How much does location and country inhibit octo keeping?

[SeaCreature]

I'm hoping this is in the right forum as I was hoping to be pointed towards some good places or links, but I apologise if not...

I'm currently living in the UK (Splitting my time between London and Norwich which is exactly why it's not suitable for me to keep them for a couple years yet, they definately wouldn't deal with be dragged around the country!) I've started paying attention to people's location and I don't think I've seen one person not in the USA yet! Obviously some are closer to coasts than others...

Anyway, getting my heart set on keeping them when I graduate is going to be useless if I don't even have the resources over here. Finding places and people that can and will ship to the UK and take payment is important. Does anyone have any suggestions or discussions? My geography isn't exactly strong, I don't know how much added travel it would be for them or any live food and how much stress it would cause.

 

[Nancy]

Don't worry, people in the UK have kept octopuses and cuttllefish. In fact, one of the authors of the book Cephalopods: Octopuses and Cuttlefish for the Home Aquarium lives in Scotland (I'm the other author).

They are not so easy to find, and I think you'd need to go through a store or distributor there in the UK, but we can help you find a person to contact when the time comes. You have octopuses and cuttlefish in the waters off your shores, but they tend to be large ones. You might want to visit public aquariums to see the cephs on display.

Nancy

 

[SeaCreature]

Thanks a lot Nancy! A little reassurance goes a long way. I know they have an octo in a public aquarium I've been to but I've never seen it closely, I think it's worth another visit when I'm back from London.

By the way, I'd love to get hold of a copy of the book but again, do you have or know of a UK supplier? I've checked our amazon branch with no results, but I haven't really examined whether the American branch would post to me anyway.

 

[SeaCreature]

Hmm, scratch that last post. It decided to show up after all and make a fool out of me. In that case, can't wait for my copy!