Mr. Octopus arrived on February 23rd from Zyan. He's bigger than Sleipner was, and certainly a bigger eater. I figured I'd let him munch at will on about 10 crabs that were in the tank for a week before removing the remaining crabs and feeding him on a regimen. He decided he'd take all of them instead. I've been feeding him a fiddler a day or so since, and he supplements with snails as he finds necessary (I find the meaty carcasses almost untouched, so maybe he just enjoys extricating them from their shells and throwing them away). He doesn't have a specific name per se, but I've been referring to him as Mr. Octopus.

He's not terribly fond of us yet but isn't really afraid, either. He spends most of his time in his den, but for the last few days has been spending more and more time outside. He'll play tug of war but in a merely exploratory way until he discerns that we're not food and gives in.

Here's a three-minute video I took last night of him gallivanting around the tank. His mantle is about the size of a lime. Dialup users beware.

Google Video - Mr. Octopus out for a stroll... (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4390393834916686211&hl=en)

Very nice, and may I complement you on your tank also? Nice growth on your rocks !

He's adorable!

how big is he? btw hes awesome!

Very nice, and may I complement you on your tank also? Nice growth on your rocks !

Thanks--I'm a little embarassed because I have some cyanobacteria that you can see towards the end of the video. Otherwise I take a lot of pride in keeping a nice purple color!

I tried to convince Mr. Octopus to release my right hand by giving him a crab with my left. Unfortunately he can do two things at once (three if you count continually squirting me in the face).

Once I extricated myself I took these two pictures:

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/dbhyslop/octopus/Mr%20Octopus/03-20.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/dbhyslop/octopus/Mr%20Octopus/03-20a.jpg

When we play tug of war near the surface he doesn't seem to mind having much of him pulled out of the water. Should I be worried about air being trapped in his mantle?

Dan

Wonderful pics and video, Dan. I'm so glad you and Mr. Octopus are getting along just fine!

Nancy

I tried to convince Mr. Octopus to release my right hand by giving him a crab with my left. Unfortunately he can do two things at once (three if you count continually squirting me in the face).

:sagrin: That's part of the fun of bein an octopus :sagrin:


When we play tug of war near the surface he doesn't seem to mind having much of him pulled out of the water. Should I be worried about air being trapped in his mantle?

Dan

In a healthy animal it should be OK but just be careful you don't pull him all the way out. it can be a bit hard on them, also make sure your hands are wet before you touch him, that reduces the chance of skin lesions.

Air in the mantle seems to be more of an issue when it's fine bubbles like from an air line, they don't sem able to deal with it. I would attempt to minimise time out of the water though.

J

Today he seemed to have no aversion to coming out of the water--his only objective was holding on!

Mr.Octopus, YOU LOOK MAAARVELOUS!!!!

i have the same struggle with my guy...he doesnt know when to let go. tonight he had my hand for a little over 5 minutes and ive fairly new with these guys (5 days in) so i just let him sit there and play tug-o-war. your octo is beautiful by the way! what kind is it and how long have you had it?

I wonder if being they were tank raised is why they have no fear of us? Those are great pics!

He's a bimac, Nick.

Mr. Octopus will nibble at the skin of my fingers if I let them get too close to his mouth, but he doesn't usually draw blood. I know his beak is large enough that he could take quite a little divot out of me, though. My wife prefers to offer a toothbrush for tug-of-war rather than a hand!

A toothbrush would be a good idea but in my case i haven't got my guy to grab any object except my hand. I've tried rocks, a pen, the temp tube that floats around my tank and it just wants my hand. Very cool feeling when they constrict your hand but i've yet to get bitten. Well see how that goes when he decides to take a taste. By the way mine is tank raised too, since the second i let it out of the bag its been curious to find out who i was. Well keep the pics coming, i love to see them!

I wonder if there is something about the shape of a hand that is less frightening. Mine is a Mercatoris (pygmy) that started brooding after 2 months (wild caught). I got her to eat dead fiddler crabs by lowering them on a piece of air tubing but had to really "tease" her to take it and she would often blow it out of her den if she could not get it off the tube. I had noticed earlier that she was less afraid of my hand IN the water than outside so I tried hand feeding the crab. She takes it every time (about 3 weeks now). Twice she lingered an arm on my finger but without aggression or even trying to push it out of the way. Now she ignores my hand when I feed but withdraws further into her den if it is there for another reason but she doesn't put up her "door".

Additionally, I have worked with trying to get her to reach out and "touch" my finger on the other side of the aquarium almost since day one. She will now put an arm out if either Neal or I rub the "glass" but will only do it once and then often closes her door if either of us continues to rub the aquarium wall. Unfortunately, I have no real guesses as to what this "contact" means :sad:

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/dbhyslop/octopus/Mr%20Octopus/glass1.jpg

Beautiful!

LUCKY!!! i want an octopus, but also i want a cuttlefish, but i also want a squid, but i also want an octpus, but i also want a cuttlefish, but i also want an octopus, but i also want a... well you get the point. i cant wait to get my octopus, or cuttlefish, or squid.

or squid.

Don't go the squid route! They are much, much, much harder than the others to kep and need considerably larger tanks!

J

Don't go the squid route! They are much, much, much harder than the others to kep and need considerably larger tanks!

J

where would you even GET a squid:hmm:

where would you even GET a squid:hmm:

Some people make friends with local fishers or go out themselves, But I REALLY DO NOT RECOMMEND SQUID !!!!!!!! They aare seriously difficult to keep, they need HUGE circular tanks (often many 1000's of litres) and they eat much more than a similar sized octopus, to my knowledge no-one has yet managed to wean a squid onto dead food (although I could be wrong). I know Loliginids are kept in Galveston at the biomedical institute, but they have really big tanks (fright Fluffysquid?) and Steve has of course kept squid, but his tales on the work needed to keep them are just exhausting!

J

Mr. Octopus spends much--perhaps most--of his time outside of his den hunting, exploring or killing time. He'll get up before I do, even if I have to be out the door by six; he's also up long after his light goes off and I go to bed. He does seem to rest in his den at mid-day or so before his light comes on around 2 or 3.

He's a very active octopus, and I believe he feels very safe in the aquarium and does not view me as a threat in any way, even when I've got my fingers in the tank harassing him. He doesn't seem to be particularly fond of being pet between the eyes, but he doesn't seem terribly put off by it, either. He'll sit at the top of the tank with his arms wrapped around the trim and we'll play a game where I try to pet him there repeatedly and he'll use different arms to try and block me.

He also has no fear of leaving the water. I question the idea that bimacs are less apt to escape: if I open the lid, he'll usually come over immediately and will emerge completely. I will usually let him do this supervised. First he would just come up and sit on the trim for a few seconds and go back in, but he has become more adventuresome. At first he lacked an appreciation for gravity and when he tried venturing further over the trim took a fall to the floor. I scooped him up and returned him to the tank immediately. He has a bit skittish for a minute or two but soon recovered. Now he's a little more careful and will climb over the trim and down the outside glass. He'll stay out for a minute or so and then climb back up, over and in the water.


http://farm1.static.flickr.com/170/466656287_f10ab1f278.jpg?v=0

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/201/466656285_67e852408d.jpg?v=0

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/207/466656291_025e1ed7d9.jpg?v=0

Sounds like he's everything you could ask for in a "pet" octopus.

Excellent pictures Dan.

Next year I WILL have a bimac - Hopefully Zy's next generation will be as fantastic as this group! Keep the pictures coming!

My goodness! That is pretty amazing. Do you have any pics of his exploring outside? I'm glad to hear he wasn't hurt in his fall. He's really beautiful!

He likes to come outside every day. I'll take a picture tonight. They're very ungainly creatures out of water.

Dan,

Does your camera take a short video? Mr. Octopus's exploits would be super interesting to watch!

Indeed it does, and in fact I have a video of Mr. Octopus on Google Video.

Mr. Octopus out for a stroll. (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4390393834916686211)

You can click the "Also from user" button to see some videos of my star-crossed prior octopus, Sleipner.

Ever wonder what their thoughts are as we're chasing their every move around with the camera? At one point Mr. Octopus looked like he was thinking, "Let's see if he follows me over here....How bout here.....) Personally...I think they are training us and just letting us think we are training them....

humm, I certainly tried to use the window slider up to follow Mr. Octopus up the glass so I can imagine trying to film the behavior would start one thinking this way.

Here's a couple more brief videos of Mr. Octopus:

Mr. Octopus Breathing (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5844966951647780472)

The Eye of the Beholder (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8135350446797946632)


PS to Tony: Google Video has a script to embed a video player in a blog, forum or website. Is it possible to integrate that into TONMO? Here's a sample of the code for one of the videos:

<embed style="width:400px;height:326px;" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=81353504467979466 32&hl=en" id="VideoPlayback" align="middle" quality="best" bgcolor="#ffffff" scale="noScale" salign="TL" FlashVars="playerMode=embedded"></embed>

He has really good coloration. Probably my favorite looking bimac I have seen.