There are a number of people that think eating less and low end temperatures (which will effect eating) will extend their natural lifespan so coaxing them to eat more than they want may be counter productive even though it is counter intuitive. We are experimenting a little with our bimac. Since Diego seems to understand we bring food and seems to come to the front wall when he sees Neal if he is hungry, we are letting him decide what days he eats. Right now, it seems every other day suits him and that fits fine with what appears to be a healthy appetitie for this species. Tatanka seems to be more comfortable with eating two days in a row and then not eating on the third day. He is eating less now at 10 months than when he was younger but still keeps this approximate schedule. Our hummelincki seemed to want to eat most of the week and then fast one day. Needless to say, I think the individual octopus, the age of the octopus and likely the temperature of the aquarium all impact the feeding routine.
Without really stretching, Tank reached over to my hand last night half way across the tank, discounting his body, I measured the arm lenth at about 17". It was obvious he could extend the arm half again that distance with ease but I don't have an at rest measurement. I have noticed that his mantle has grown since he mated with Cassy and he is not close to if not larger than her pre-egg producing size. Anticdotally, this would suggest that the males may grow a little more slowly than the females.
There does not appear to be a rhyme or reason to sizing. I have noted this particularly in the hummelincki but we have seen significant variations in size for all the species we are currently keeping. It has been helpful to photograph them next to a ruler/taper measure at death just to get a common measurement so, as hard it is mentally to do, I continue to encourage this with all journaled animals.
