• Looking to buy a cephalopod? Check out Tomh's Cephs Forum, and this post in particular shares important info about our policies as it relates to responsible ceph-keeping.

I have experienced his blubbery embrace!

Decay

Blue Ring
Registered
Joined
Oct 19, 2008
Messages
37
after months of waiting and a not so modest amount of money my tank is finally ready for an octopus. since they aren't sold in my area i asked a licensed collector catch me one. the problem with this is he isn't very knowledgeable about them and what species is what.

he managed to catch me one a few days ago, but the lid for my tank failed and i am left with no way of keeping it until some materials arrive (flooding has delayed this a few more days). the only description he could give me is "red with white spots". id specifically asked for an o. cyanea and sent him pictures of both cyanea and a. aculeatus for a guide. tonight was my first chance to go and see it in person and unfortunately it had escaped its holding tank and decided it preferred a very large drum that was set up under it. not a problem except it is low light and the surface isn't still enough for a good enough view to identify an animal that is a master shape shifter.

i was shocked however when as soon as i approached the octopus immediately came over and positioned itself right in front me and inch under the water and started to study us. id never expected it to be so instantly fearless of humans. i reached over and put my finger near to see if it would be brave enough to make contact. immediately it had an arm around my finger, and within another couple of seconds it was followed by a few more and it was crawling up my hand. i was caught completely by surprise and instantly became aware of its beak rapidly approaching my skin so i gently shook it off and it went back to where it had been watching us.

so that was my first experience with an octopus, and although Ive done a lot of reading on this site and heard about how strange they are to touch i was still surprised at just how alien they feel.

the whole point of this post, is to find out how big abdopus' maximum size is. this octopus was probably not a whole lot smaller than the one in this picture:

and i am left wondering if its an old abdopus that will die very soon, or a small cyanea with a lot of time left. if anyone knows the outer limits for an abdopus' maximum size id appreciate some info. i suspect it is cyanea, but i have a nagging concern that this incredible animal wont be around much longer.
 
Because we can't yet raise them reliably for the pet trade, part of octo keeping is enjoying what you have in your care. Stressing because it is not the specimen or age or size that is most desireable will only detract from keeping these wonder creatures. Enjoy your new friend and provide him with a nice home.

I must be the strange one. I find their touch (or at least that of the hummelincki) to be gentle and the skin to be very soft and not at all slimy. There are octos that produce slim so there may be a difference in touch. Interesting.
 
dwhatley;133179 said:
I must be the strange one. I find their touch (or at least that of the hummelincki) to be gentle and the skin to be very soft and not at all slimy.

Me too! I find the species I regularly come in contact with to be soft (the big ones are gentle but the little 'uns bite!!!) and non slimy

J
 
My granddaughter used the word slimy the first time she physically interacted with Octane but once we discussed it and she touched him again she decided the slime was mental since there was no trace of anything on her fingers. She was quick to correct anyone after that by sayin, "they feel slimy but they really aren't". :roll:
 
The octo in the link you posted is not an abdopus, an aculeatus that size would be a really big specimen. Abdopus that are in the trade are mostly diurnal, so if your friend isn't coming out in bright light start thinking something else. The macropus I had was very friendly but wanted lower lighting. Figuring out it's schedule can help you ID it. As for age, sure, they may be friendlier as they age. But like people, they have their own personalities, so a really social animal doesn't automatically mean it's old. I think every member here will tell you a month with a really social octo is worth a year of a shy one!
 
the one in the photo is cyanea i believe, which is what i think mine is. i was just checking to see if abdopus grows that big, if not i can rule it out. i have cyanea, which is what i was after. hopefully tomorrow is the day it will arrive so i can id it and post some pictures at some point.
 

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