk containers. One of my octopuses loved a large green mega block. There was something about having to drag it down to the bottom and then he would release it to float back to the top. Any cleaning tool was also an instant toy. Another octopus, think it was Inklet, had great fun pulling the magnetic cleaner magnets apart and letting the outside one smash to the floor. Best bet is to experiment with different items and see what catches their interest.
hehehe, everything cathes your intrest when your an octopus... i i was thinking, maybe one of those toy remote control submarines? as long as itdoesnt have coppy whould that be alright?


chris

chris

Stick with all plastic toys to protect your octopus.
The funny thing is, what appears to one doesn't appear to another. My bimac Ollie didn't much like toys, except for the cleaning magnet, which she liked to dangle outside the den hanging by one sucker. When I'd reach for it, she jerked it back into her den. She kept doing this, so I guess it was fun for her. But other than that, she liked playing with me, chasing my hand on the glass or dancing by and touching my hand in the water.

Nancy

soft plastic fishing lures seemed to have been my octos favorite... get the zoom jerk baits and stuff like that they love them