Question about Interaction
Dools - Hi D,
I have question. Is physical interaction important? Waldo keeps reaching out (it seems anyway) when he is on the front of the glass. I let him briefly touch my finger, but to be honest; I am not sure I want him grabbing hold of me (color me a wuss). I did let him touch me briefly this morning, but I pulled back and he shot across the tank (no inking though,
).
I meant to say the shrimp I purchased still have the shell; so I will see how he likes them soon. Also, I did remove the mollie from the tank; so now it is just him, a hermit crab and a conch.
Lastily, I am pretty sure his arm was like that when I purchased him; so I do not think anything happened in my tank. I will keep an eye out to see it it starts growing back. Compared to his other 3 "back" arms, not much of it is missing.
Happy New Year and thanks for all the great info.
Dools
DWhatley - If you don't see any regrowth, then he has likely found something in the tank that he should not have, they stick their "fingers" into everything looking for food (child protection caps on all electrical sockets
). Regrowth is pretty fast once you see the little "string" but may take a week or two before it starts. It is quite normal to receive them missing all or parts of arms though so try to get a good look at it (hard, I know they don't hold still well).
There is no requirement to interact but they are curious about you and touching is their way of showing that curiosity. You don't want to whimp out and pull back quickly though (hard to do when they surprise you, especially when cleaning the tank and you don't see them out). If you decide you want to experiment, I recommend inviting contact when you are NOT feeding. Most nips have come from accidental tasting when they are being fed. Neither of mine were in the least bit aggressive (unlike my current O. briareus, Yeti who is always more interested in capturing your hand than her food for the first 5 minutes at feeding time). The beak (the only part that is a concern) is located in the center of the arms. As long as you keep your fingers out of this area, there is no possibility of being bitten. If you don't want physical contact (and a few other keepers do not), then I recommend always using a feeding stick. I personally think you miss something in keeping them if you don't have play time with them though. One of my O. hummelinckis would play a little with a floating toy. I would push it to him and he would push it back. Legos have been a popular toy with some but others ignore toys altogether.
Here is an interaction video with Puddles you might want to watch to see how gentle they are should you decide interaction is unavoidable
Generally, when they are not accustomed to touching you (no so afterwards) simply touching the back of the arm will get them to release you.
I would like you to journal your touch and go experience and you desire not to interact. These journals can be very helpful to others in addition to great references for yourself over time.
Dools - Great video of you and Puddles. I will work on my interaction hesitation and post how it goes in the journal.
DWhatley - I am looking forward to how this plays out. It is probably a good thing you are starting with this species
. Yeti has become quite agressive at feeding time. Watch the three videos, starting
here to get an idea. This is not to scare you
and the macropus is not as strong nor as agressive as an adult briareus. Yeti insists that we "play" at supper time and won't have it that she is simply fed. For a long time, she would hold her food at her beak so there was no concern about biting but now she knows the food won't go away and will drop it until she is satisfied we have given her enough attention. When I clean the tank she will wrap around my arm. I just ignore her and don't play so she goes back to her den.