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OMG! Ossie gave birth

so sorry to hear that, Cttlefish.

Right now, about 12 of them are spoken for. The rest will be going to Dr. Caldwell's lab unless some of you want them.

I've spoken to New Alameda Aquatics where Righty is associated with and they are willing to ship out to any of you for $50 overnight (this includes the box and everything).

I don't want to take care of the shipping so I'll be dropping off the babies to New Aquatics and letting them take care of it on Wed. July 5th.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Ossie's tale, this species is VERY nocturnal and secretive. Almost every time we've had interaction with Ossie is recorded here on Tonmo. If you're looking for a species to interact with you, this isn't the species for you. However, if you don't mind that (like we didn't - we feel our lives has totally been enriched by Ossie), please feel free to contact me either by email or by PM here. But look up Righty's offer of cuttlefish to find out the specifics about shipping.
 
Glad to hear that you found homes for all the hatchlings! Dr. Caldwell's lab is a good place for those that haven't found homes with TONMO.com members.

Akyu, thank you for doing so well in documenting Ossie's life with you and for the videos of her. You've done very well keeping Ossie under difficult circumstances (very small tank).

Do continue feeding Ossie - she might be around for a while longer.

Nancy
 
Thanks Nancy, and thank YOU for all your support. You've been absolutely great.

Ossie's been pretty active within her den today. She's been flicking her tentacles out and I'm really hoping that she's also eyeing that $7 shrimp we had bought her a week ago. She had eaten the red crab we had also gotten, but that was about two days ago.

Right now, W. has fished out about 13 of the babies out of the tank. about 3-5 more are hovering above the sand, making it difficult for us to get them. We've separated them into their own little containers (plastic cups), given each of them a shell of their own to be their dens and hopefully, will be able to get our hands on some tigger pods or other pods tonight for their dining pleasure.

From everything we've read, we're expecting another two-three population explosions over the next three days.

W. is now declaring that she's managed to catch all the babies - about 10 in total. Hmm, some seem to have been lost since this morning.

Will update later.
 
Also at the store, they have a bunch of deli containers with lids that you can use to house babies. Poke some tiny hole for circulation and away you go.
 
OMG they are sooo small!!

I had to remake a container, because I used window screen for ventilation. These guys are so small that they could probably sqeeze through that!

Feeding them will be challenging. Hell, finding them after I put them in is already challenging. My tank is full of baby snails that are slightly larger then they are. Does anyone think this can be a good source of food?

The shore caught pods here may be a little too big still. Unless they can take something down bigger then it that swims much more efficiently...

Any suggestions??

Akyu-Tell me how the tiger pods do. If they eat them, I might have to go buy some of those for a while.
 
Okay. One casualty so far and sure enough, a population explosion this morning.

Paradox, let me know if your babies survive, because at last count this morning, we have 25 live ones separated out with 3 more in the tank that we are unable to scoop up right now.

Yeah food source is going to be a problem. While in the tank, they should have been able to forage some copepods their size but now out of the tank....

Hopefully New Alameda has got the tigger pods in for me today.

Any suggestions on food source (that we can get for the immediate future?)

Cuttlegirl, you'd make a great Octo-mom too! Want a couple? (Why does this feel like I'm pushing 8-legged dope?)
 
They are soo small, that I will probably want to remake a good container. I just threw pods of all sizes into one modified breeder containing one of the little guys. Hopefully he will eat some.

The 2nd guy seemed to get out of his holding pen, for I saw him floating around freely in my baby cuttle section. I couldnt catch him and now I cant see him. He may survive in here for its kinda sealed (except for an open top) and has mucho pods.

I might take a few more If I can create a better house for them. Ill keep you updated.
 
Is there any way you could get to the shore and do plankton tows? You can buy a plankton net or make one out of lady's pantyhose. If you want to try making your own, I can give you directions...

Thanks for the offer on the baby octos, but I kind of have my hands full with the three baby cuttles and the kitchen remodel right now... I think I will just be a cuttlemom :biggrin2:
 
lol cuttlegirl... oh well, I gave it the ol' college try.

Paradox, managed to get my hands on a lot of tigger pods today and they seem to be the perfect size!

We've dripped three tigger pods into each of the cups containing each octopus and am hoping that they'll go after them soon. Right now, they seem to be scared of the tigger pods but most of them look like they perked up after having the possibility of a hunt on their hands.

Will let you all know if there's another population explosion in the morning.
 
Akyu said:
lol cuttlegirl... oh well, I gave it the ol' college try.

:smile:
 

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Yay C & H! My fave was one where Hobbes asked Calvin if he thought there was a God and Calvin replies after some silence, "Well, someone's out to get me."

I saw some new hatchlings swimming about the tank this morning but am "cramped" over with pain this morning to separate them out and W isn't awake yet. Went to check out some of the hatchlings. There's some that seem very active and those are the ones who seem to have figured out how to hunt. A couple of them are laying listlessly on the bottom of the cups, moving only when the tigger pods approach, and then to get out of the tigger pod's way. I'm not sure those are going to survive.

Is there a way to hand feed them?

I've got some phyto-feast to feed the tigger pods. Should I squirt a little into the ones that aren't eating's container?

Ossie was still alive as of yesterday. In a little while, the Advil should kick in and I should be able to see her. Will report back soon.

Anybody else in the bay area interested in some O. Mercatoris hatchlings?
 

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