[Octopus]: Deuce - O. briareus New Family Member

SkyFl

O. bimaculoides
Registered
Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
54
Location
Spring Hill, FL
Well, thanks to Sirreal, we have a new friend!

We made the trip down to pick up our buddy and he looked fantastic. Color changes looked great. The shop owner said he has been eating well.
We drip acclimated him and then introduced him to the tank in the pet carrier with a pvc pipe.
He curled up into the pipe and remained there for the evening.
Some time during the night, he relocated, and I haven't been able to catch a glimpse yet. I am sure, like most, he will hide for a while before showing himself again.
He is already much larger than Octonaut ever was. I am estimating mantle size at about 1" from top of eyes to tip of mantle. Arm span is larger than my hand stretched out.
I have hopes/guess on what species, but looking for any insight.
More photos/video coming soon (as soon as I edit out our voices!) :smile:
So excited to have a new ceph!


This first photo is from the LFS - but you can see his colors better.

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Underside - still in the bag. (And a quarter for size reference - although he is quite curled up!)
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Very nice. I am so happy for you. I would think O.Briareus since it should be local and I got my O,Briareus from the same place. Though I will wait for DWhatley to verify. From the pics I would have thought it might be young but then the vid shows a much larger size so I dont know. Ether way very nice. Looking forward to more pics and vids
 
Definitely O. briareus. It looks to be about the same age as Shiitake (whom I have shamefully not photographed lately but she still does not come out with the lights on - I do see a few investigating arms now when the tank is fed - and she is a pickey eater. I think we are finally making headway though. It seems she would prefer me to hand feed her supper rather than take it from a stick :roll:). This is a good age as much younger and you simply would not see him/her and have to struggle with feeding an animal that is hard to find.
 
It is kind of hard to be sure because availability is always highest during crabbing season. They are known (according to the literature) to breed all year around but I suspect there is a primary breeding season in the winter with hatchlings early in the year since we see more babies in early spring and older animals toward the end of the crab/lobster season. This makes some sense for the mother brooding and not eating in the colder temperatures (lower energy consumption) as well as more food availability for the hatchlings in the spring.
 
So exciting! That is exactly what we were hoping for and what I suspected! We have not caught a glimpse yet after the first night. However, my husband is setting up a long recording camera for the night. I would like to see that he is at least okay. :smile:
 
My boys have settled on the name "Deuce," as he is our second octopus.
Last night was very successful. After hours watching and waiting, I finally spotted him between some rocks.
And we had our first successful shrimp on a stick feeding. Didn't take him long to grab and run! (Shell-on, thawed frozen raw shrimp - maybe about 1/3 the size of his mantle.)
Going to continue feeding at the same time everyday and hope to get in a great routine!
 
I probably should warn people that I do this but no one has complained yet :roll:. Because of the software, only staff can modify titles and often animals do not have names when the thread is initiated but it is difficult to locate animals over time if the name is not in the thread title. The request has been so common that I make the change without thinking when I add the name to the List of Our Octopuses thread. :biggrin2:
 
We are very blessed to live so close to the coast here that we can collect fiddlers just about year round. We went out yesterday and my 8 year old son had a blast, as always! Here is one quick photo from our favorite crabbing spot!
 

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Really is better to take out the males if you have the option. Be sure to check on collection permits for personal use. I don't THINK this is a problem in FL but it definitely is in CA.
 

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