Desdemona

Definitely NOT merc. The eyes suggest a nocturnal. Are the front arms significantly thicker and longer than the back arms. Look at my photos of Beldar and Puddles and see if there is a match but Bel did not come out with that much light until the end and I never see Puddles with any ambient light. Reviewing the video, I would say the species is the same and I believe is a small member of the Macropus complex. Both of mine trained to hand attention and were/are very gentle sweet animals but you have to find them awake during your own waking period and that is tough.

Extending our your prior, not eating thread, If you are seeing this one out during the day and it is not eating, I fear senescence. IME accepted shrimp size for this one would be about the size of the first joint on your pinky finger. If you can pickup just a couple of local fiddlers (one would do for now), I would put one in the tank with her. If it is not gone in two days, she is either finding something else in the tank or she is at the end of her life. Every other day feeding seems to be about right for Puddles and I am guessing she is full adult (she has grown little or none at all since being placed in the tank).
 
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about food: i think the shrimp i gave her was too big. i thought that by cutting off most of the tail and giving her the head with some meat on it, she would get some gut for nutrients along with protein. the krill i gave her is cooked, i think. for both, she grabs it like she wants to eat it and then lets it go after 20 minutes of holding it for, what looks like, dear life.

i dont see her at all during the day. only in the dead of night-early morning. an hour after i get up, she retreats to her den. ive checked all the local fish stores for something to feed her that doesnt cost 15 dollars to no avail. and i dont want to order crabs and get all that set up without knowing she is healthy and actually eating. with my luck, she would float to the top of the tank the instant i order them.

not merc, huh? OK. im fine with that. but i wouldnt say any of her arms are thick, but longer and a bit thicker than the back for sure. ill take a look at your pics. thanks for the reply!!

noah
 
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Timing sounds right for what I will call Macropus Complex until Roy decides it may be the other he has recently observed (looks similar but I think they get way bigger). Try feeding in the early AM and don't give the head as there is nothing there to eat. Try touching the shrimp to the suckers close to the mouth. I really love this species and both loved to squish through my fingers (I think it is kind of like a soft scratching post for them). Puddles is not crazy about being petted and will push at my finger (still accepting the pet though) but he goes in and out of my hand between my fingers when they are placed to put just a tiny amount of pressure on the mantle. He also seems to like (don't try this at first) to pull an arm through two of my fingers giving the same kind of scratching post as the mantle squish. I am going to have to create a lexicon of Disims :gigas:
 
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Don't expect Desdemona to be willing to play immediately and don't chase her. You will need to let her come to you and very slowly (as much as 2 weeks working with her every morning) to learn to trust your hand. You can browse Puddles journal to get a feel for how long this takes if you want to interact (some people don't :wink:). Try to establish (you can let her choose) a place that you will always put you hand in and watch for her to come to that place. My best experiences have been a combination of conditioning, learning and teaching (for both the animal and the keeper).

I usually stick feed my octos (or Neal does for the diurnal) but Puddles started to tell me when she wanted to eat by coming to my fingers in an entirely different way than when she wanted attention. At first I thought she wanted to sample my hand but she was so consistent with it and is so gentle I learned to recognize the difference and will get her food when she does this and just feed by hand. Both of mine have been extremely gentle so I hope you will report similar or different behavior.
 
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:sad:unfortunately, desdemona was not waiting for me to get home yesterday. she had passed some time during the day. yesterday morning she would not eat the crab i put in her tank for her or a piece of shrimp.
i have a suspision that a resin pack called clearmax made by fluval may have harmed her. there is no warning on the packaging, but then there is a tiny, non-specific note on the flier inside the packaging that states that it is to be used with inverts with caution, or some other such wording. anyone have experience with this stuff and or know if it could have contributed to mona's death?
any help would be extremely appreciated.

noah
 
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i have clearmax in my fluval filter...its been running for months with crabs/urchins.sea stars and haven't had any losses to my knowledge and it was the filter that briefly cleaned for my octo[1 and a half weeks i think].
 
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i am trying to fend off feelings of guilt about all this. i know these are delicate creatures and her death may have had nothing to do with anything i did or did not do, but its tough upon finding out this tidbit about clearmax. i just put it in the canister day before yesterday. she would have been exposed to whatever it does to the system for about 20 hours. thanks again for all of your replies. time to start over. i knew it wasnt going to be like getting a dog, but i was hoping for more than a week.


noah
 
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RIP, and try not to beat yourself up over it... It'd be good to find out if this clearmax stuff is a problem, though, so we can let others know for sure.
 
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i have to doubt its the clearmax..Hindenburg lived 12 days with that filter, and it has two cartridges of clearmax in it..of course Hindenburg was never in the best of health either
 
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Noah,
Often things that are not "invert safe" contain copper. It is important to rule this out ASAP. The vendor should have a website or a place to inquire. So far the only thing I found is that it used to be called Green-X and maybe Phos-X.

Going to Hagen and submitting a question found these links (NOT found when simply typing in Clearmax as you would hope)

http://hagen-cen.custhelp.com/cgi-b...opup_adp.php?p_faqid=303&p_created=1157743026
http://hagen-cen.custhelp.com/cgi-b...opup_adp.php?p_faqid=662&p_created=1192538931

Those answers suggest that the caution is for a rapid drop in phosphates that may effect corals. I have asked about copper specifically and will let you know what they respond. The reference number for your question is '100321-000003' (putting this here so I have a back reference ;>).
 
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OK, I received an explanation from Fluval, unfortunately, it is not clear if the product could be harmful to the gills of the octopus:

Dear Denise,

There is no copper in the product. Below is the answer regarding the cautionary statement:

We advice to be careful with invertebrate because if the material is not properly rinsed before being used, or not properly installed into the filter it can produce, in some case, very fines particles. These particles will be harmless for fish and larger invertebrates but can act like small piece of glass onto the invertebrate delicate mouth and gastro intestinal tract.

That being said Clear-Max will absorb phosphate and other pollutants. If the main problem with the tank is phosphate accumulation we have Fluval Phosphate Remover that will do a much better job at it (it is it only function).

I hope this information is of assistance to you.

Noralynn Naughton, Customer Service
 
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