[Octopus]: Taba - Jocco's 'Pus

[Jocco]

Woke up to a peppermint casing and a new snail shell under her den.

We were about to give up on our search to find all the shrimp in our tank, and settle that she FINALLY got it last night... when it came floating out of no where... holding/swimming with what looked like a white rock and fluff. Dead snail.

Somehow a shedding AND a snail was lost in front of Taba...?

The "Darwin Shrimp" live another day.

 

[Jocco]

Two words - Hermit Carnage.

Unless a hermit did its shedding thing ALL OVER THE TANK... Taba got another hermit from our original line up of the clean crew. Looks like she ripped it limb from limb. Claw and half a body on one side of the tank, a single leg in the middle, and the shell under her den.
One medium hermit left.

We feed her every evening, plus she is taking on 1 hermit a week.

 

[tonmo]

Guess Taba had enough of their BS!

 

[Jocco]

Midden,

I took the shells away from Taba last week because I read somewhere she may move dens if she gathers too many and gets spooked.

Well, she showed me, lol.
One day I woke up to a smooth rock under there.
The next day she had the snail shell.
Then another snail shell.
Today it was a hermit shell. I thought she ate one of the small blue hermits that switched into a med shell.

We saw a flash of Taba this morning when I fed the fish; she picked up that hermit into the den rock! It just rose into the LR where she entered it, in the Release video.

But we came home to that very same little hermit, alive, on the other side of the tank. Currently checking out a potential new home in a snail shell.

Last night I put some tank water into the container we are keeping the fiddlers, they're still alive now... so that's cool too.

Now and then when I have my hand in the water, it seems a little cold, what is a good goldilocks temp for the tank?

Midden pic plus...
Is that octo poop?

 

[DWhatley]

There is far too much brownish-red stuff in the foreground to be octo detritus and most floats.I have observed three kinds of elimination, one is a milky cloud (urine perhaps), another is an almost clear string with small lumps attached and the most commonly observed, a tiny version of mammal poop. The first (and most easily findable) image I have shows the third in red due to the Cyclop-eeze it was eating.

 

[Jocco]

The shells in the midden are totally rearranged, and there are a couple of new small ones.

What are the chances Taba switched them out?

What are the chances the pistol shrimp, Sir Stewart, took the old shells - and put new ones in there? They don't seem to be in or around his dwelling.

This all happened today while we were at work lol

 

[DWhatley]

Either option is a good guess. If Taba does not like the arrangement you can be sure she will change it.

 

[Jocco]

I am making a guess that she did NOT like the pencil urchin hanging out on her den holes today. Took her forever to take food today.
She also seemed to NOT want half a fiddler crab 10+ minutes - I switched to frozen shrimp, and she took that after a couple of minutes.

 

[DWhatley]

Shelby is the weirdest octo I have ever had when it comes to feeding. He comes to the front and paces at supper time but then hides when I put my hand in with the food and I have to coax him to take it. He runs away and rejects it until I touch his suckers then he rather gently grabs it and eats peacefully, totally ignoring me (i.e. stops moving away). Sometimes I think it is a game (he does not ink during this interaction but does blow away my hand AND the food). I may try stick feeding just to see if he just does not like my hand. It does not seem to matter what kind of food I offer.

 

[Jocco]

We fed Taba late, (whole day ran late, ugh) I thought she would snatch the crab immediately. That pencil urchin must have bugged her. I imagine he was all over her den holes all day, sniffin' her out, or however pencil urchin do... lol

My friends suggested she doesn't want to be fed - Jurassic Park reference - the goat scene. . If our shrimp weren't such Darwin thrill seekers, or nosey all up on her food (we chase them away with a straw) I would try to set up a suspended food contraption.

That does seem odd... it does sound like he doesn't like your hand, but the food service is GREAT. Shelby is tolerating the food slave

 

[Jocco]

RIP Lil Guy, Clinger, Jerk Face, and Kamikaze.
Taba ate all of our big clean crew hermits.

Pic is of the new midden, she seems to rearrange it 1-2x in a 24hr period.

The pencil urchin has moved to the opposite side of our tank, which, makes us laugh. Now we wonder if Taba was placing him in her midden to block the passage way. It usually sleeps on the back side of a rock but twice this week we found it at the entrance of her den.
Around her feeding time, the pencil urchin crawls up the rock to the top to feed - maybe it was taking the opportunity knowing she was distracted. I'm likely thinking too far into all of this. But, seeing the urchin on the total far end of the tank makes me think it was tired of being her doormat.

With the way she has placed shells this time, it definitely looks like she wants a barricade.

She took her dinner shrimp from us with ease last night, and also ate our last hermit.
Her last hermit was Sept 27th, today is Oct 2nd ... looks like she wants a hermit every 5ish days. Loves frozen shrimp. No real interest in fiddler crab (maybe because they are dead?).
Next week's menu might include scallop.
LFS says the hermits we ordered might be in on Oct 4th.

I hope those of us on the East Coast are ok through the storm no crazy water damage, flooding, or power outs.

 

[DWhatley]

I would say that is more of a door than a midden. Barricading is normal. Since she is eating well I am thinking you are not seeing prebrood behavior but is it hard to tell without a clear species ID and females will often eat heavily before they lay their eggs (as will young growing animals).

 

[Jocco]

@DWhatley, you are too much, lol.
I'm waiting for dinner to cook, re-reading through the thread. It is a rollercoaster!

Octopus waiting.
Octopus home.
Octopus ID and gendered.
Octopus alive and eating.
Eating our beloved clean crew.
Possible wrong gender and ID.
Might be too young for the ID/gender.
Hasn't come out to be seen.
Possible need a bigger tank.
Possible eating heavy before egg laying.
Now she/he might be older.
WHAT?!?
She...he... JUST GOT HERE.
hahahaha
I know there is sooo much speculation, the 'box of chocolates' game.
I'm sure she is only a few months old because Taba seems to have grown since we brought her home.

Reading along could give someone a heart attack, hahaha.

 

[DWhatley]

Excellent outline for, The Adventures of Keeping an Octopus . I think new keepers think I exaggerate when I try to explain how little we know about this rather common food animal.

Not all species housed in a home aquarium are as hard to confirm but, in the wild, it is the norm. This is especially true of smaller vs younger animals. I have kept two that would show a brilliant red as juveniles but never displayed that bright color as an adult (one was my vulgaris, the other, Monty, was never IDed - even knowing exactly where it was living before capture). Fortunately, most ultimately give away their species and gender over time.

 

[Jocco]

Taba at feeding time tonight
Normal pic, and a zoom in