[Octopus]: Onn - O. briareus

Nine Month Update

I have been trying to capture a photo of Onn to show the length of his arms but he won't hold still for the camera when he is spread out! Here are a couple of my attempts but they don't provide the information I was trying to capture. Each half of the tank is about 22" long and about 24" tall (below the hood about 23" to the water line). The connecting tubes are 4" long and we feel certain that he would not have to do much stretching to touch both ends while sitting in the tube if it ever occurred to him to try. His mantle remains on the small side but, oddly I have noticed it growing in the last month or so. I would expect this in a 10 month old female (he is somewhere between 10 and 11 months old having arrived quite young 9 months ago today). He has started to lose muscle in his arms but has only slowed slightly in his food intake. We did notice yesterday that he drilled a crab claw and liquified the contents instead of his usual method of breaking it at the joints. I have offered him skinned fresh salmon and small scallops this month and he ate both where he has occasionally rejected his normal shrimp so I will buy more of the softer food.

I did manage to get a night, red light video that shows the grace of these animals. The speed is actual.
 

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Another photo attempt at trying to show the length of Onn's arms. I tried to make a "flipbook" but the multi-select did not retain the order and I have yet to figure out a way to order/reorder the images in an attachment collection without attaching individually (yes, you can select and attach multiples now :biggrin2:)
 

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Since we lost Margay, Onn has been more interactive. I am not sure if this is a function of age, if we paid less attention because Margay was diurnal and more interactive or if he is "lonely" without another animal to dance with at night. I took several videos tonight but most are overly long. This was the first of the series and Onn was already in the front "play corner". Over an hour period, Onn will come and interact for 3-4 minutes at a time, slide to the the "dark side", dance a bit on the glass and come back to the play corner if I place my hand back in the tank (when he goes to the other side of his den, I remove my hand). He has started to accept a light mantle "rub" and is putting a slight amount of pressure into my hand with his arms when he laces them into my fingers (I have come to believe this is equivalent of scratching and see it often in older animals). He still grabs a little but does not flee when he can't run away with my hand. I have seen no beak poking out,a sign I take for considering a bite and will end play if I see it.

 
I'm jealous that you get in a mantle rub! Abe doesn't like to be touched- he'll play follow the finger as long as it's OUTSIDE the tank! Great footage!
 
Urban Legends - We have several references to stories of animals escaping their tanks (this is NOT one) and returning with supper pilfered from a near by tank. Muctopus has started a thread to collect the stories and any solid evidence we find or observe and can document (See Midnight tank escapes- fact or fiction?). My own experiences with tank escapes does not indicate that they #1 find water and #2 return, however, species habit may play a part in the validation of the stories. One factor, may be the propensity of a species to return to their home dens (or to even have home dens).

Onn is often in his den at feeding time and wakes up to eat so he is on the left side of the tank when he accepts his meal. Generally, he will take the offering, slide it into his we with his suckers then reach to the feeding hand and investigate (interacting or looking for additional food is unclear but we suspect the former). The evening of the video we were late bringing supper and he was out on the glass. I played with him a little while his food was thawing and he eventually exited the play side (a signal to remove my hand) but remained out on the right side. The significance of the story is that after coming to take his dinner, he returns to his normal den, a possible + point to the possibility of returning to a home tank after collecting food from an outside source.

 
Great video! I really like your technique playing with the food... Realistic movements! Reminds me of playing with the kids... puppets, stuffed animals... funny!
 
LOL, sorry Tony but that is not playing. In spite of some of the reports on octopus vision, this species seems to be very far sighted and cannot see anything close up. They can, however, detect food by movement and chemical receptors so the food wiggling is to produce a motion and a "smell" so he can locate it. Where it LOOKS like I am not giving it to him right away is also a misnomer. The food is held very loosely and if you look you will see that it is fully in his suckers but he is pulling on my fingers making it look like I am tugging on the food.
 
Abe always returns to his den to eat. Sometimes he goofs off a little before eating, dancing on the glass for whatever reason, but he never eats anywhere but in his den. I don't remember ever having an octopus that ate anywhere but in its den!
 
He is aging (9 months + in the tank) and Neal and I can feel the loss of muscle tissue but his color is still bright white and peach (vs the dull grey they often acquire in senescence) and he is still eating, albeit often every other day in stead of everyday. He seems to have some difficulty with getting the meat out of crab claws and no longer fully disassembles them. One a recent occasion, we saw where he had drilled the claw, not his usual method but he still managed to clean out the meat.
 
Thanks Rhodi, I'll tell him that :biggrin2:. I have often said this is arguably one of the most beautiful species but also say they are the dumb blondes of the octo world (having grown up blonde, I can say that where others are NOT allowed :wink:)

This is my very favorite Octopus briareus photo (so far. Sadly, it is not one of my own) and you would be pressed to find competition for glamour.
 
Onn passed on Friday (2013/02/20 - 2014/01/03). He has been in languishing senescence for about 2 weeks and it had gotten to the point where looking in on him meant we were checking to see if he was still alive. He was never as robust as most of my other O.briareus so I was not terribly surprised that he entered senescence in less than a year in the tank. The breakfast/tank room seems lonely without an octopus.
 

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