[Octopus]: Mama Cass - O.briareus (tank hatched)

[DWhatley]

We used those almost exclusively for several years. The problem is they have to be replaced about once a year and they come off easily. The larger octos would remove them in no time.

I have used Koralias with all my octos and this is the first problem. I am assuming she did not chew off her own arm tips only because I saw her put an arm tip in the Koralia, I have seen others do this without damage but this is a larger unit and newer style. Octopuses under stress will bite off their own arm tips and whole arms under some circumstances and with a specific bacterial infection. I am not concerned about the bacterial infection but the mating and tank swap may be too much stress.

Cassy is acting more and more senescent so I am not at all confident she will brood or even survive to lay eggs. Tatanka seems to be fine in his new home.

 

[DWhatley]

Interaction Video

Cassy is still moving to and from one of two dens and eating crabs as her mantle elongates. She is especially sweet these days and it worries me that she will go through senecence without laying or being able to brood her eggs.

Note: The photos and video are more of my left-handed photography

Another shot of her growing mantle


Out of focus but the best of the bunch to try to give perspective with my hand


Cassy sitting in my hand


The best of my left handed, looking over the tank, trying to interact and take photos, picture


Video of her overly gentle demeanor. Fun for interacting but sad because it comes with senescence. You can see where the tips of her arms are missing. Fortunately, they look the same as yesterday and I am more comfortable with the Koralia being the issue rather than her biting them off.

 

[Lmecher]

Wow, that mantle looks post brood. She still looks beautiful, her coloring is stunning. So sad to watch her go through these changes. That video is priceless.

 

[SabrinaR]

Thats a great video. Her coloring and webbing are just beautiful!

 

[Lmecher]

How is she doing?

 

[corpusse]

Fantastic video!

 

[DWhatley]

The "I don't want to play any more so please take your hand out of my tank" sign for this tank is crossing over to the other side through one of the tubes. Even though she is acting a bit senescent (still nothing like SueNami or KaySoh), she picked up on this quickly and you can see where she starts to cross and decides to come back for more attention. She played a long time during this session but now will come for a little mantle rub most times she is out but the amount of time she wants attention is very short.

Her health seems to be about the same. She is out less but still comes out around feeding time (but does not eat) and then off and on during the night, usually dancing with Tatanka in the opposite tank at least once. She is not accepting food by hand but may eat the crabs I put in the tank at some point and is eating either pods or the Kent's version of Cyclop-eeze (we cannot get Cyclop-eeze and have been trying for months. Eventually we ran out and ordered Kent's version in concentrate as a stop gap. We have not been able to find out why it has not been available but on one has it on-line or locally). Cassy is eating something because she is eliminating and part of it is the tell-tale red of the Cyclop-eeze. For the past two nights I have seen her upside down with her arms either in the overflow or sucker up at the surface. I think she it "fishing" for small food. I have mentioned before that I think something biological stops working properly as they age, preventing them from eating their normal fare but several have shown signs of eating the tiny Cyclop-eeze (and I have a video of Trapper post brood eating it directly from a pipette).

She has still not gone into brooding and I continue to feel that viable egg laying is not going to happen. Roy and Rich were not able to produce offspring with the O.chierchiae hatchlings and it makes me wonder if there is a natural prohibition for sibbling mating in some species (I know this is not true of O. mercatoris)

 

[DWhatley]

There may still be hope that Cassy will brood ! Tonight I walked by her tank and noticed her arms were passed through the dividing tube. She quickly drew them back to the other side like a child being caught doing something naughty. She was trying to haul a piece of live rock to the other side. I told her it was OK to move the rock and she attempted to bring it across again but had difficulty moving it. There are pieces of spare rock in a 10 gallon under the stairs so I went to find something easier for her to manage. When I returned, the original piece had disappeared. I added three smaller pieces to the left side, went into the kitchen and returned just in time to see one of them cross over. Sadly, I did not get any photos and she did not attempt to take the other two pieces while I sat there with the camera.

When I turned around, Tatanka was watching us intently so I did take a couple of picture of him

 

[SabrinaR]

Your dedication is unlike anyone else I have ever known. I sure hope she broods for you. Its never easy to lose them but having the chance to raise her babies has got to make it a lot easier.

 

[sedna]

All my fingers and toes crossed for you and Cass!

 

[DWhatley]

Never easy Sabrina but if it were then it would mean I had lost interest. Cassy is definitely one of the "special" ones where the whole family has really enjoyed having her with us. Tank's health and new found understanding of feeding time (as well as being in Cassy's prior tank) does help a lot since she is no longer coming out at all. So far I can't see eggs and I don't see the expected brooding movements but I am more hopeful than I was last week that she might be able to survive through the hatch if she will lay the eggs soon. Then comes the difficulty in trying to keep a couple alive but first things first. Sadly, I don't think I will be able to photograph any of the brooding this time as I can barely see her in the den.

 

[Lmecher]

 

[Level_Head]

I, too, wish you and your charges great success in continuing the family into the future.

She certainly is impressive, inquisitive, and incredible in appearance. You've done an extraordinary job; truly a labor of love.

 

[QueenB]

How is she doing?

 

[DWhatley]

Eggs

Thanks for the encouragement

We saw an arm come out of the LR tonight at supper so I suspected something was up. When I sat and watched her I finally saw a little brooding behavior and ultimately a few eggs so I am going to call tonight the beginning of brooding. I am relatively certain they were not there before but she is keeping them well covered. From what little I could see, they look smaller than when I saw Kooah's eggs. It occurs to me that I don't know if eggs grow or just get fuller. I am under the impression they do not grow longer so it is worrisome that they are small. I saw only one cluster and an attachment (she is laying them on the back wall) that has no eggs but I believe there will be more in the AM. I sat and watched for over an hour but am not sure if I saw signs of her laying more or not. I did notice her mantle contracting several times and some arm waving but I could not tell if the arm waving was to stimulate the eggs or if more were being deposited.

I did see a very wierd sight while watching her though. At one point during my vigil both corners of her eyes reflected light so that it looked like a beam of light was coming from each corner. Unfortunately, I did not get a pictures of the demon look. I did see it a second time but not as brightly. I have seen one other bizarre eye showing on a hummelincki (the iris glowed and flashed bright red with no other color changes on the body) that would send the superstitious running.

This is a picture of her brood den and explains the quality (or should I say lack of) of the pictures. I don't expect to get many clear shots as I don't want to use a flash.


The green patch on the left side is an empty mouting stem.


If you don't blow this one up you can sort of see eggs. I thought I had a better shot looking at the preview but alass, the eggs are way out of focus



If you do blow this one up you can see one egg on the left. I don't know if it is one that had been attached to the empty stem or is attached (as I think) to another stem below