Merkury - O.briareus
- Thread starter Cerulean
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No "eye tole ewe so needed", one cause I'm not british lol, and two because it is all hit and miss with these guys. My octopus is finally starting to eat more and more, but it's taking him some time. Patience is the key here. Just glad to hear your animal is eating. Becarefull pitting your octo against animals larger than its self. You don't want it to cost it an arm and a leg. lol sorry for the cheesy pun.
Day 21
It appears Merkury is growing. Either that or she was starving on her diet of live food alone. Tonight I fed her two frozen Krill, and she still came out about an hour later and dragged an unwitting hermit off to her den.
On the plus side, I'm not sure if she is enjoying the corals I put in her tank (temporarily) or if she's just getting more comfortable with her surroundings (could be both, I guess), but she is starting to come out more and more (even with the tank light on).
Sigh, so many parentheticals.
It appears Merkury is growing. Either that or she was starving on her diet of live food alone. Tonight I fed her two frozen Krill, and she still came out about an hour later and dragged an unwitting hermit off to her den.
On the plus side, I'm not sure if she is enjoying the corals I put in her tank (temporarily) or if she's just getting more comfortable with her surroundings (could be both, I guess), but she is starting to come out more and more (even with the tank light on).
Sigh, so many parentheticals.
I put a few zooanthids and other polyps in there. A couple pulsing Xenias, and some Florida Ricordia. The placement is just temporary as I only have one T5 over the tank (non high output). She is seeminly getting used to the light which I have set to come on for about two hours per day (the rest of the time it's indirect lighting.
Question: Whenever I feed her, she always wants to pull on the stick even though she already has the shrimp. I wonder why?
Today, I let her touch my finger for the first time. Her tentacles were surprisingly sticky. I may have made a mistake, because I forgot that I had just put hand sanitizer on right before, so I'm sure I tasted exceptionally yucky to her.
Question: Whenever I feed her, she always wants to pull on the stick even though she already has the shrimp. I wonder why?
Today, I let her touch my finger for the first time. Her tentacles were surprisingly sticky. I may have made a mistake, because I forgot that I had just put hand sanitizer on right before, so I'm sure I tasted exceptionally yucky to her.
Every octopus I have had has done the same thing, tug-o-war. In the beginning I htink they do it cause the are curious animals and they just want it. I think it develops into a game, and something they do to amuse themselves.
Awesome, Thats how it starts. Your hand may have tasted bad but it seems that most octopuses do the same thing, mayne we all taste bad. They explore with a a single arm (octopuses dont have tenticles) then retreat, then the next step in usually to grab on with three or four arms and really try to pull hard. When this happens it best to just hold your ground, dont pull back or let them gain any ground. The octopus will usually give a few tugs then let go.
... and we have a thread for that too but you would be the first for briareus
That is what the "not giving in" part is about. Resist enough to keep Merkury from bringing your hand to its beak but not to force him/her to disengage. I have found that some will release if touched on the back of the arm when in the experimental phase.
The first time I fed my octo she grabbed the stick and wouldn't let go. So I let go and grabbed the camera and got some pictures of her. She was completely still and held it up for like 15min
Wouldn't it be bad to put sanitizer on before putting your hand in the tank????
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Cerulean;162581 said:
I'd still be weary of putting anything on my hands like that. Everytime I have to put my extremities into any of my tanks I make sure that I have nothing on i.e. lotion(not that I wear it), soap(hand, dish, et cetra), hair styling or body products, just giving a list. And when in doubt its always good to wash your hands in just plain water and dry them off before sticking them into the tank.
My O. Hummelincki LOVES to play tug-o-war with a feeding stick. Right now she's at the point where she just swims right up and takes it out of my hand. Sometimes she'll do this, but instead of eating she grabs the shrimp, drops it, and goes straight for my fingers lol. Being scared of getting bit I just pull my hands back a little so only her arm tips can touch me. This usually satisfies her for a little while. She sits at the top of the tank clinging to the glass and playing with me.
Of course I have another octopus I care for that likes to mug me every single time I open the tank. He literally rushes to the top, climbs completely out, and grabs me with as many arms as he can manage. He loves to steal the feeding stick, and he even took a bite out of my scrub pad the other day. Yes literally a nickel sized chunk bitten out of it. I was shocked. I told some of my friends this and said that's why I don't let any of my animals get their beaks near me. But I guess I'm just a big sissy like that.
They could but this does not seem to be a natural instinct. They have very little strength if not attached to something and perhaps that is why. In our reported contact cases, pulling the hand, stick or food to the mouth rather than mouth to the food is the only action I recall (and have experienced). The only times I have been "bitten" (no wounds) have been where the octopus was fully attached to my hand (not grasping fingers) and I tried to remove it. Both animals were senescent and did not want to be put back on the substrate.
Thanks, good information, D. Tonight I tried to get Merkury to eat from my hand, but she wouldn't. She felt/tasted my fingers for a long time, but then withdrew as soon as I moved. She didn't even take interest in the Krill afterwards. Weird.
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