Hi, I just got some eggs and I was wondering if anyone could tell me how soon they might be hatching out. Some have the black layer completely pealed away; while, the others still have it. Also, is there any way to tell if the babies are even alive. I can see the ones in the clearer eggs perfectly, but aren't they suppose to be moving?
Thanks,
KDS

are they little puffy cause that means the embyro is developing, is they are scrunchy and shribbled up they wwont hatch soon.

As they mature you should be able to see the eyes, it's called eyeing up also you will start to see the chromatophores sometimes even changing shape! Very cool, I've seen this with octopus and sepioloidea eggs.

J

wow, i never new the eggs could change color. and shape, seriously awesome.

THEY HATCHED!!!!!!!! I got up this morning and there were two tiny cuttles resting at the bottom. They are changing color, swimming, jetting around, and one spit out his yoke. Goodness, I am so nervous. I was not expecting them to hatch for another week!
KDS

COOL!!!!!

Congratulations!

Congratulations, now comes the nail-biting part! Good luck getting them to eat!

I have never had baby cuttles before, so I don't know what is normal. I put some copepods in there and they won't eat. Also, how active are they suppose to be? They have not moved around much since this morning. Is it because they are nocturnal, shy/scared, or are they dying?

They may not feed immediately, when we hatch out Sepioloidea they don't, it may be they still have some yolk on board. Thales or Cuttlegirl should be able to give you more info.

J

When they are small the generally aren't active because being active gets them eaten. Sometime you don't see them move at all for the first few days. I have always been of the opinion to leave the live food in with them so they can eat when they are ready. What kinds of copepods did you put in with them, and in what are you keeping the baby cuttles?

If you can, give them a bit of algae to hide in... You can try offering amphipods or mysids too.

I have found copepods only to be a good food for the first couple of days, and I mostly like them because you can get some to keep in the fridge for that unexpected hatching. Mysids or amphipods are a much better food in general.

OK OFF TOPIC BUT MY OCTO WONT EAT ANYMORE SHOULD I GET HIM LIVE CRABS CAUSE HE SEEMED TO LOVE THOSE BEFOR AND HE STOPED EATING FROZEN STUFF

OK OFF TOPIC BUT MY OCTO WONT EAT ANYMORE SHOULD I GET HIM LIVE CRABS CAUSE HE SEEMED TO LOVE THOSE BEFOR AND HE STOPED EATING FROZEN STUFF

You can get some live crabs and try. How old is s/he? As they reach senescence (old age) the appetite tapers off to nothing and the end is nigh :cry: Hopefully s/he is just bored with the diet.

J

I got some tigger-pods like you suggested in my other thread. I am keeping the baby cuttles in one of those plastic critter keepers with holes drilled into the sides (my dad made sure the holes were small enough not to let the babies out yet still provided good water flow). We attached it to the side of the aquarium, so it is not moving around at all.

Great! I would switch to mysis or amphipods very soon.

congragulations on your baby cuttles.:baby: i hope you hve fun with them.

A third cuttle hatched out last night. I got some algae (after searching all over town) and put in there, but they have not gone over to hide in it yet. Their activity level is up from yesterday; however, they are still not eating (I am keeping the tigger-pods in there at all times). I have mysis and amphipods coming in the mail. I would have had them already, but I was not expecting the eggs to hatch four days after I got them.

A third cuttle hatched out last night. I got some algae (after searching all over town) and put in there, but they have not gone over to hide in it yet. Their activity level is up from yesterday; however, they are still not eating (I am keeping the tigger-pods in there at all times). I have mysis and amphipods coming in the mail. I would have had them already, but I was not expecting the eggs to hatch four days after I got them.

:grin: You know those babies, they never do what you want them to do!!! But, that said, anyone ordering cuttlefish eggs should have the food available at the same time they get the eggs, so that you are prepared. Kind of like making sure you have diapers before you bring the baby home from the hospital...

KDS, Where did you get the eggs?

congrats again keep hoping for more, and maybe possibly yuo could give some to your good buddy, magikCeph, maybe. *wink*

I got the eggs from SeaCrop. Another one hatched last night; that is a total of four babies now. They have gone in the algae, so maybe they will grab some copepods.

KDS how many eggs did you get in the cluster?


Thanks Dutch

I got five eggs in the cluster.

I put the mysis in there, but none of the babies are going after them. Is this normal? Will they start hunting eventually, or did I do something wrong? The cuttles have been moving and some are changing colors, but I cannot see any actually eating.

In the beginning, I didn't see the little guys eat, but the mysids kept disappearing. Eventually I could see them eat.

You kept yours in a net breeder, right? I put mine in a plastic kritter keeper with holes in the side (in the net breeder the eggs kept floating around), so the mysid can eventually escape. My mom suggested moving the cuttles to a net breeder now that they have hatched, but I thought this would stress them out.

This morning, though, I saw that one of the babies came out of the grass and had moved over to where the mysis had gathered the night before. Maybe he was eating???

Also, are the baby cuttles suppose to be able to swim and jet just like the adults? The one that was out this morning seem to have little control of his movement.

He ate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I came home and saw one of those amphipods sticking out of his arms. Don't know about the others though:)

Nice!

Two of the babies died, and one of them (we think) was the one that was eating??? I'm not sure how the others are doing. I have no idea if they are eating or not.

Damn. Where did you find the bodies?

:sad:

:fingerscrossed: for the others

:sad:

:fingerscrossed: for the others

I second that.

Good luck dude.

Thirded?

Sorry to hear that..Try to be sure they arent just eating each other...

Did you find a whole body? or just saw a small cuttlebone?

Cannibalism can occur with young bandensis. If you suspect that, you may want to separate them for while.