Hi. New and an odd question

[livvey]

I am interested in getting an octopus in about 2 years time. I came across your forum on someone's YouTube channel that had up some great videos of his octopuses.

I cannot have certain pets (like reptiles and amphibians) because I have an autoimmune disease and I need to be on immune-suppressants to help slow the progression of the disease. The lack of an immune system means I can get pretty sick pretty fast and I have to be a lot more careful about infections, diseases, germs, etc. Is there anything in carrying for an octopus that would be incompatible for someone like me?

Thanks,

livvey

 

[DWhatley]

livvey,
Sadly, with your over sensitive condition, a saltwater aquarium is probably not a good choice. Infection is always a concern when dealing with a saltwater aquarium and we have had numerous problems with infections even in our group, necessitating high does antibiotics. Additionally, octopuses have a venomous bite. We only have a few cases where the toxins have been clearly activated and those have resulted in painful swelling. In general, most octopuses venom does not seem to have a long term effect or be more dangerous than a strong insect sting (there are a couple of know species with very dangerous toxin and may whose toxin for humans is untested)r. But like bee stings, individuals can react differently and an allergic reaction could be deadly.

 

[livvey]

Well that's a bummer

Thank you for the information. It's not the answer I was hoping for, but definitely the one I needed to know for my health.

I guess it also gives me 2 years to work on my partner to get him into the idea so he can do the handling and cleaning.