• Looking to buy a cephalopod? Check out Tomh's Cephs Forum, and this post in particular shares important info about our policies as it relates to responsible ceph-keeping.

please help me figure this one out. What is it?

I read somewhere,:read:, that octo's naturally "learn colors", based on what they see. Somethin about not knowing at birth, and learning "how to" by mimicry. Makes sense to me. :biggrin2: Octopuses are smart suckers! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Gabe
 
Hey,

I was changing Slimers tank over so I gave been busy sealing it up.

I have removed the cube. Didn't tip it like we talked about befor because it was too long and it took up way too much room. But now that Slimer has the entire tank it has already taken a new Den. It's way up inside some rocks so it's hard to see it. I could see Slimers arms reaching down and grabbing any thing and every thing and taking it up in to the new den. It was cool looking.

Slimer is now also eating Fiddler Crabs. I'm going to go check out the Fish Market this weekend.

As for the weird stripe thing Slimerr does. I have seen pictures in the database of one doing the same display so Im thinking it may be a agressive display trying to scare the cat? But it only does it to that cat.

Any ideas on feeding in a large tank? I was thinking it might be easer to keep clean if I made a feeder box. Has any one ever herd of ant thing like that? I was thinking of a plastic breeder box with a small hole in the bottom and a tube about a inch into the box (so the crabs cant fall out the hole) Then Slimer could go up into the box and feed. Then all of the shells would be left in the box. Just a thought? Any ideas or Suggestions?

Thanks
 
Well, to tell you the truth, octos usually like to take their food back to their den, where they feel safe eating it. The usually don't eat their food where they find it. They may not even kill it until they get it back to their den, if it's something like a fiddler crab.

I have a funny pic of my Ollie when she captured a cleaning tool and she was hanging onto a crab with one arm while using the others to wrap around the tool.

So it might be convenient for you to construct this feeding area, but it probably wouldn't be what Slimer would choose.

Glad he's got the run of the tank. He must enjoy his life with you.

Gabe, about learning the colors, I hadn't come across that before.

Nancy
 
Morning Nacy,

Bummer on the feeding bin. lol. I ended up just netting the crab parts. I guess it wont be too much work cleaning up after him. I have noticed with slimer he always eats his food right where he grabs it. Weird. He ate a Fiddler last night right agains the glass. I could see the beak scraping the meat out of the crab. It was cool.

But I guess that could be because I was able to peek into the dens before. Now Slimer picked a den way up under a big rock. I was able to peek in but now Slimer has been crusing the tank and picking up all of the small rocks and shells. Then he drags them up into his new den. He actually filled in the back entrance so I can't see up in there any more. I'm not too worried about it though. Slimer always wakes up and gets super active every night when the simpsons come on. Weird. You can almost set your clock to it.

I think hes happy now. Thanks again for all the help. This place is the best for information.

Thanks
 
The discussion about octopuses watching TV was probably before you started reading our posts, but it appears to be true that octos watch TV.

We've had reports that they prefer cartoons :smile: So maybe that explains The Simpsons!

Here's the pic of Ollie with the cleaning tool she captured, and the crab can be seen up at the top of the stick.

Nancy

download.php
 
awww Ollie's Cute. How big is ollie?

Do you take any special steps in feeding Fiddler crabs? Cut or break the pinchers? Or Should I try to get him on Frozen food? I'm asking because I gave slimer his first Fiddler yesterday. It was good sized but tiny claws. I dint even think about the tiny claws. I dropped it in and Slimer grabbed it right away. It looked like he was being careful of the claws. Kind of?

Basicaly Slimer got it and bit it in the head but it was still squriming for a few. Then I noticed Slimer drop it quickly. I took a close look and the fiddler got ahold of one of his suckers. It took it off. Didnt seam to bpther him much. I know they reproduce body parts rather quickly. The crab fell to the bottom of the tank and died.

I spent about 2 hours moving Slimer out of the cube and getting him all set up in the tank. Then I figured I would see if Slimer still wanted the dead crab. So I offered it to him and he was all cheered. Ate it up with the quickness.

So I guess I was just wondering how you feed fiddlers to ollie? The last thing I want is for Slimer to get hurt!

I think he also got a Damsel for a mid night snack. LoL. The Damsel kept following him around last night. The lights not on yet so I can't be sure. But I'm thinking about throwing 4 or 5 Damsels in the tank. It adds color and the occasional snack. That should be ok shouldnt it?

I did see the post about tv. I'm almost sure of the Cartoon thing. Slimer is always active when Cartoons are on. He doesnt really care about any other tv. Its weird. It totally looks like hes watching cartoons. LoL. He fits right in. I watch Cartoons all of the time.
 
Hi Aquaman,

About fiddler crabs - I wanted to avoid any injury to Ollie, too, so I found I could clip the claws of the crabs (I held them fast in big tweezers). I didn't have to remove the claws, just clip off the ends so they couldn't close. We have had octos injured by crabs, even fiddlers, and it's a good thing to avoid any wounds. I usually dropped the crabs in front of Ollie, but sometimes she appeared not to see them. She always found them, though.

Ollie died on Jan. 1 of this year. She grew quite large for a bimac and weighed more than 3 lbs when she died. Here is a pic of Ollie playing with me so you can see she was getting big. She was much younger in the pic with the crab.

I'm a little concerned about the damsels. We've had actual incidents of damsels bothering octos, especially their eyes. You must also be sure no copper has every been used on them, because octos can't tolerate copper. I think you'd be better off to avoid the damsels in the tank.

Say hi to Slimer for me!

Nancy

download.php
 
Hello! Yer still among the livin! :P

Aquaman, I agree with nancy on the damsels. If you look at the archived posts, in almost all things on eye problems, it starts when an octo owner puts damsels in the tank as food for the octo. In most cases the octo goes blind before the end. As for the thing on the feeder box, as nancy said, the octo wouldn't like it, and ye may run into some problems. In the wild, octos bring food back to the den before eating it, creating a pile of shells. This is a telltale sign of an octo den (used by divers to find octos) and is suspected by some scientists to aid the mother octo when she blocks her den. this is merely speculation however, as male octos also collect shells,crustacean carapaces, etc. (often appearing "like some ghastly doormat"*) You can find more info on "octo doormats" at "The Cephalopod Page" (link provided) -'swhere I got most of my info. (Also where I found out about tonmo- check out the links!) You may get lost a few times, but you'll figure it out (that is, partially- I still get lost some times! Now, where's that info on O. Macropus, I saw it once before...last year...LOL :lol: :P ) Finally, about the cube. If you took it out, and you don't need to keep it intact, try linking it to the big tank. :biggrin2: That's what I'm eventually going to do... I just need to wait till dad gives the OK and I'm gonna buy a second one. My current 50g isn't bein used cause first I hafta build a new cage for my lizard :wink:. Then I'm gonna get a second tank and connect em through a 1.75" (inside diameter) acrylic tube. (1.75" cause thats the size of da inexpertly(and DEFINITELY NOT waterproof) semi-repaired hole in the side of my tank. When I get the tank I've been eyeing at the store for awhile, the bimac I get'll be sooo spoiled-136g all to himself! :biggrin2: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :biggrin2:) :P Whatcha think o' that? :smile:

Nancy, I got the info on octos learnin colors from some website and also on " ANIMALPLANET The most extreme: 'Toddlers' ". Dunno how reliable that show is, I've seen it wrong before. But it makes some sense and I read it on a website. Though, to be honest, I thought they knew at birth before. I do doubt their theory a bit though- personally I think if octos learn anything that way color-wise it's patterns. Just sayin what I've heard from educational sources that are SUPPOSED to be right. Also, is there an online vendor who sells (cheap) crabs? I'm rather land-locked, and dunno how Mr. Bimac would like to ONLY get baby clams.

Thanks!
Gabe

P.S. Hello to slimer!
P.P.S. Heres the link; http://is.dal.ca/~ceph/TCP/index.html.
P.P.P.S. If you notice the asterisk after the octo doormat description, its cause it's a quote from national geographic.
 
Hi Gabe,
Interesting what you write about the color. Will have to look into that.

As for your crabs -- I use
Cannot connect to MySQL server

This is a family run company and I've been very pleased with the crabs and the shipping. I've also bought shore shrimp from them.

Since I live in a large city, shipment by priority mail isn't too difficult and the packages arrive in a couple of days. I think you'd want to discuss winter shipments with them - maybe they'd have to put in a heat pack.

So where do you live in Wisconsin? - I have a degree from the U. of Wisconsin at Madison - and yes, it was cold there! Also, we here at TONMO have an Introduce Yourself forum, if you're so inclined.

Nancy
 
Madison...ooooooh your lucky (warm!). I'm up just short of rhinelander. I can take trips to foster & smith any day- less than half-an-hour to get there! Actually, I live on a lake, but alls we got is freshwater mussels. I can get 'em during the summer, NOT the winter...BRRRRRRRRR!!!! :yuck: I'd get sick! Up here, you don't need one of these; :chillpil: , ya just step outside! (Of course if you DO step out side durin winter, odds are you'll need some strong, northern ale. :wine: I dont get more'n a sip due to my age though. :beer: Cheers! :cheers: Hmmm...I wonder...do ya think he'd like turtle soup? :coffee: ) Basicly, my point is yes, they would need a heat pack, most likely.

Gabe
P.S. Excuse me, I'm going to do my favorite sport (well, second favorite. My FAVORITE sport is worshipping the ceph god. :angelpus: :lol: ) HOT baths. :wink:
 
Hey Gabe,
That video was weird. It totally looked like it was into it or something. LoL.

Slimer is doing good. Eating red claw crabs. I think it likes the big tank. I added 50 lbs of rock and Slimer has found a very private den. I was able to peek in on it for a little while but Slimer has pulled all the small rocks and shells inside to make doors. So now if I look hard enough I can see 1 eye way back in the shadows. Slimer does seam to be very active around 5 or 6:00 Pm.

Nancy,
Thanks for that link to the food site. I will be placing a small order in a few days to give it a try.

Quick question. I have been trying to feed fresh clam, oyster, uncooked shrimp. I try to offer it on a feeding stick. Black and very skinny. So it's not too scarry. Slimer takes it holds it for a few seconds and then throws it to the side. I'm guessing it does not like the tase or smell. I used pices the size of the crabs I have been feeding. But they may of been too big. Should I try smaller pices? The size of the shrimp it's been eating? I let the food get to room temp before feeding. Should it be cold? Warm?

Any help would be great.

Thanks again.

Oh yeah. The weird color thing is not just dont to the cat not. Slimer did it too me the other day. It got all striped out and came over to the glass where I was. Then it started doing this weird head bob thing. So i did it back. Then Slimer did it. We went back and forth for 4 or 5 minutes. Then the cat jumped up to see what the heck I was doing and Slimer stopped alltogether. It was really strange. Any one know what It may of been doing?

Thanks
 

Shop Amazon

Shop Amazon
Shop Amazon; support TONMO!
Shop Amazon
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Back
Top