Merkury - O.briareus

[Cerulean]

Status update Day 12

Habitat
Merkury has created a den inside a large 15 lb piece of branch-y live rock. Although I cannot find more than 3-5 hermit crab shells, I also see no hermit crab activity in the tank, which leads me to believe she has stashed the empty shells somewhere inside the rock where her den has been made. This is in some great part wishful thinking on my part.

Human Interaction
As for acclimation, I never see her outside her rock, and I have never seen more than a few arms and an occasional octo-eye peering back at me when I shine the red light in the tank. Being a Briareus, I realize she will not be as active as some of the other diurnal species, however it's disappointing that I have created almost no bond whatsoever (seemingly) with her after 12 days.

Diet
So far, she has refused frozen raw shrimp, fresh never frozen raw shrimp, arcti-pods, and scallops. Although I'm rather sure she did eat a piece of raw shrimp at least once, but I can't be positive. So, that means that in the 12 days I have had her, she has subsisted almost solely on raw food. Specifically on approximately 5 mithrax and approximately 10-12 baby hermits.

Tank
No progress has been made on securing a larger tank. She is still in the 46 gallon bow front which is filled approximately 5 inches from the top.

Water Conditions
So far all tested parameters read ~zero (amonia, nitrate, nitrate) PH is approximately 8.4. Temperature is approximately 77, but the tank is unheated, so it may fluctuate in the early hours of the morning. The house thermostat is set to a permanent hold of 74.

Lighting
The only light her tank gets is morning sun from the window near her tank, and the spill over light from the reef tank in the other room.

This is all I can think of to report at this time. Please join me in keeping your fingers crossed that I am on track to doing everything the way it should be done.

 

[skywindsurfer]

You should try some frozen krill to peak her interest in frozen foods.

 

[DWhatley]

Please join me in keeping your fingers crossed that I am on track to doing everything the way it should be done.

We have a few clues on keeping them healthy but not much at all on interacting. Twelve days, however, not enough time to determine how interactive Merkury will be. I had one that was never did interact at all but it came to me with only one arm longer than the webbing AND it lived in a tank in a room that is not in the regular path of daily activity. Creepy did grow back her arms to a usable length and survived through a brood (infertile eggs) but all we ever saw of her was an eyeball or two and arms accepting food. Of the four I have kept, she is the only one that was never inclined to interact in some way. None of my briareus have interacted as much as the macropuses or male hummelinckis but the other three did come out to greet us (as the bringer of foodstuffs) and were often out during our normal supper hour.

Look through the journals on briareus and at the timing of arrival to some kind of interaction. I think you will find that if you pay attention to the post dates, you have at least another two weeks (assuming you continue to work with Merkury daily) before you will notice (although it will actually happen slowly) a more trusting attitude.

With my hatchlings, we are almost at 3 months and just now starting to see them not run away if we put our hands in the tank and show a little curiosity (or territory guarding).

 

[skywindsurfer]

I agree with D and some others when they talk about younger animals being shy and reclusive as to older animals. I just got a briareus last night that looks to be halfway through its life and it's extremely friendly. It just takes time. My first briareus took a few months to even come out and about when I was in the room.

http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?21382-Nereus-my-2nd-O.-Briarues

 

[Cerulean]

Cool thing just happened tonight. I got to see Merkury come out of her den and explore her entire tank. She only shied away from the red light once or twice when I moved it too quickly. She grabbed a hermit shell (not sure if it was occupied) did another lap around the tank and then retreated back to her den. The only thing that concerns me is that she did that corkscrew thing with her arms briefly (only once for about 4-5 seconds). Is this cause for concern? I do need to vacuum the floor of the tank and do a water change tomorrow, but the amonia is still reading zero in her tank.

all in all, it was pretty cool to see. I suppose she does this every night and I've just never gotten to see it before.

 

[DWhatley]

The times I worry about a corkscrew look is on an unresponsive grey looking animal clinging to the wall. I thought I had a photo of a senescent briareus but didn't find it. I did find one of Sisturus (O. mercatoris) at 12 months old that shows the look I dread seeing though.

[Edit] I found the reference I remembered but it is a video (short) and not a photo.

 

[Cerulean]

The times I worry about a corkscrew look is on an unresponsive grey looking animal clinging to the wall. I thought I had a photo of a senescent briareus but didn't find it. I did find one of Sisturus (O. mercatoris) at 12 months old that shows the look I dread seeing though.

[Edit] I found the reference I remembered but it is a video (short) and not a photo.

Thanks. I don't think she was gray. The lighting was red, but I could see mottled spots. Tonight she's been a no show. I just restocked her tank with crabs today as well. Crossing my fingers she still likes them

 

[Cerulean]

Came down tonight to see if Merkury was outside her den as she was at this same time last night. No dice!

 

[Cerulean]

Day 16 Progress

Merkury was stuck to the glass tonight when I came in to look at her. I left her there for a few minutes, took a flash photograph, and that didn't phase her, so I though of trying to pet her. It seemed like a bad idea, so I opted to put my finger against the glass and gently rub my finger back and forth. She immediately shot off the glass, inked twice, and jetted behind the rocks like a torpedo. Lol, at least it was still outside her den progress.

Here's a shot of her stuck to the glass:

 

[DWhatley]

It is likely she was asleep. IME, they do not like to be awakened unexpectedly. Additionally, I think this species has rather poor eyesight, especially for close up viewing so start farther away and slowly move your fingers towards an arm, making sure she see you coming (you should see a head bob or an arm movement).

Good choice not to try petting. Get her accustomed to you OUTSIDE first. Let HER choose to make contact with you INSIDE. It takes A LOT of patience! The first contact will likely be a tentative touch on the hand while you are feeding (I think bamboo skewers work better for this than the long acrylic feeding sticks but you hold the stick so you hand is in the water (don't block the food) with either). Often they will try to pull your hand toward the mouth. Usually simple, firm resistence (try very hard not to jerk, the first few times with an unfamiliar octopus can be unnerving even after you have kept a few) will utimately win a touch without pulling. Sometimes the first touches will be just a quick sampling and then an immediate withdrawl (as if you taste bad). If she does not swim away, leave you hand where it was (don't chase) and she may try again. If she jumps and swims away then that is likely it for the day (sometimes two or three) but if you don't do anything to scare her, she will try again. Some animals never venture to touch but will play with you on the outside. A few never get human acclimated at all. I have kept octos in all interaction categories. The more time you can spend, even just sitting in front of the tank, the more likely you will have interaction to whatever degree this octopus is willing. If you like to read, I recommend sitting in front of the tank at that time. If you have a laptop, spend you computer time there. The more she sees you and is not threatened the better. Anytime you walk by the tank, stop for a second or two and move you finger gently on the glass even if you don't see her.

 

[Cerulean]

Day 18

Spent about an hour last night watching Merkury hunt in the dark. I still managed to startle her once and she inked, but she came right back.

Picked up 12 more dwarf hermits and one Mithrax from the LFS today. This little o. is making me broke! I also got a giant hairy scarlet hermit that's easily as big as she is. We'll see how she handles this little guy tonight!

 

[skywindsurfer]

You should really look into ordering some live food online or catching it yourself. There are several places where you can get alot of live food for semi-cheap. None of this $3 - $6 a crab stuff.

 

[Cerulean]

I agree, but so far this has been the way things have worked out. The hermits are a good deal locally though, the store I go to has them for .83 cents a piece. Not too bad. The large hairy leg crab I bought was $8.99, but I bought it more as a novelty than anything else. It is huge. It would have been twice that anywhere else. Lol, the big guy immediately changed shells as soon as I got him home though. Too bad Merkury was sleeping. It would have been a great opportunity!

 

[Cerulean]

Day 19

I was trying too hard.

Merkury snatched the first frozen Krill up like it was candy.

Queue skywindsurfer to come say "Eye tole ewe sew"

BTW, the war between baby octopus and giant hairy red leg hermit is still waging... She held onto his shell for almost 5 hours today trying to get him out for dinner, but he was a strong opponent.

 

[Cerulean]

[video]http://www.tonmo.com/forums/album.php?albumid=107&attachmentid=11868[/video]