Vigo's been more and more anti-social as of late and this evening I found out why. His-I mean-HER new tank is finally done cycling so I pulled her den out to start acclimating her. After some serious prodding she crawled out and sank into the pail. As I was putting the rock back in her old tank I noticed a rather large cluster of eggs. Since she's only about 8-9 inches across I guess she's not the Vulgaris I was told she was. How long can I expect her to live now,I'm not really sure when the eggs were laid. right now they're white and about the size of a pencil point. Any advice or info would be greatly appreciated.
Man is my wife gonna be pissed. We rearranged the whole livingroom and ditched her favorite desk to get Vigo's tank in,now she's not gonna be in it very long!!:sad:

Vigette will be around another month or two with her eggs. Since octos have short life spans, surely you plan to get another to make all this tank moving worth while.

No, it doesn't seem that she's a vulgaris. I believe that Carol (corw314) was told that one of her dwarfs was a vulgaris, too.

I hope you reunited her with her eggs!

Nancy

Yeah I'm already in negotiations to get a Bimac. I wish I could find out what species Vigette actually is. How can I tell the differance between small eggs and large eggs and if they're fertile or not? I would love to know if I stand a chance of raising any of them. Should I put her back in her old tank with the eggs? I've read several posts saying its better off to seperate them. I kept the eggs in her old tank because it has a full blown 'pod infestation and I thought thats what the babies would need.

Well Vigo/Vigette has officially stopped eating. She jumped the crab I threw in and pulled it into her den. I checked on her ten minutes later and she had pushed in across the tank. Now what do I do?

I would continue to offer food, even if she doesn't take it. Her eggs may be close to hatching, unless you saw her lay them 4 days ago.

Yeah I figure I'll keep offering til she dies. I havn't noticed any change in her eggs. I don't know when she laid them. She had been holding up in her den more and more for the last few weeks. I noticed the eggs 4 days ago.

That's sad...at least you will be getting a bimac (hopefully a youngun) that will inevitably be with you for a long time (well, as long as any cephalopods are with us for...).

Yes it is-even my 2 year old is sad about. I'm very excited about getting my new Bimac-I ordered one from Zyan as a matter of fact.
Originally ordered two but had an accident with now empty 55 FOWLR,so I had to cancel one of them.

I just checked on Vigettes eggs and they appear to be darkening up. Is this a good siqn that they're fertile?

If they're fertile they'll develop eye spots and you'll be able to see the squirts changing colour. The darkening you mention...........if it's a kind of all over brownish...it's algae. The female octopus normally blows sea water over the eggs and brushes them gently with her arms to prevent algae forming and to keep the eggs oxygenated. If vigette is not in the tank then you need to take over this job, we use a turkey baster and gently squirt water over the eggs every so often.......but Mum will do a better job!

Good luck

J

If they're fertile they'll develop eye spots and you'll be able to see the squirts changing colour. The darkening you mention...........if it's a kind of all over brownish...it's algae. The female octopus normally blows sea water over the eggs and brushes them gently with her arms to prevent algae forming and to keep the eggs oxygenated. If vigette is not in the tank then you need to take over this job, we use a turkey baster and gently squirt water over the eggs every so often.......but Mum will do a better job!

Good luck

J

They're so small I don't know if I could see eyes at all. They do appear to be a bit brownish. Moms in the tank with them so I'm hoping she's taking care of them.

Well she was fertile!! I currently have at least 100 babies swimming around the tank now. I have to admit they're alolt bigger than I thought they'd be. I know they have a very slim chance of survival but I guess wishful thinking could'nt hurt.

I just got home and checked on Vigo and her babies. I don't see any babies swimming around at all and Vigo's extremely pale. Is this the beginning of the end?

Yes, it probably is :sad: It's a tough time for octo owners and can occur iimmediately after the eggs hatch, or a few weeks later, for most species.

Nancy