Artemis- macropus complex

Ah Sedna, I'm also waiting for Lennon to become a little more accustom to me, I think he's getting there. He does the same thing as Artemis with the feeding stick- even if he doesn't really even want the food I'm offering! I'm going to try some fresh shrimp tonight and see how it goes, then probably update. Give Artemis time! He'll be out and about soon enough!
 
I was able to get more time in with Artemis yesterday and this morning. It is nice on the weekends to get up early to interact for a while, then go back to bed and sleep in. The girls continue to enjoy waking up to the red lights and friendly octo on school mornings, and it gives them incentive to get out of bed!

This morning Artemis went to bed as I was preparing a new treat- a piece of scallop. Once I had it on the stick an ready to go, he had retired to a den (he seems to move between a few) and I had to look under the tank with a flashlight to find where he was. He waved an arm at me once I shined him, and he took the scallop without coming out. Unlike the shrimp, he seems to have actually eaten it! Tomorrow I'll try to be earlier with his breakfast...

Hey, Thales, if you're reading mine and forever27's journals, post a quick update on your macros! I know you probably don't have time to start your own journals for them, so feel free to borrow some space here from time to time!
 
Thanks for the invite. :biggrin2:

One is voracious. He really attacks food. Eats anything. Uses his webbing to trap live stuff, but seems to have a hard time catching shrimp. The other less so. I am setting up a 60 in the ceph system for the one, and hopefully the other will go to D.
 
Thales;132551 said:
Thanks for the invite. :biggrin2:

One is voracious. He really attacks food. Eats anything. Uses his webbing to trap live stuff, but seems to have a hard time catching shrimp. The other less so. I am setting up a 60 in the ceph system for the one, and hopefully the other will go to D.

:wink:I was hoping things might work out that way!
 
Artemis in the morning

Yesterday morning my younger daughter was up at 5:50 with a blood sugar level of 62 :bonk:! That wakes us up quick, but it was Artemis to the rescue! Elise sat next to the tank with her juice and 1st breakfast (she has meals like a hobbit) and loved watching him. When the same thing happened Sunday morning, she commented that Artemis didn't know how to play "follow the hand" yet. Yesterday he seemed to figure it out. He is to the point where when you put your hand on the glass he'll come over and sit still against it for a moment.

D, you mentioned something about a paper on octo play or socialization? I can say I've noticed this trend in behavior with the social octos I've had (all 3). First, coming to the front of the tank as we sit near. Next, playing "follow the hand," where the animal mirrors your hand movements- at a distance at first then gradually closer. Then, sitting still on the glass against your hand, comfortable and relaxed in coloration. Finally (not with Artemis, yet), actual contact inside the tank. Artemis is showing interest in contact, but since we don't see him everyday, I'm going slow.

Speaking of being social, we didn't see him today. Another thing I've noticed about him. He will stay out until 8:30 or so, but only if you catch him out in time, AND pay attention to him. I make one of the girls eat breakfast near the tank to keep him out until I can play! This morning we didn't roll out of bed until 7:20, by then he'd gone to bed.

The lighting schedule I decided on was day lights from 9 am- 6 pm, red lights overlapping by 15 min on both ends. There is morning sun that falls on the tank and doesn't seem to disturb him. In fact, this is when I get the best pictures, as he walks the glass in the sunshine. :sun:

He's still not eating a lot that I can see. Elise is normal because I obsess about the animals in place of diabetes. It's a good thing octos don't have pancreases (if they do dont tell me!). I'll be ordering some fiddler crabs or something.
 

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I just noticed in at least 2 of those pics you can kind of see his hectocotylus. It comes to a blunt end, rather than taper off as much as the other arms. It's not always held in a curl, but it is distinctively different!
 
First contact!

We got up in time to find Artemis out this morning. It's funny, sometimes he's still out at 7:30 and others we've missed him at 7:15! He doesn't seem to keep a very regular schedule. Also, it's getting lighter earlier and I expected that to make a difference but really doesn't.

Julie stick fed him this morning- we defrosted a piece of scallop, "chummed" the H2O with melt from the glass, and he knew it was time for breakfast. As usual, he played with the stick a bit first, then took the food. I let my fingers dangle in at the top of the tank, and he came to investigate. As with my other social octos, he got up the courage to grab my hand and pull it toward him. I got worried, I don't want to confuse playing with eating, but then he quickly let go and went into the corner to eat. He seemed to contemplate what had just happened, then when he'd eaten his fill he dropped the food and came to play "follow the hand."

We haven't played tug of war with his actual toy, we'll go with the feeding stick and slowly let him get warmed up to my hand for now. It can be a bummer sometimes when I miss seeing this guy because our schedules are off. But boy, it's really rewarding every time we get a chance to interact. This little guy is every bit as interested in us as we are in him!
 
Artemis to the rescue!

"Mommy, how is it that no matter what time I need help in the night, you are awake?"

Artemis does a lot to make middle of the night blood sugar lows more interesting. At 5 am he was out and about and more than happy to entertain Elise as she drank her orange juice. The goal is to entirely avoid BG lows while sleeping, but I mind it much less (once I'm conscious) having Artemis to watch.

I was up early yesterday morning, too- not for Elise, just to feed him. At 5 am I dropped an emerald crab in for him and he grabbed it up right away. Then it seemed that he only wanted to play with it. I went back to bed at 5:30, and was surprised that he was still out at 7. He still had the crab, and was still only to playing until he finally dragged it into a den at 8. By 10 am the carapace had been ejected from the den, only one leg still attached. I inspected it, thinking I'd find a hole from his radula or that it'd be mangled but it hardly looked touched except for the missing legs. Some of those were carried off by the hermits. I am still not sure exactly what he eats, but maybe it's just that he doesn't need to eat all I'm giving him...

He continues to be interested in us when he is up late enough for us to see, which is regularly every other day. I get up every morning around 5, but he isn't out every day at that time, either. I wonder if he actually sleeps for 24 hr stretches? Once in a while I'm up at 3 or 4, and it's really hit or miss to find him out. If he's not out, I can always locate which den he is in looking under the tank, and sure enough, he'll be in one.

He likes to keep several dens, never seems to favor one over another. I never see evidence of playing with toys, but he's always shifting around the substrate and small live rock. He's still quite a mystery, but he always seems to be out when we need him!
 
Artemis has died

I'm so shocked. Last night at 9 I saw him out, I figured it was earlier than normal because the room was dark for movie watching. I had thrown another emerald crab in for him earlier in the day, and when I was him out at first I thought he was just struggling to eat it. After watching a while I realized that he was breathing too hard and that something was wrong, but no clue as to WHAT.

This morning he had passed. :cry: I can't find the emerald crab anywhere, I don't know if he ate it and it was bad, or there was some struggle, or maybe he never got it at all. It could still be in the LR, and Artemis' death completely unrelated. He was fine a few days ago. Of course, if he was a smaller member of macropus complex and senescent, I surely wouldn't know the difference, always viewing with red lights can make seeing color changing behavior more difficult.

I am at a total loss. The water is fine. He was fine a couple of days ago. I'm unsure what else to consider as a possible problem. I'm going through the whole second guessing myself thing- and am ready to get a bunch of stupid fish for that tank.:banghead:
 

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