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Diagnosing a sick octopus :(

Reggie

Blue Ring
Registered
Joined
Jun 17, 2014
Messages
43
Location
Bergen, Norway
Hi! I haven't really been on the forums in a very long time after my last octopus, Kim Jong Un, escaped and died. I got myself a new octopus and named him Karl Marx, and he have seemed to thrive a lot. I'm almost certain it's a male abdopus, possibly aculeatus, but not sure about that. Hes been hunting my scampi-on-stick as well as grabbing food from a bottle, and has eaten well. However the past 3 days hes been hiding inside a vase and covering the entrance with shells. He will grab the food, but he won't take it if I challenge him by pulling the food away, and he isn't eating much. Also earlier he would grab on to the stick and fight it (or rather fight it's buoyancy) so I couldn't retrieve it until 15 mins after when he got bored. Now he tries to grab the stick, but let's go at once I pull it away. On top av that I noticed that part of his first or second arm from the left was like a stub. So I now know something is wrong, but I have no idea what or what I can do about it. Any ideas? What should I check for? I don't have access to a testing kit except for the salinity which is fine.
 
My first thought would echo what @cuttlegirl said. Maybe you need to refer to it as a she...

Why do you think it is a male?

Water change is your best bet if you cannot test the water quality. But I'd be on the lookout for some eggs in that den it has.

Greg
 
Hm, I'll try changing the water. I think it's a male because of the hectocotylus. Thought I had pictures, but apparently not. However, I haven't heard of eating themselves as a sign of brooding? On the other hand that would explain why she (?) would alway keep one arm in the den while grabbing the food outside
 
As you noted, the behavior sounds like brooding but not the missing arms. LARGE water change suggested and be sure you don't have an exposed impeller.
 
If it is a male, it is fairly common for males to eat their arms as they go through the senescent process of old age and eventual death... But usually in these cases, the males are actually more active during senescence whereas females usually hide more because of their brooding behavior.

Keep us posted.

Greg
 

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