Isis O. bimaculoides NEW OCTOPUS Surprise from my Husband!

[SabrinaR]

OMGoodness... Please help asap!

Ok so my daughter had a friend come over today. I was feeding Isis when they came up asking for lunch. I stopped for a few and stepped away. The lid was on but not latched I guess she pushed the lid up but however it happened Isis fell out of the tank! I found her on the carpet still moving about 5 feet from the tank. I picked her up and put her in a bucket of fresh salt water (was the closest water to me) which didnt go over well... this freaked her out and she inked EVERYWHERE! I drained that water and added water from the tank and more fresh salt water to the bucket. She is sheading mucus like crazy. I also have an aerator in the bucket too.

What can I do that I am not doing? What are the chances that she will survive this? The ceiling fan was on but she couldnt have been out of the water longer than 5 mins as I was making lunch and had just looked in on her. Help please.

 

[CaptFish]

I think it would be better to put her back in the tank instead of in the bucket. I hope she is alright i'm keeping my fingers crossed for you!

 

[SabrinaR]

I have been trying to figure out how to put her back in the tank. She has been acting very defensive and isnt really willing to be caught. I tried a cup but she wouldnt go in. I also put a rock in there and she would rather stick to the wall or bottom. I want to do a large water change before I put her back in just in case there is something my tests didnt pick up that may be bothering her.

Thank you for the good wishes Capt.

 

[cuttlegirl]

Oh, good luck with this. I think the mucus is probably a defensive reaction to being in air or else it is left over from the inking episode. Could you pour her back into the tank?

 

[SabrinaR]

Well, I went to put her in the tank and it was a disaster. She refused to stay in any container I would try and put her in and she fell on the floor again. After the first fall she was doing well... now she looks dreadful. Her coloring is bad and I think her eye looks a little off but I can’t be sure because she is pressed up against the glass... I am so sad right now. All I can do is wait and hope she makes it. I had tried to just pour her in with the water from the bucket but she wouldn’t let go of the side of the bucket. I think the worst part is that the mucus that she had the first time didn’t happen the second time so I don’t think she had built up her defenses yet to air. It’s been a very bad day.

 

[Joe-Ceph]

... she is pressed up against the glass... I am so sad right now. I had tried to just pour her in with the water from the bucket but she wouldn’t let go of the side of the bucket.

What glass, I thought she was in a bucket??

OMG, just put her back in the tank! You didn't say how long she might have been out of the water, but a couple of minutes is no big deal (they can crawl from one tide pool to another in the wild at low tide). I think you want to get her back into water with the correct chemistry and temperature asap. Fresh water is worse than no water at all, and fresh water with salt mix tossed in might eventually be ok, but breathing in chunks of undissolved salt can't be a good time. It's unclear why it's hard to just put her back into the tank - is it because she's stuck to the bottom of a bucket? Can't you put the whole bucket in the tank? If the bucket is too big, maybe you can cut it down with heavy shears or tin-snips. If it has a metal handle, cut it off, and put the bucket in the tank. At the very least you can siphon tank water into the bucket, and then swap water between the tank and the bucket every few hours to freshen up the bucket water, and let the tank filter and chiller renew the water from the bucket. Just get that octopus back into normal water and temp asap.

 

[SabrinaR]

I am sorry I was unclear... All of the above happened and then I just picked her up and put her back in the tank. The water is all filtered straight from Galveston and the water temp is always 65 degrees. I dont have to do anything to the water for it to be ok for her at this time. The first time she was out was just a few minutes maybe 5. At that time she looked ok and seemed to recover well... The second time was maybe a minute but it was so very stressful. The glass she was pressed up against was the tank as I had already put her back in. I had thought about cutting the bucket after the disaster had already happened. I wish I had thought of that sooner. I feel just awful.

 

[Lmecher]

I agree, the tank would have been the best place to put her after the first fall. Oh well. don't beat yourself up now. Water under the bridge. I am lucky this never happened to me. Never, never walk away for even a minute if the top is not locked. You are not the first one this has happened to and won't be the last.
How's your baby doing now? I know you must feel aweful, she's your favorite.
I am for you both

 

[DWhatley]

I have only had one experience like this (you don't forget them) and I suspect you have read it or a mention of it since you mentioned the ceiling fan. Watch to see if she starts eating her arms (check in the AM). If not, you will not go the miserable route I did. Octane was in senescence when he crawled out (the second time) and the time out of the water was unknown so his recovery was unlikely. Isis is young and as Joe-Ceph mentions, an inter-tidal species so your chances are much, much better.

We have had many successful escapes and captures with young ones, especially bimacs. They seem to have a natural curiosity to their outside world and a couple have had supervised out of tank excisions so the decision (if we are allowed that word) to crawl out is not likely the tank water if you are not showing ammonia or nitrite.

 

[SabrinaR]

There are no Nitrites or Ammonia. That was the first thing I checked once I got her in the bucket. Now my nitrates were higher than they were 2 days ago which surprised me... So I did a large water change (25 gallons) just to be on the safe side. I always test the water when I get it but it’s always the same... there is no variation unless there is a change in weather. If the temp out side is 90 or higher the sg/salinity is always 1.019/1.020. Once it gets in the 80’s or lower it goes up to 1.024/1.026 and the Ph never changes always 8.1. Its very nice to have it be so constant.

She seems relaxed at the moment… Her arms are relaxed and she’s not so tightly coiled up. Her coloring looks better to, though I am still worried. If she makes it through the night (and doesn’t start eating her arms) I think I will have more faith. All of the things yall have said to me I have been repeating to myself over and over and over again. I just can’t believe I made such a mistake. It was easy to do. It was just for a second… but that’s what happened and I will never let something like that happen again. She is my pride and joy next to my children and husband.

 

[DWhatley]

We have been so used to leaving the tank tops open over the summer with the hatchlings that we have put each other on alert now and each has the right to chastise the other if the tops are left open. It is just so easy to do. Joe-Ceph has mentioned that his wife has said no more aquarium if an octopus escapes so he designed a self-closing self latching lid

One of the things I noticed on octane was discoloration on the mantle and Isis does not seem to have this so hopefully that means the fan did not dry her out much or her youth and slime coat protected her. I remember one keeper having to retrieve one from under the bed (if I remember the story correctly, the octo was found with a quarter in its possession). Ah, I found the link to Paradox's story

 

[Lmecher]

She is my pride and joy next to my children and husband.

That is exactly how I felt about Diablo. There is something about them that touches our

I am so glad she is looking better. I will be looking fo r an update tomorrow. Still keeping my

 

[SabrinaR]

Well I have been keeping a watchful eye on her. She is moving a bit in the tank, no longer staying in just the one spot at the top. She ventured to the other side on the top so hopefully that’s a good sign. God how I wish she would hide. Hiding is always a good sign when they are in the tanks by themselves unless of course it’s the end.

Thank you so much for the support. My husband had been trying to cheer me up and keep me positive with his logic and what little knowledge he has of God's octopus creatures but you guys have really helped me with the personal experiences. Thank you for Paradox’s link that helped so much. I am glad to know that it wasn’t just my floor... My floors really aren’t that dirty (I might need a new vacuum now though) but she was COVERED in hair and junk... anything and everything stuck to her. That’s one of the reasons (in the spilt second that I had the time to think) I decided to put her in the bucket. I couldnt imagine how stressed me going in to clean all that junk out of the tank would have made her respond. After the fact I was glad also because of how much she inked... I have never seen anything like it. The ink shot up in to the air at least 2.5 maybe 3 feet. I still have some spots on my carpet that I was unable to get out (probably a permanent reminder). She inked 3 times in the bucket and I was relieved I could just drain out the water and add some new. Once I put her in the main tank she had inked but it was NOTHING like the first time… just a small amount that quickly dissipated and was gone.

I am off to bed… I will post more in the morning and let you all know how she is doing.

 

[DWhatley]

My floors really aren’t that dirty

LOL, my floors are never that clean! Between living in the woods, the GA clay, a drooly newfi and an undersized shedding irish horse (wolfhound), I don't know what a clean floor IS.

 

[Joe-Ceph]

When you decide to take on an unusual new project, it's important to realize at the start, that you are likely to learn a few things the hard way, because there are hidden pot holes on the road less traveled. The only alternative is to chicken out from the start and not go for it. Close calls, and painful lessons, are part of the deal when you boldly try new and interesting things, so there should be a little pride and self-forgiveness mixed in with other things you're feeling.
As D said, I designed and built a self-latching top for my bimac tank, before I ever got an octopus. What she didn't know was that I was "smart" enough to do that because of having learned the hard way, as a kid keeping snakes, that I can't trust myself to remember to latch the top every single time I close it. Eventually I made the rule for myself that a home built snake cage must automatically close and latch every time I let go of the lid, but not until after had several escapes, and identified myself as the weakest link in the security system.

If it makes you worry less, remember that bimacs can handle life in the tide pools, which sometimes means getting rained on, so they can handle a certain amount of fresh water. I would guess that Isis will be fine.