Penelope - O.Vulgaris

[CaptFish]

I finally got some good accurate measurements.
Mantle: 4.5" (~11.4cm)
Arm length: 10" (~25.4cm)
full Spread: 20" (~50.8cm)

 

[sulley]

wow that is big capt.... did you ever just pull up a chair and sit in front of the tank?? penelope might find this less intimidating and actually come to explore...another thing i would try is to skewer the live shrimp through the tail and feed her that way instead of letting her hunt..she will learn you are the food soource and she better be nice

 

[DWhatley]

She reminds me of the one in Hanlon's camo video with all that webbing filmed in Grand Caymon. He labels it vulgaris.

 

[CaptFish]

wow that is big capt.... did you ever just pull up a chair and sit in front of the tank?? penelope might find this less intimidating and actually come to explore...another thing i would try is to skewer the live shrimp through the tail and feed her that way instead of letting her hunt..she will learn you are the food soource and she better be nice

To me she seems medium, remeber Legs was HUGE, so in comparrison Penny seems small.

I am actually always sitting by the tank, my desk is on one side of it and my bed on the other. When I am just sitting at my desk or just watching TV she doesn't show much interest in me. Ever now and then she will come over and see if i am not there.

I hand feed her everyday a shrimp on a stick. When I see her hunting, is when I offer it, she will take it hold the stick for two seconds then she sits in the corner and eats, then after she goes back to hunting, She will catch two more and retreat to her den or the glass on the back wall above her den.

She gets upset when people are standing by the tank, or when i get up and walk by. She has gotten more use to me but if I try to open the lid too much or if i touch the water she goes crazy and attacks me. I have to be careful not to touch the water with my hand when I feed her. She does seem to be calming a bit but I can tell it is going to be slow and take much patience.

 

[CaptFish]

She reminds me of the one in Hanlon's camo video with all that webbing filmed in Grand Caymon. He labels it vulgaris.

Hmm interesting....I guess we should take Hummelincki out f the title and make it Vulgais?

 

[DWhatley]

I am still thinking maybe O. insularis. Vulgaris has become more of a complex than a species and who knows how many will be identified and how they will eventually be classed.

 

[CaptFish]

I am thinking Insularis too, but I cant find enough info to confirm. I wrote an Email to T.S. Leite who wrote the article you referred me too but I never heard back from her.

 

[CaptFish]

Pics..

 

[DWhatley]

Did you swap her boat for the earth mover?

 

[CaptFish]

No, that is her other toy, a submarine. Actually that was one of Leg's original toys. Its a 'MicroMachine' brand toy research sub, It has a boat match but it floats and gets stuck in my overflow. She actually managed to knock all my rocks down and she got the boat to fit in the hole it wouldn't fit in before. so i left the boat and piled all the rocks on top of it. She clearly has a different opinion as to where certain objects should be.

 

[DWhatley]

We used to see a lot more of this in past years but not much rearrangement has been reported accept for about to brood females. Hopefully this is not the case with Penney and is more species related.

 

[CaptFish]

I dont think she is close to brooding. Her mantle is way too firm and perky....that sounded wrong....

 

[DWhatley]

 

[CaptFish]

Well she seems to be doing great, she is happily living on live shrimp, and a occasional frozen morsel from me either shrimp or silverside. I going to try and find some crabs that are the right size for her but that has proven difficult, what i find is too small or way too big, I cant find a nice medium one.

She has also stopped trying to escape, and has stopped exploring the top of the tank for ways to escape. on the other hand she continues to hate me. I pretty much stopped trying to be social with her and I just observe, its more like having a shark than an octopus.

She has a good schedule going, wakes up around 10am and hunts for awhile, then eats, then she sits on top of her den for a few hours watching me work, then she takes a nap for bit then she comes back out for an evening snack around 6pm eats then goes to her den til the morning.

 

[DWhatley]

I wish you wouldn't give up on her, vulgaris appear to be one of the more intelligent species. If she is settling in to her tank life, that in itself is a change in attitude.