[Octopus]: Houdini - O. Briareus Baby

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Ok so I didn't Pay as close attention to the the Hand carrier holes as I should have. :banghead: Their tiny yet were big enough for her to slide through. She got loose out of those, but she cannot squeeze through the slits for air because I watched :popcorn: :beer:her for hours last night trying to discover a way out. So I had to transfer her to a smaller sealed tank for now (the one Wink was acclimated in) while I silicone the holes closed till Lance can Pick her up. Luckily I got her fast enough that she didn't stumble upon the other Briareus that still hides in her hole int he LR on the other side of the tank. Well their healthy, eating, and one is escaping. Safe to say their healthy and normal? lol Naming this one Houdini! :sly:

She is surprisingly way smaller then Wink was when I brought her home. When I put her in that tank, it hit me on the size difference. I had to block the tank next to it with a towel as it has clowns in it, and I don't want her turning into the Hulk next! :mrgreen: I know she's strong. She played with my fingers today while I was scooting her into the new tank after acclimation to the water. Definitely more interactive! Going to plan for a completely different style of tank if I choose to ever keep a larger specie. Seen a complete acrylic tank drilled for filtration but the top was almost sealed except 2 long wide parts cut out with doors that open and close to clean, feed, & maintenance the tank. I would have someone design it with me, and then build it from scratch. (Husband would kill me)
 
#3 that I can now immediately think of off the top of my head :biggrin2:. I used to keep a private blog for lists to reference this kind of experience so I would not have to track the remembrances down but this is one feature we no longer have with the new (and very much improved :heart: ) software. Maybe I need to start something similar again.
 
What I use to keep them in is the mesh you buy at walmart for 98 cents a yard works great and allows air exchange then hook the mesh to the eggcrate used for lights.
 
I just looked at your videos Justin for size reference. These O. Briareus have mantle the size of a Nickel. They would easily get through egg crate and I couldn't find any mesh at our Walmart, but I found some perfect plastic mesh at Lowe's that not even a hatch-ling could get through. My only problem is the top of the rimless.

I thought I found a thick enough piece of Plexi= glas for the top. I bought the thickest piece of Plexi-glas that I could find at Lowe's and velcro'd the crap out of the top to seal the rimless tank IM 38G, but it's now starting to bow in the corners. My guess is from the warm water moisture. So I'm looking into other options to Octoproof the top of this tank. If anyone with a similar problem could post pictures of how theirs is sealed at the top that would be helpful. My RSM 130 (Wink's tank) was easy. The plexi-Glas when it starts to bow a little, I can just flip the piece over, but the hood holds it down tight against the whole rim of the tank so that I have no escapees. I tried to find another RSM 130 used, but couldn't find a complete setup. Only the tank itself.

Photo of the mesh I found.

 
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I've been trying to find o_O the 2nd O. Briareus that is still in the IM 38g. I haven't ever seen her come out of the Den she had for herself in the 3rd rock on the right side. The hole is in the middle of the rock and goes deep inside the rock so when I shine a light inside I can see her gorgeous green skin light up the hole and arms exploring inside like Wink does. I have been feeding her pieces of shrimp through that hole. She hasn't bothered with fiddlers or Blue leg hermits... yet... She has also never came out to explore, eat outside, ect and I sit in the same room watching blue leg hermits and a huge Turbo snail doing laps in the tank. I check everyday and when Houdini comes out I also double check hoping the times she comes out the other one will, but I haven't seen hide nor hair of her in about 5 days now. I got worried on the 3rd day and took the rock out in hopes of finding her. I thought she might have escaped since her sister Houdini is rather fond of finding any crevice she can to get out of. (Still hasn't been able to get out of the smaller tank :fingerscrossed:)

Well I tore the tank down today and was looking in the sump (blocked vents with Sponges) and she wasn't in there, only place could be the rocks or she had to have escaped. :frown:

Well as I took the rock out again once by one, and this time didn't keep any water in the bucket that I placed them in. Guess who slid out of a hole on the 2nd piece of rock. (felt like I couldn't breathe the whole time searching) I took some quick photos to show size reference, and took one of her released back in the tank. (so relieved) She's still tiny, and has tons of room in this tank for now. It's like a Condo compared to her size.

More Incoming Photos! (haven't been able to take photos of the one in the tank since I brought her home) She likes her tank and loves to hide I presume.
 
With the Pet Carrier in the tank before she escaped.



She's in the smaller tank till the silicone seals in the pet carrier. (Octoproofing it) There is a canister filter also connected to it with carbon, and I water change it on a daily basis.

She doesn't care if lights are on or off, she comes out 3 times a day now. (6-8 pm dinner time for us, 11pm-12 am and then again about 4-5am when my husband leaves for work. I feed her shrimp on a stick all 3 times. Just in case she's hungry and I'm trying to get her to associate the stick with FOOD!




Houdini in the smaller tank

 
With the Pet Carrier in the tank before Houdini escaped.



She's in the smaller tank till the silicone seals in the pet carrier. (Octoproofing it) There is a canister filter also connected to it with carbon, and I water change it on a daily basis.

She doesn't care if lights are on or off, she comes out 3 times a day now. (6-8 pm dinner time for us, 11pm-12 am and then again about 4-5am when my husband leaves for work. I feed her shrimp on a stick all 3 times. Just in case she's hungry and I'm trying to get her to associate the stick with FOOD!




Houdini in the smaller tank





The New Den piece the 2nd one is using.




It has tons of holes and hidey places for her.




SNEAKY SNEAKY! Wow those eyes!

 
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The mesh is in the fabric section if your walmart has one its used for wedding dresses and stuff i think. Yet works well in keeping the little guys in the tank
 
A few videos of Houdini in the pet carrier dancing before she was moved to the smaller tank.





Houdini in the smaller tank exploring.

 
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Just put her back into the Pet carrier that I used silicone to block the the handle holes and put the mesh screen on top of and she's back in the IM 38 with her sister.
 
What I use to keep them in is the mesh you buy at Walmart for 98 cents a yard works great and allows air exchange then hook the mesh to the eggcrate used for lights.

You mean Tulle? They didn't have any at my Walmart but I'm sure I can find some online. I was thinking of finding an actual plastic mesh and somehow attaching it to the top of a plastic frame that would fit over the front and sides of my rimless IM 38, and attach in the back. (velcro, siliconed frame etc.)
 
I'll be one and say, "I told you so" :sagrin:. The young of this species will not stay in a Critter Keeper (The adult won't fit :rolleyes: I am not sure why as some of the others are not as notorious, I suspect light might have something to do with it but the body is also less muscular than something like O. hummelincki). If you put the whole thing in a mesh bag, the air supply and, to a lesser extent, water quality would be a concern since the water won't flow well and Houdini will still end up in the mesh portion and be stressed.

What you might temporarily try (but I worry about the water, does it have holes on the sides?) is to put netting over the top with the cover off and secure it with a rubber band THEN put the top on. I would add an air stone above the netting and leave the plastic top open. Don't use ultra fine netting if you try this as you need the water flow. I have one I use for acclimation with lots and lots of holes drilled into the solid compartment. This has to be done carefully as the plastic melts and can crack but the result does give decent water flow. I am still not sure you can get the holes sized to allow flow and not escape though.
 
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