Hope

Joined
Mar 5, 2010
Messages
69
So, I ordered an Indo. octopus from Live Aquaria. It arrived today and is acclimating now. After a couple of failed attempts with TINY dwarfs, this one seems like a monster! Leg spread is about twelve inches and the mantle length about 1 1/2". I am very excited to see how she fares. Pics and details to follow later tonight!

Wish me luck!

Joe
 
What colors are you seeing? Are its eyes open in the acclimation light or tightly squinted shut. There are (atleast) two complexes that we have seen come in under the Indo octo category, Abdopus and Macropus. Both are human friendly. The Abdopus complex are usually classified as A.aculeatus and are daytime animals with a brown/tan coloration and lots of spikey skin displays. It will have a star around the eye and will frequently show horns when it is poping up over the rockwork to see what is going on. The nocturnal Macropus (species undertermined) will not show spikes, will show strong red coloration and dots along the arms when aggitated. It has a green cast to the underside of the mantle and will reflect green when you use a flash.
 
I've not seen the pupils yet, as I am drip acclimating into a bucket. As far as color goes, it seems to be lighter than most of the pictures I've seen, certainly not red, more like a sandy-bottom color (if that makes sense). EDIT: looked as the links, definately looks more like the Abdopus. I will watch for the horns once she settles in. She was very active when first out of the bag, now it seems to be somewhat balled up in the crease of the bucket. I am going to continue dripping for another half hour and then I will snap a pic or two when I release her into the tank. Thank you for the links.

Joe
 
Horns are definately visable, she was peeking at me from behind some rocks. When she went in she flashed colors about ten times, awesome! She has found a comfy hiding spot in the underside of a piece of rock and I am going to let her settle in for the night. I will try some shrimp on a skewer tomorrow, and I have fiddlers coming in on monday. I will post some pics of the escape proofing I did, I'd like opinions on whether it is sufficient. Very excited, she seems very healthy so far!

Joe
 
I have listed her with the name Hope and tentatively as A.aculeatus. If the post title was only an expression of your mental state, be sure I change her name :wink:
 
The title served both purposes. I just went down and spied a little, she is still in the rock, but has her arms feeling around. The texture changes in her skin are absolutely amazing.
 
She was out exploring yesterday evening, I got a couple of horrible pictures with my cell phone. I'll put them up later and try for real pictures today. It seems that she has eaten a couple of hermit crabs, are these sufficient for a staple (live) diet? Or am I better off with fiddlers, mithrax, etc.?
 
I gave her a red crab, the LFS was out of fiddlers and they seemed similar enough so I decided to try it. Here she is as she was resting under her rock(I know it's a cruddy pic):
octopics001.jpg


Then when I put the crab in:

octopics002.jpg


Holding it:

octopics003.jpg


And back to her spot:

octopics004.jpg


Watching her eat is amazing, the color and texture changes are unbelievable. I will try for a better pic or two tonight (and clean the glass).
 
Most any crab that won't hurt them makes good live food. I diable or remove the claws. Sleazy loves the large male fiddler claw so we usually remove it for her before feeding the crab to one of the other octos. A bit barbaric but everyone gets fresh crustatean and stays healthy (except the crab, of course).

Some octos will eat hermits (only one octo I have kept ate a hermit and she only ate one of them but other keepers have used them as live food) but will more likely ignore them if there is better food. There is not much meat in a hermit.
 
Okay, two questions:
1. Is it okay if I continue to post here, or should I take it to a blog?
2. After your octo eats, how important is it to remove the exoskeleton of the crabs?

Hope seems to be doing well, ate a fiddler today and came out when my hand was in the tank (no contact yet). I am considering revising my setup a bit. I have a HOB skimmer as the tank is not drilled. I have a small opening in the lid for the return, that has gutter guard in it but I'm afraid she could get through it. Is the skimmer more important than the security of the lid? Could I take the skimmer off and do more water changes? Any responses are appreciated.

Thanks,
Joe
 
IMO, keep the skimmer. Bad water and cramped quarters will drive them to look for a way out. If the opening is a concern but not a major inviting hole, duct tape or something scratchy that would irritate but not cut an investigating arm should be enough if pushing near the hole won't let the lid raise up. Fortunately, this species has not been a major issue with escape as long as the lid is closed. We have lost one that climbed out unseen during a water change and was found too late under some nearby newspaper. The keeper heard the plop but did not make the connection. If you can lower your water level, this a lot helps too.

The rule of thumb is to remove any remains within the day (very obvious with shrimp that "cook" and get slimy). Roy has mentioned that crab carcasses are a strong potential pollutant. That being said, my octos clean out the fiddlers so well that there is no meat and the shells are so frail they often dissintegrate when I try to remove them. I rarely find the internal body section that they don't eat. I rely on my serpents and clean-up crew more than I probably should.
 
You could give the blogs a shot! I'm trying them out but I am still unsure of it so I keep both the journal and the Blog. I have been trying to just do a once a week update on the blog and I usually post more casual stuff in the journal. I would love to see someone else give it a try, it is a really cool feature that I think needs to be explored by more users and used in more ways. Do what I do and keep both and try it out.
 
Thanks, I do have the water level down about an inch and a half, and the hole is not along the side of the top. If she were to find it, she would have to be reaching up to the middle of the tank, not along a wall- if that makes any sense. The reason I was asking about the crab skeletons is because it seems like there is so little left over, just sort of a hollow case. I will endeavor to remove as much as I can.

Hope was out playing peek-a-boo when I went down to turn the lights off. She would raise her eyes and look at me, and then duck behind a rock and repeat. Lots of fun! I have not tried shrimp yet, I think I may tomorrow. Is feeding daily recommended, or would three times per week be more optimal? Thanks to everyone for all of your assistance.

Joe
 

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