First octopus and first post on Tonmo

DWhatley;176198 said:
Do you see "horns" frequently above each eye. There are more than one species that show these but they are typical of A. aculeatus.

Yes, he definitely has "horns" about his eyes all the time. Also, his skin is almost always "horny" and rough in appearance.
 
glad to see that you're having fun with your new friend! I love aculeatus, they are more diurnal and out a lot- friendly and interested in what is going on around them. I like to sit by the tank with the laptop, and they love to watch the screen!
 
sedna;176275 said:
glad to see that you're having fun with your new friend! I love aculeatus, they are more diurnal and out a lot- friendly and interested in what is going on around them. I like to sit by the tank with the laptop, and they love to watch the screen!

Thanks, it is definitely great. I also sit in front of the tank with the computer.
 
How worried do I have to be about being bitten my my octopus?

I've started working with him by putting my hand in the tank near him. He stays calm and eventually grabs onto my fingers pulling himself towards my hand. I've pulled away when he does this as I was worried about a bite. When I pull away he gets startled and swims away. I don't mind a little scratch of a bite but I'm worried about the envenomation. I've read through the octopus bite thread and most seemed to be harmless but some were more serious. What do you guys do? What do you recommend I do? I really want to get friendly with him but also don't want a potentially dangerous bite. Thanks!
 
There is a possibility of being bitten, as there is when playing with most any wild animal.I have a dog that goes a lot places with me a people always ask before petting him: "does he bite" my simple response to the question is: " He doesn't Bit ME" That being said, it is not very common. And for the most part biting is not a typical behavior for most species of octo. Some are more prone to biting, like O.rubescens. When I'm playing/petting mine I make sure to be very conscious of where my hand is and where the octopuses beak is. I make sure not to allow and untrusted octopus to crawl all the way onto my hand where my flesh is within reach of the beak. I just keep rotating and lifting my hand straight up out of the water to keep the octo at bay. A feeding stick works well to move arms that are getting to close for comfort in the early stages of contact.

The tugging you are describing is very typical. both D and myself have found its best not to pull back but to just stand your ground. hold your hand still, dont let him pull you towards hium, but also dont pull your hand away. eventually the octo will stop trying to pull and begin to investigate more. the biggest thing is to take your time with them dont rush it. be prepared to just hold your hand in the tank for at least five minutes to as long as 20 minutes while the octo just dances around investigating.

Another tip is to play with your octo on one corner and always that corner then feed the octo in the other corner. This helps seperate play time and feeding time.

:sink:
 
CaptFish;176320 said:
There is a possibility of being bitten, as there is when playing with most any wild animal.I have a dog that goes a lot places with me a people always ask before petting him: "does he bite" my simple response to the question is: " He doesn't Bit ME" That being said, it is not very common. And for the most part biting is not a typical behavior for most species of octo. Some are more prone to biting, like O.rubescens. When I'm playing/petting mine I make sure to be very conscious of where my hand is and where the octopuses beak is. I make sure not to allow and untrusted octopus to crawl all the way onto my hand where my flesh is within reach of the beak. I just keep rotating and lifting my hand straight up out of the water to keep the octo at bay. A feeding stick works well to move arms that are getting to close for comfort in the early stages of contact.

The tugging you are describing is very typical. both D and myself have found its best not to pull back but to just stand your ground. hold your hand still, dont let him pull you towards hium, but also dont pull your hand away. eventually the octo will stop trying to pull and begin to investigate more. the biggest thing is to take your time with them dont rush it. be prepared to just hold your hand in the tank for at least five minutes to as long as 20 minutes while the octo just dances around investigating.

Another tip is to play with your octo on one corner and always that corner then feed the octo in the other corner. This helps seperate play time and feeding time.

:sink:

That is great advice, thank you. I will take all that into consideration when interacting with him.
 
Made some great progress today. When I woke up this morning he was out and about on the glass. So, I started gently petting him and just like before he started to pull my fingers. This time I held my ground and didn't let him pull me in and didn't pull away either. He just felt my fingers and tugged on them for awhile then let go. I petted him for a couple seconds more. Then I offered him a piece of raw shrimp to let him know I was happy with his behavior. He took to the frozen food right away! That will definitely save me a lot of money and hassle not having to feed him live food all the time. Thanks to all for the kind welcome and good advice. I hope my first octo experience continues to go as well as it has been.
 
My octopus is becoming more bold every day. It rarely hides anymore. He definitely associates me with food and seems to get very excited when I enter my fish room. Right now I am just trying to teach him that while I give him food my hand is not food lol. He still likes to pull my fingers like he thinks that's his food. Here is a video I took last night of our interaction. Sorry for the shakiness and poor quality. I was filming with my phone with one hand and interacting with the other. Enjoy!

 
When the larger ones get too good at capture the feeding stick we resort to a zip tie on a floating plastic ice cube, it helps keep from disrupting the live rock :biggrin2:
 

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