[Octopus]: Seven + - Unidentified - Newbie with Octopus meant for sushi

Your account is interestingly sad, especially the resulting water pollution even though nothing had yet died. A small tank records small decay in a big way (and why we are so adamant about larger tanks -- in addition to size needed for freedom of movement) but it is hard to try to guess if the ammonia and nitrites rose before or after the attack. As much as I am a high proponent of keeping brittle/serpent stars with octos anecdotal evidence is getting stronger for putting any starfish on the black list.

If (and at this point I am guessing when :biggrin2:) you are given another, be sure you test the water before putting it in and then as often as possible (with water change water at hand) for the next two days.

I'll be glad (but your wallet won't be) when you guys jump further into committing to saltwater and we can reduce the environment aspects of the viability of sushi as a pet. At the moment, I have an adult blue crab (Fred) raised from dime size, 4 other intended for octo food crabs, three bicatch fish (also part of a plankton tow for octo food), At least one abalone from the Korean market and a small lobster (acquired for the tank on purpose -- several year old adult but looks like a juvenile of the type caught for food in FL). The family and a few friends often suggest a seafood banquet at my house :roll:.
 
I had an interesting chat with my seafood supplier about octos. It's not his main line of business (he carries live lobsters mainly, and prawns, abalone, uni/sea urchin) Octopus was only recently added, and he's still testing the market. (Should i ask for one abalone for Seven's tank? :mrgreen:)

We were talking about blue ringed octos, (no, I do not want one!). I was reading about it the other day and was surprised that it's also found in the Philippines. Supplier shared that he's thinking to stop carrying octos in his seafood line because of that- his fisherfolk aren't knowledgeable about octos, and he doesn't want the risk of something happening because they tried to catch the wrong one.

We joke that our home freezer is full of food- for the pets, and that they eat better than we do. I have 3 tupperwares of different kinds of clams, mussels and shrimps for Seven. (And I'm still looking for crab!) We also have 3 dogs who eat raw, so most of the food in there is theirs ;p We food slaves just get by with whatever space that's left for us. :nyah:
 
:roflmao:Only 1/4 of my bottom freezer (the one on the frig, not the full sized upright next to the frig) is designated for critters so you are way ahead of me on that score (but then the dogs don't eat raw or it would take up at least the entire bottom freezer).

My abalone is a cold water animal but I believe there are some that live in warm water so you would want to check. However, an octopus is likely to try to eat it. My abalone is in the nautilus tank (empty for the last year except for Oscar (the abalone) and a few shrimp but now has Nemo, a new resident as of Monday - journaled in the exotics forum). The naut is not strong enough to pull it away from the rocks, not sure about an octopus. If the abalone he catches are warm water, it might be interesting to try but they are hard to monitor and you would not want it dead behind the rocks as it would kill the octo in a small tank with its decomposition. Nemo's tank is 140 gallon and a 15 gallon sump so there is little impact if Oscar dies.

You can put a live prawn in the tank with Seven but it likely to end up as food. Shrimp can be a bit hostile so I would not put more than one in the 20. If it dies on its own, it should be eaten by Seven but still should be monitored closely and not left to decay because of the tank size. Edit: Note @Jocco 's latest video - the two shrimp are still alive and hanging out at the top left. Larger shrimp may not be so lucky, especially in a small tank.

There are mixed thoughts about urchins. Several people have kept them with no issue but I only keep (and do have them in all my octo tanks) pencil urchins because of the type of spines. Pencils have very thick spines that do not easily break off and embed in the skin. Most other urchins have brittle spines that might cause an infection if brushed against and embedded (this is true for humans as well as octos and the darn pieces take forever to work themselves out). Dead urchins do not seem to impact the water quality though. and do act as a good cleanup crew.

The lobsters are too large to consider (my dwarf species -- he won't exceed 8 inches -- is in a 40 gallon and would not do well in anything smaller). Octopuses will eat them (O. briareus, at least, is well known for invading both lobster and crab traps in South Florida)
 
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Seven is surely keeping me on my toes. He has not come out from his den for over a week (at least from what I've seen). He would sometimes refuse food, or sometimes grab the stick and bring it in the den then would seem to eat, but spit out the food some 20 seconds later. He did accept a small piece of abalone last night (new food!). If he refuses food or the stick, he would cover up the den with shells or stones after. Most of the time tho, the den opening isn't blocked.

I now have a netcam in from of the tank. Haha. I'm hoping this is just a drama spiel. The I get a glimpse of his arms when he stretches, the color looks good, and there's a little bit of regeneration.

Edit: Water is good. Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 20 ppm.
 
Today was water change day, and I figured since I was gonna be disturbing Seven and the tank anyway, might as well annoy him too. I've had that Lego/keep floating in the tank for a week but Seven ignored it. Today, I offered it to him in front of his den. And surprise, he grabbed it. Hanged on to it for a good 15 minutes, not really doing anything, just holding on with two arms while the Lego tried to float. Then l guess he got tired and let go.
 

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Great videos!
Seeing how Seven interacted with it was fun!
Twisty and through, and rubbing, and trying to take it with him, lol.
It looks like the Legos still have air bubbles in them, we found if you tap or shake the piece a little under water, they float less or not at all without bubble traps.
 
We have seen octos play with Legos in some interesting ways but this is the first time for going through one. You can put a piece of shrimp inside and Seven is likely to play with it again if he gets bored with it. Diego was able to take stacked Legos apart to retrieve food but bimacs are more robust animals. It is interesting that Seven liked this one so much over the first. I wonder if it is the shape or the color. They don't see color with their eyes but can detect shades so the light colors may be more appealing.

May I post the second video to our Facebook page?
 
Thanks, Jocco! My daughter now made Seven a little Lego boat and wants to see what he'll do with it

DWhatley, sure, go ahead and post. My guess is that he liked the shape of the second one more. The first one (3 regular bricks) may have been too buoyant and heavy for him. This one had more slots to grab and had slimmer/lighter pieces.
 
Thanks!

We gave Seven his new Lego boat this morning. He didn't play with it- instead, he 'hugged' it and has been hugging it all day.

I was able to take a photo of Seven's arm regrowth. It's almost 1.5 inches now :smile:.
 

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So after about 2 weeks of hiding, Seven decides he's had enough of hiding. Aside from hugging the lego boat all day, I come home to see him out of the water. I panic and nudge him to make sure he's alive, he moves a little bit to reposition himself, but still stays out of the water.

How long can they stay out? I know he's gone a couple of minutes after his escape and challenging the cat. But he seemed really stressed after that incident.
 

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I was hesitant to mention it after your wonderful Lego video but Seven's color suggests senescence and your latest action report adds to that thought. Best you can do is keep the water in good condition (they have been known to try to escape if the water is not to their liking) but I am afraid Seven is at the end of his life. I only remember one other octopus that insisted on being out of the water and, at the time, wondered if the report was either in error or posted looking for troll responses. However, senescent animals have been known to leave the water and crawl on land in the wild.:sad:
 
Oh no :frown: I don't know how long he was out of the water last night. When we woke up, he was partly out of water, partly in. And I noticed he would squirt water upwards. Maybe towards the arms that were on the glass?

My daughter put the lego boat back in the tank this morning, and Seven went and hugged it again.
 
We have had lots of fun with a number of octos that have taken possession of things. The two that come to mind are @Lmecher 's O. vulgaris, el Diablo that coveted a green seahorse toy and Animal Mother's Kalypso took away his turkey baster, separated the bulb from the rigid part and refused to give it up. I won't count LittleBit's possession of the siphon hose because she nabbed it because it annoyed her, not because she wanted it. Most frequently, it is a feeding stick and gets released once the animal is bored with it and algae magnets have fascinated them (one keeper swears the octopus would move the inner magnet -- causing the outer magnet to drop loudly to the floor -- to get attention (@Nancy - was this Ollie? The journals were scattered posts back then).
 

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