New Octopus!

Well... I came home and was looking for Ink and out he came! First time he's come out! Actually was doing laps like Hermin used to! I threw in a fiddler crab and he grabbed it immediately!

Think he's gonna be ok!!!

Carol :biggrin2:
 
Carol:

That is excellent! :biggrin2: Glad to hear that Ink seems to have made a full recovery from his trip. (Hmmm, Do Octos get jet lag??? :? )


George
 
Carol,

So glad to hear that Ink is OK. So all of our little bimacs are doing well!
It'll be fun to post pics and stories of their adventures as they grow up!

Nancy
 
As the days go by, Ink gets bolder and bolder! This morning he did the front glass pacing! He's watching us as much as we watch him! Plus you could tell he was squirting water in my direction. Think I have an octopus with an attitude!!!!

Here's one more picture! Promise, I won't do this daily!!!!!

He doesn't seem to mind the camera at all, but I'm trying not to use the flash too much!

Carol
 
Glad to here that Inks doing well. Roxy has gotten a lot bolder too... it's seems that she is out and about more than she is hiding nowadays. I caught her a bunch of hermits at the tidepool 2 days ago and she loves them.
 
Glad to hear that Ink, Roxy and all the other little bimacs are doing so well!

Since I don't live by the sea, I mail ordered a bunch of hermits (21, to be exact) for Ollie, who's munching on one right now. They arrived in good shape, and I'm keeping them in low bowl with rocks and shells and places to hide, with about 1" of brackish water. So far this works!

Nancy
 
Thanks Nancy!!!

Today, Ink came right to the top of the tank and took frozen prawn from my hand. He was squirting me with water and his arms were flailing out of the water trying to grab me???? I was a little hesitant about letting him get ahold of my hand. When I was acclimating him, he did grab me and even in his weakened state, I had a hard time getting him off my finger. I am continuely amazed at the ability they have to change to whatever color they are near. Yesterday, he looked green, like his cave. Today he was blending with the barnicle on a red rock! Sometimes, I am looking for him and he's sitting right out in the open, probably laughing at me cause I can't find him! :biggrin2:

I'm gonna try to locally collect later today. Not sure if the waters warm enough yet to find anything close to shore. Bait shops still donot have any fiddlercrabs, so he's been dining on $2.50 crabs....ouch!!!! but he's worth it! Once the bait stores get stocked, I can get them by the pint.

Carol
 
Carol, I don't know if this will work with your Bimac "domesticated" octopuses, but regarding "holding hands":

A fellow diver friend gave me this bit of advice that works well when a Giant Pacific or little Red (O. rubescens) has hold of you and you wish them to let go - just gently run your finger along the back of the arm that is holding you! The effect is almost like unzipping a zipper :smile:

Maybe it just tickles them, or maybe the sensory stimulus confuses them, I dunno. But it works well with our cold water species here in Seattle. Maybe it would have the same effect on your Bimac?
 
Great idea!! I will try that if I get the nerve to let Ink get ahold of me again! He deffinately has an attitude! More aggressive that Hermin was! Now when he see's me he comes right up to the top of the tank and starts the arms flailing out of the water! I put a fiddler in this morning, and he stuck his mantle straight up in the air and proceeded to walk across the bottom, on all legs, but with the mantle sticking up! Never saw this behavior before! Have any of you noticed this with yours???

Carol
 
So - I have a question for those of you with "domestic" octopuses in aquaria.

When diving, the easiest way to find an octopus is to look for a pile of crab shells outside of a hole - the middens. This pile of refuse almost certainly indicates the recent presence of an octopus, and more often than not, there's one at "home" when we look.

This would mean that the octo catches its prey in its webbing, then carries it to its den and eats it, and throws the refuse out on the "front porch".

So:

1. When you feed your pet octo, do they feed in front of you or do they take the prey to a den and eat it in seclusion?

and

2. What do you do to clean up all the shimp, crab and snail shells that the octopus leaves behind?

Curious,

-d
 
Hi D

The octopuses will quite qucikly accept our presence as a good thing and we take on the role of 'food god' so quite often an octopus will eat at the front of the tank. Babies however, still tend to hide until about the 3 to 4 month mark.

I have yet to see a midden being used full time by an octopus in captivity. they do seem to put scraps in a general sort of area but not as they would in the wild. Part of this may be due to the fact that the aquarium is smaller than their natural territory and the whole tank is seen as their den?

Also, as people keep brittlestars and other scavangers in beside the octos they are likely to wander off with carapaces etc.

Ocassionally I do clean up old carapaces, especially when hermits in another tank may be needing 'new homes' :smile: Otherwise i just leave them.

I have also found many behavioural differences from one species to next so not all wil eat in the open

Cheers
Colin
 
It just depends on what I feed her. If it's a crab or a shrimp, she usually takes it to her cave and leaves the carapaces in a pile. With hermits, its usually 50/50. Sometimes she'll pull it out right in front of me, leaving the shell in the open and finishing the meal in her den or sometimes she'll carry the whole thing into the den. She doesn't leave the shells in the midden, she lets them sit in her den. I guess she's planning on doing some decorating once she gets enough saved up.
John
 
Fishing for an octopus..... What an interesting concept!!!! I may have to try it!!! :wink:

I know Ink drags his food into a cave I have near the front of the tank. As he finishes, he pushes out the remains! My population of worms has gotten quite active since Ink's arrival! They are my cleanup committee! Some are getting quite impressive in size! Funny, they weren't around after Hermin died.

Ink eats in one spot and sleeps in another. I noticed, when he's sleeping he gets to be a very white color and even his eyes look white. I was afraid he was commotose the other day and then realized after I bugged him, he was indeed asleep! Never had an octo that slept where I can see him.

Carol
 

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