Trapper and Babies 9 week update
Trapper is still with me. She is more interactive with each week and it is going to be harder than I expected to see her out in the day (what I expect on her last 24-48 hours). I have found that I can get the cyclopese to her in better quantity (and somewhat less mess in the tank) by using a pipette. She now knows to expect food from it and quickly positions herself to feed when I put my hand in the tank and squeeze a small amount near her den. Every couple of days she decides to investigate my fingers (I think they "smell" like food) and will do a tug of war for a as long as a minute. She seems to do this more often if I "rearrange" the shell I use for feeding (I still put some in the shell after using the pipette). Tonight she did not pull her arms away when I touched the topside (she would withdraw her arm on prior occassions). If I hold a small block of frozen cyclopese, she still does not take it (probably the cold) but does eat it as it thaws and enters the water column. I am having difficulty trying to decide when she has had enough to eat. She eats heartily for fifteen - twenty minutes and then blows at the pipette but about ten minutes later seems to want more food. I have tried clam and krill to provide something more meaty but she only seems excited about the cyclopese.
All 5 babies are still doing well. I have started feeding them cyclopese with the pipette as well. Two and sometimes three of them will grab the end of the pipette and lift their shells an inch off the supporting grid. I do have to be careful to keep constant pressure on the squeeze bulb for fear of sucking them (or part of them) up into the pipette. I have small live shore shrimp and baby sailfin mollies in the breeder net at all times and have seen at least one catch and eat a shrimp when it came to eat the cyclopese near the octo's shell den. I am hoping they will be hunting on their own by the time the convention rolls around so that I can stock the net with shrimp for a couple of days. My son will be here to top off the tanks but goes to bed before they eat
Trapper is still with me. She is more interactive with each week and it is going to be harder than I expected to see her out in the day (what I expect on her last 24-48 hours). I have found that I can get the cyclopese to her in better quantity (and somewhat less mess in the tank) by using a pipette. She now knows to expect food from it and quickly positions herself to feed when I put my hand in the tank and squeeze a small amount near her den. Every couple of days she decides to investigate my fingers (I think they "smell" like food) and will do a tug of war for a as long as a minute. She seems to do this more often if I "rearrange" the shell I use for feeding (I still put some in the shell after using the pipette). Tonight she did not pull her arms away when I touched the topside (she would withdraw her arm on prior occassions). If I hold a small block of frozen cyclopese, she still does not take it (probably the cold) but does eat it as it thaws and enters the water column. I am having difficulty trying to decide when she has had enough to eat. She eats heartily for fifteen - twenty minutes and then blows at the pipette but about ten minutes later seems to want more food. I have tried clam and krill to provide something more meaty but she only seems excited about the cyclopese.
All 5 babies are still doing well. I have started feeding them cyclopese with the pipette as well. Two and sometimes three of them will grab the end of the pipette and lift their shells an inch off the supporting grid. I do have to be careful to keep constant pressure on the squeeze bulb for fear of sucking them (or part of them) up into the pipette. I have small live shore shrimp and baby sailfin mollies in the breeder net at all times and have seen at least one catch and eat a shrimp when it came to eat the cyclopese near the octo's shell den. I am hoping they will be hunting on their own by the time the convention rolls around so that I can stock the net with shrimp for a couple of days. My son will be here to top off the tanks but goes to bed before they eat