[Octopus]: Hatch-ko - Octopus tetricus

haggs

Vampyroteuthis
Registered
Joined
Oct 4, 2008
Messages
384
Location
Coffs Harbour N.S.W.Australia
Hatch-ko, has settled in nicely. Hatch-ko was named by a friend of mine, and if I understood the translation properly it means … girl with 8 hands … in this case it is 8 arms. She has been with me now for a week and is quite content sitting at the edge of her den watching me... watching her. I'm guessing by her size, she is about 4 months old. Her body is about the size of a large chicken egg and her arms in the relaxed state are about 25 cm long, but extend close to 35 cm.


はちこ .jpg

I didn't try to feed her the first day but on the morning of the second day I dropped in a crab about 5 cm across into the front left corner of the tank and she made a quick dash from her den across the sand bed and then smothered the crab with her arms and webbing. Since then she has eaten some off cuts of frozen fish and another 3 crabs.
DSC_6618.jpg


This is her wandering around the tank and reaching out for the camera.

IMG_4695.jpg


Looking at all the scratches on the glass does make me want to build a new tank.
 
Hatch-ko is beautiful! Don't tell anyone that I got a sneak preview :wink:

I try really, really hard not to see scratched :rolleyes:. The two EMPTY octo tanks are driving me batty though. Nemo helps but I am still hoping to get an octo before long.
 
Hatch-ko has settled in very well and has no issue coming out to greet my hand, she seems to knows that I am the main source of food as she tends to ignore our visitors when they approach the tank. Now when I approach the tank Hatch-ko will come out of her den and greet my hand while I place it on the outside of the tank. When I reach in she will leave the den and bottom of the tank and rise to meet me. After the initial "pulling" she seems to settle down and enjoys a rub. She will back away on occasions but then return for more, I can drop in a crab or piece of fresh fish and she will hold onto the food but stay for more rubbing.

 
Yesterday I did a water change and all she wanted to do was reach out for a rub, so I gave her a piece of pumice to play with. It did keep her entertained for quite a while as she chased it around the tank as it was bobbing around the surface.

I try to do a water change between 1 and 2 weeks, this will depends on the condition of the ocean, The week before we had a forecast for bad weather so I did the change a little earlier.
DSC_6610.jpg


I have a drum which I carry in our trailer and drive down to the beach and fill on the incoming tide. At home I can drive up the back yard and gravity feed this into the sump.

To do this I turn off the sump return pump and then siphon the main tank of any crab shells that she has taken into her den that I have missed. Taking 200 ltrs out of the tank does not seem to worry her at all, she will still leave the den and reach out for the hose or my hand.
DSC_7034.jpg
DSC_7043.jpg
 

Shop Amazon

Shop Amazon
Shop Amazon; support TONMO!
Shop Amazon
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Back
Top