[Cuttlefish Eggs]: Lazarus, Nib, Blot and Rorschach - Sepia bandensis journal

Joined
Dec 7, 2008
Messages
294
Location
Upstate NY, USA
I wasn't sure what to title this yet, so sorry for the really generic name. My BlueZoo eggs arrived this morning and after drip acclimating them, it looks as though I have 3 good eggs out of 5. Two of them seemed to have hatched prematurely, while in transit and don't seem to be alive. They're white and appear to be motionless with yolk still attached. I left them in the breeder net in case I'm wrong, but I'm at least optimistic about the other three.
 
I may have spoken too soon, the bigger of the 2 "dead" ones definitely moved. He's almost twice as big as the other, and has a yolk sack still attached. I actually noticed he had moved to another area in the net breeder, and had turned darker. I even saw him pump his mantle.

The remaining eggs are maybe half to 3/4 the size of grapes. Mostly clear. Not seeing a lot of movement, but apparently I can't tell a dead cuttle from a live one.
EDIT: Video of "Lazarus":
 
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Sadly, as you already know the chances of survival for cuttles born with a yolk sack not almost totally consumed are slim to none. However, I love the name and the hope that goes with it!
 
I don't know if anyone has tried removing the yolk sack since it is their first food so it will be interesting to see if this helps (and if you can get him eating). With prior outcomes, it probably won't hurt.
 
Checked on everyone before bed. Lazarus is now alternating between swimming and resting, and is changing colors. I don't know what's become of the second one. Maybe he revived and moved, maybe he just rolled somewhere I can't see.
 
Look for a white blob in the cheato, that is where I found the one that I had that died (I never was sure if it was alive when I took it out since I did not know it was a cuttle. I suspect it was dead but was shocked to discover it was a cuttlefish the next day and not a piece of detritus.
 
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Laz is still kicking as of this morning.
image.jpg
 
Still alive this evening. Watched him slowly crawling on the bottom a bit, using his little arms. Only swims if I get near him, otherwise, stays at the bottom. There are mysids and pods in there with him. I have not seen him eat anything yet, altho (and this might be my imagination/wishful thinking) I swear he looks slightly bigger.
 
Last night, I noticed Laz clinging to the front side of the breeder net, where a few mysid shrimp had accumulated outside the net, between the net and the glass. There are definitely some mysids in there with him, but I’m worried that they aren’t enough. I tried netting some of the rogue mysids with a dip net, but they’re either too fast, or too small and the net not fine enough. I’ve already tried using a soda bottle with some fish food in it, but all I caught were snails. So last night, at 10 pm I drive to the grocery store and bought a turkey baster, and since it was my one and only purchase, definitely got me a weird look from the cashier. I’m not great at it, and I’m only catching like one mysid at a time, but it’s working. I think I may just need to improve my technique.

I think Lazarus is eating, but I haven’t directly observed him. He looks visibly bigger. I also think I saw movement in one of the 3 remaining eggs last night.
 

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