Shevia - O.hummelincki

[DWhatley]

There is one other tell-tale sign but it is not always clear. Males often have a couple of enlarged suckers on several arms. These will be up near the webbing. They are not always a positive ID though because suckers flattened against the glass may just look enlarged.

 

[JMP]

I think your he is actually a she... D and the others will stop by and let you know for sure but from what I see, there is nothing male like about any of the tips.

Yea, I can't find anything like what I've been told to look for on the tips. So, he may be right about the she.....
I will try and look for the enlarged suckers!

 

[JMP]

Okay. No enlarged suckers near the web! So, he is a she! So her name is Shevia!!!

 

[skywindsurfer]

Congrats on the name.

 

[SabrinaR]

Great name!

 

[JMP]

Thanks!!!

 

[DWhatley]

Shevia is now in the List of our Octopuses instead of unnamed. Would you like me to change the Journal title to Shevia - O.hummelincki or some variation to include species and name?

 

[JMP]

Yes, that would be great! Thank you!!!!

 

[Cephdoc]

Another vote for the Koralias over any other kind of power head (there are two in the tank I referenced). We have had one fatality with a small cuttle that apparently tried to catch something on one and lost its tentacle and a couple of suspect arm tips on octos but they are by far the most used in an octopus tank (anything else need octo proofing). I try to shelter the intakes by surround them with rock. I am not sure if this matters though. Two of my briareus have used them to aid in sucker shedding and I was able to video one incident. Be careful not to oversize them. I bought the largest for our big tank (deep 140 gallon) and they are way to powerful. I just picked up 4 of the new models at a huge price savings (they may have been accidently priced because when I went back to look and post a note the price had doubled) and they are supposed to run at half the power consumption of the original models.

I watched the video from the link of them shedding the suckers, i think thats awesome! I love the videos. I have a quick question also, on the link that takes you there under journals and photos. I read about kaysoh.. have you experienced much with them moving the sand around like that? Do you know anything about cuttles and them doing that? I know they like to bury themselves, but i havent seen much of that.
Thanks
Love it!!!!!

 

[DWhatley]

I have a couple of sand moving O.briareus videos posted on YouTube (find my list of videos as dwhatleyGA) along with a few interaction and color changing experiences if you want more . I only remember two of them getting energetic shoveling sand. Most of my octos, however have moved sand out of any dens that were along the tank floor. It appears that the glass is more comfortable bedding or they don't like the sand creatures trying to nibble at night.

I have only attempted a pair of bendensis once and the little guys only lived a couple of months so I can't be much help with their behavior.

 

[JMP]

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!! So Shevia was out but towards the back of the tank and I noticed this large hermit hadn't moved all day, so I slowly stuck my hand in to grab it and she INKED!!!! WHY did I HAVE to stick my hand in while she was out!!! Thankfully, she didn't ink very much! To make matters worse, my fiance is out of town! (He is the the one who does everything, I just look and love)! So I called him PANICKING ..... He got me through mixing salt and doing a 20% water change. Going to do more in the morrning or when it has heated up. Our RO water is in the basement and cold!!!! I am freakin out! I hope I can finish the water change without any issues.... WHY ME???
I hope she is okay and has no issues from inking.....

 

[JMP]

Also, when we are ready to move Shevia to the new tank, how do we get her out without inking and/or freaking out? We have a acrylic fish trap. Could we just put a crab in it and when she goes in, shut it and put her in the new tank?

 

[Cephdoc]

She inked just by you putting your hand in there?... hmmm that is disheartening. Are some species more sociable than others? I understand they have to get used to you and warm up to your company, but i figured by now she would be ok with human interaction? I dont know much so i guess this is a question? Are they pretty prone to inking like that?

 

[JMP]

I have put my hand in there many times before in the last two weeks. But.... In thinking about it..... probably not while she was out and roaming like that before! And, I may have done it quicker than I think.... (Just trying to rationalize)..... Either way, I won't be doing that for a while!!!! But still wondering how we are going to move her!!!

 

[skywindsurfer]

To answer your question Cephdoc, yes some species are more sociable than others, but O. Hummelincki are known to be quit friendly. Just because they are used to you outside of the tank does not mean they will be used to you inside the tank. It was probably something you did(or did not do) that set her off. I don't remember how large you said your tank was, but the small the space the more likely you are to have an inking incident. Now this is where water volume comes into play. If you have a large enough system with a minor inking than you wont have to do such a large water change or even none at all. I've had my octopus ink before and I didn't change the water and everything was fine. The tipe of ink also dictates a water change or not. Most cephalopods give off two types of ink. One is what you might call a decoy, which is a gelatinous sticky blob of ink inteded to distract a would be predator. The second is what you might call a smoke screen, which is used to cloud or shock a predator. The decoy ink can easily be netted out and no water changes are need. The smoke screen, depending on how much is released and how much water volume you have, generally a small water change is needed. The thing I would be more worried about is the stress to the animal, and if it sustained any damage. Most of the animals I've seen that ink generally tend to jet backwards as they do so. But on a lighter note, I hope everything goes well. It might be better to read up a bit on aquarium maitainance in the future for when you're left alone with her lol.