• Looking to buy a cephalopod? Check out Tomh's Cephs Forum, and this post in particular shares important info about our policies as it relates to responsible ceph-keeping.

bimac life span?

Joined
Nov 3, 2003
Messages
4
hey all! my 2nd post here so please pretend to not mind the know-not factor that i reek of hehe. im an avid invert. enthusiast mainly dealing with terrestrial inverts like mantids and such. as long as i can remember i have held a deep (no pun intended) fascination for aquatic life that has only been building over the years. today i am a full fledged ceph. freak! i hope by the first quarter of 04' to try my hand at octopus husbandry for the very first time...i dont care to rush into it as i have learned a lot by keping exotic insects that half the battle to having healthy and happy animals is LEARNING/READING. living in hawaii i am spoiled by an amazing reef fish/invert population so importing is pretty much a non-issue. my biggest challenge is learning about the life spans and routine maintainance of captive cephs and i hear this is just the place to ask. can anyone hip me to the do's and donts of octo/cuttle rearing? i am still in the process of using the tonmo search function to the fullest, but thought i'd get a little head start by asking you pros in advance. do bimacs live longer than a year from egg to egg laying adult? most of my insects have VERY short spans so a year seems plenty to me although i'd imagine the complex nervous system of an octo may give them a family pet sort of appeal with its "personality". i wouldnt mind having a ceph for a few years...is this possible? (aside form owner error, could their life spans exceed a year in or out of captivity?).
well i'll wait for your response(s). thanks for listening.

aloha,

tavis
 
Hi Tavis,

Good to hear that you're interested in keeping an octopus.

Unfortunately, they are short lived. Some of the dwarf (pygmy) octopuses live only 6 months. A bimac's lifespan is usually given as one year, although we're heard indirectly that some have lived a few months longer in labs. Some species do live longer, and the longer lived octos seem to come from areas with colder water.

You should have a big choice of octopuses in Hawaii.

Maybe you've already read the Ceph Care articles. We always recommend Colin's Equipment List (which also contains some ceph keeping information) and my Checklist if you're thinking of keeping an octopus.

One update - you need at least a 50 gallon tank for a bimac.

Keep us posted!

Nancy
 
Other species like Giant octopuses can live for up to 5 years. You'll also be able to find another diurnal octopus there which is O.cyanea. They get to be bigger than a bimac though.
 

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