Squirt- O. Bimaculoides

Joined
Dec 4, 2008
Messages
505
Well i was successful and went out today and found a little baby bimac!:biggrin2: We were out no longer the an hour and i flipped the rock and he/she was curled up under neath the rock in a little hole. I just put him/her in the tank after about 2:30 of acclimation. When i put him/her in the tank i looked at his/her mantle and saw it was about .5in. D, like you said i documented the capture. I collected him/her on the santa barbara coast at Campus Point beach. I put him/her in the tank and he/she darted off into the dark. He/She is the perfect size i was looking for a young octo. Here are some pics of the collection and acclimation. I didnt getting of putting him/her in the tank. The first 2 were pics of the octo and the second 2 are ones of where we collected and me carrying him/her back to the car. I am so happy i have been waiting for such a long time(well only 3 months, but thats a long time for me). :biggrin2::smile::lol::biggrin2::smile:
 

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Congratulations on finding a small bimac so quickly! Welcome to Squirt!

What we've done in the past about the he/she (since we never seem to want to say "it") is to pick a sex, and stick with that one until proved otherwise. So I referrred to my octopus as "he" until I saw her with eggs! It's very diffficult to determine the sex of a bimac.

How deep were the tidepools?

Nancy
 
The tide pool i found him(i am picking a he) was about only 3 in of water but there were still wave crashing over the rocks into the little pool. There were some tide pools that were about 2 feet deep.

Well today i came and checked at the tank and he was out and about. I didnt have the camera but he is a small little guy. I stuck my pinkie by him and he grabbed it and felt me for about a minute. I found his little den.

I got a question though. If i got some shrimp and crabs from pauls aquaculture store and i put all the crabs and stuff in the sump(with a way to get air) will they be able to survive in the 60 degree water?
 
I'm so jealous you managed to catch Squirt in a tidepool :smile: I hope you have a good time with him, please keep taking pictures when you can!
I'd love to go adventuring and see some octopusses but I have no idea where to go. I think the English coast in February is a bit cold for me AND them :frown:
 
Interesting question on the temp for crabs and shrimp. The ones from Paul are warm water animals (North FL, just below Jacksonville) but they are Atlantic and do get exposed to colder water than the Caribbean (usually, the 57 degree water two weeks ago has been devistating to the shallow reefs). I know they ship better in the winter than in the summer and can tolerate temperatures lower than 60 for short periods.

I would suggest splitting your purchase and putting some in your sump and some in an old salt buckets (crabs, not the shrimp) with some sand and a water supply (my 2 gallon tanks have a sand covered bottom with 2" water and lava rock to climb on. Every two weeks or so, I flush the sand with freshwater, rinse with saltwater and refill the container to the 2" level. I have some losses, more in the summer, but it works our well enough).

The shrimp also ship better in the winter than in the summer. They are less likely to be eaten as Squirt grows but my young mercs could catch them and I saw them hunting them in the breeder nets. I would suggest getting the minimum number of these though and again trying a split attempt with a bucket but fill this 3/4 with water (they will jump out if full) and add an air stone. A little LR and sea lettuce (also available from Paul) seems to help keep them alive better than anything else I have tried. If you catch them fast enough (they usually turn a milky white if they are going to die soon), you can freeze them and had feed. If there is any smell, toss them (down the toilet is the best place I have found to keep from smelling up the garbage can and upsetting other household members).

If you try keeping either or both in the cold sump, be sure and post the results.
 
Squirt is doing well i havent gotten a sex yet so he is still a he. I got him to eat a mussel last night. This morning he was peaking at me. i got some photos.
 

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I was happily surprised to find squirt on the glass in the sand. I also believe squirt is a she not a he. I will let the experts look at the pic and see. I also got a pic with my finger next to the glass so you can see how small he actually is. I also get got a video of her digging in the sand. I will put that up once i have time. :biggrin2: i am happy.
 

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Sorry i d i forgot to put it up.:shock: Its a video of my little buddy digging in the sand. My internet is being really slow and stupid:mad: I will try and post it tomorrow. sorry.

Also my crabs and shrimp are coming tomorrow. I will post my findings with the temp with them.
 
Squirt is doing really well. D i am a little confused how to put up a video with the new site.

Well today i got all my crabs and shrimp. I put about 50% of the shrimp in squirts tank and they seem to be doing fine and the tank temp is 60 df. I decided not to do that with the crabs because they are kinda like gold because thats the only thing she is eating.

i dropped a crab right in front of her den and she starts slowly coming out with 2 arms up and completely black. Then she strikes.:lol: It was really cool. I tried to get it on video but ran to get the camera and missed it.:razz: I will try and get it tomorrow.
 

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