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Kooah's Hatchlings - O.briareus

Linda,
:oops:No as I have it sitting in front of me at dinner (on the breakfast room table lazy susan). I am so, so bad about photos of myself (as Tony will atest to as it took me a long time to come up with one for the staff bio). I am trying to come up with something photogenic that earns the entitlement. Maybe tomorrow Monty will comply.

Tonight both Cassy and Tatanka watched me for 5 or 10 minutes about two hours after feeding time. Tatanka eventually crawled through the tube and went to his pipe den but Cassy did come forward no the rock. Neither came to the front glass.
 
Twins Finally Accepting Table Shrimp at 3.5 Months

While I was at MACNA Neal finally got all three octos to accept table shrimp. Monty took one piece earlier but has rejected since until now.

I brought home some bait shrimp and froze any that died in transit (one of my air pumps quit so I lost about half of the 5 dozen I bought). They died late in the journey and don't smell and are being accepted as food. I am monitoring the live tank daily but so far the two that have died were mostly consumed by the living.

I put a live one in each of the tanks and all have disappeared. Tonight Neal gave each a whole one (they are about 3" long) from the freezer and all three took them with gusto. I will look for remains in the AM (the brittles may eliminate any remains though so I will not be able to tell how much was eaten by the octos). Tatanka was in his return pipe den and had to come out to eat since it would not fit through the hole. :cool2:

I also brought back some rather large fiddlers that all three are pouncing on. I found the shell in Monty's tank and there was not a lick of meat left on it. The crayfish are equally well accepted.
 
They still don't come out during the day at all. Since I had to be away we started feeding only once a day (Neal is not up at 3:00 AM) so part of their increased appetite is the change to a single feeding. Hopefully we can start with an earlier time soon so that we will end up with some daylight hours.

Cassy is still a lot bigger than Tatanka. Last night (this AM) while I was sitting in front of the tank trying to get her to come out, a starfish tumbled down the rock over her. Instead of spooking her, her arms flew out to invistigate it for food (no interest once she touched it) and I realized how long her arms had grown. I am guessing they are 6 - 7 inches long now where Tatanka's are less then 4.
 
I have mentioned that Tatanka lives in the return flow pipe. He is still denning there and seems to think it is a very satisfactory den. When we offer food we see arms coming out as many as five holes and an eyeball sticking out of another. He tried very hard to get this crab into his den but ultimately decided it would not work. :roll:

The photos uploaded in reverse sequence so the last one is the first in the series.
If you enlarge the bottom photo you can see his eye in the lowest hole (arms are coming out of next hole up). In the middle photo, enlarging it twice shows arms viewable of coming from 4 holes and the eyes watching from the third hole up. Even in the final photo (first displayed), one arm is coming from inside the tube.

I will be very glad when they start coming out some with daylighting but so far we don't see them until about 11:00 PM.
 

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I love the eyeball shot! I'm so happy for you Di! What an awesome accomplishment to be able to successfully raise these babies!!:notworth:
 
First feeding before dark

Today was the first day temperatures did not exceed 80 degrees in the house. I don't know that temperatures are involved but Cassy intercepted a piece of shrimp being fed to one of the serpents in her tank, captured and retained the feeding stick for 15 minutes, took a crab from Neal around 6:00 PM and then another around 9:30. We have not seen either of the briareus hatchlings out before dark before and usually have to coax them out at 9:30 (by 11:00 they are out waiting for food if not fed earlier). Tatanka did not come out at this time but Monty (O. hummelincki, our young diurnal) was seen out and about around 3:00 and he has been very reclusive. The daytime activity may have to do with the "twins" reaching 4 months (and we think Monty is likely close in age) and transitioning into a slower growth stage rather than or in conjunction with the difference in temperature.
 
Four Months for Cassy and Tatanka

So far so good. Both are eating nightly but are still very nocturnal. Neal tried to coax Cassy out at tank feeding time (6:00 ish) to see if she would repeat yesterday's showing but she was nowhere to be found until much later in the evening.

Cassy remains much thicker than Tatanka and has one arm that looks very thick and long. Since she does not come fully out into the open, we don't have a good feel for her full size where we have seen Tatanka crossing between the tubes or out near the top of the aquarium where there is no real shelter.

Unfortunately, I could not find Tatanka tonight to say "happy four month birthday" and Cass declined to offer an arm to my finger but I did see her for a few minutes before she ducked behind the live rock.
 
Since I was encouraged after the interaction with Monty tonight, I spent extra time with the twins.

Cassy is often found on the backwall or, as of this week, just under a ledge, more or less in the open. I wiggled my fingers at her and eventually she presented a curled arm with webbing extended. I was not sure if I was going to be the first person to record an O. briareus bite or not. She almost floated up and then shot the tip of her arm out for a rapid touch (tag you are it) and then slunk back into the shadows. I think she is going to have a beautiful webbing if she ever comes out in the daytime to be able to see it. It is the first time I can remeber seeing her present a white coloration (she is normally very dark, but I am unsure of the color since I only see her in red light). She did not go far and poked her eyes out again shortly but would not respond again to my fingers. I visited Tatanka's tank then returned to Cassy and decided to try a slightly different approach. She allowed me to touch her between the eyes a couple of times and did not change colors but when I stopped watching her for a minute she vanished into the LR.

I wiggled my fingers at the back of Tatanka's tank and was rewarded the presentation of the waste (shrimp shell) from supper and later with three quick arm tip tags but nothing more. I am not sure if the initial "present" was meant to be an insult or the suggestion that more food was in order :biggrin2:. Pesky (the red brittle in his tank) wanted into the game and had to feel my fingers in case I was offering food. Pesky let me "pet" his exploring arm but showed no interest in my hand once nothing was found worth eating.
 
I want to create separate threads for these two but will wait until they start coming out for the camera. I am hoping by 5 months we will start seeing more of them in the open and with some natural lighting. We finally saw all of Tatanka last night when he came to the front of the LR to snag his supper and all of Cassy tonight when she pounced on a crab in the front of her tank. Once they were big enough to den, they have both avoided the front of the tank until this week. Cassy seems to have twice the webbing of Tatanka and remains much darker than any other briareus we have seen (I cannot tell the actual color but it appears dark brown to black). Tatanka, on the other hand always appears to be a golden yellow (similar to Monty) but again the exact color is unknown because of the lack of lighting. Neither seem to be the "right" colors for O. briareus :biggrin2: so I am most anxious to see them in white light.
 
I am moving this thread to the Raising Octopuses From Eggs subforum and am starting separate threads for Tatanka and Cassy as they are now of about the youngest age I suspect we get them from the wild. I had planned to wait until they were 5 months old but Tatanka surprised us today with a daylight appearance to start her journal as a juvenile :biggrin2:.
 

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