What are you feeding your octopus?

[i got crabs]

sand flea? no im da mole crab fool!

hi all, i will have the oppertunity soon to aquire some sand fleas and was wondering if these make good octopus food. i if i remember correctly they are in the amphipod family are shaped like a bean, and range in size from 1/4 in to about 3 in. i have read up that they can be kept quite simply in a deep sand bed with a good current and feed on dead matter. heres a picture. enjoy!

 

[i got crabs]

just one mor thing b4 i go to bed, if anyones havin trouble winnin dem hermit crabs on ebay and is just looking to perchase lots of crabs try exoticfish.com. i believe they have lots of 50 for 30$ for some small to mid size species. and lots of 20 for 2o$ if your lookin for a little less. hope dat helps some.

 

[Octowanabee]

hey every one i live in vancouver BC and Iam wondering if red tide crabs that can be found on the beach with have any harm on the octopus or if they will be sutible for a daily meal

wanabee

 

[Feelers]

Hey all, I was just wondering what would happen if you tried to feed a live mussle(cooking size) to a small octo, a bimac for example. Would they attemp to eat it? im asking because im trying to figure out what ill feed my pygmy octo when I end up getting one. To quote Cephalopods, a World Guide(great book btw) "nothing is known of the diet of this pygmy species".

 

[Nancy]

I'm really unfamiliar with red tide crabs - do they have something to do with red tide?

As for mussels, Octopets feeds mussels to its octos, cracking them first. You could try this. If he doesn't eat it, be sure to remove the mussel from the tank.

Nancy

 

[bernman_2005]

I've fed my octopus crayfish everyother day. We've had her for two or three weeks now and now shes pregnant. Please read my other thread... I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks, Bernie

 

[Jean]

I've fed my octopus crayfish everyother day. We've had her for two or three weeks now and now shes pregnant. Please read my other thread... I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks, Bernie

By crayfish do you mean freshwater crustacean???? (in NZ crayfish is spiny rock lobster....a marine species...VERY expensive!).

If so for, future reference freshwater species are not good octopus food! General rule of thumb feed marine to marine and freshwater to freshwater! The fat & protien contents are different. Freshwater can be fed as a treat! Kinda like eating candy!

Cheers

J

 

[Jean]

Hey all, I was just wondering what would happen if you tried to feed a live mussle(cooking size) to a small octo, a bimac for example. Would they attemp to eat it? im asking because im trying to figure out what ill feed my pygmy octo when I end up getting one. To quote Cephalopods, a World Guide(great book btw) "nothing is known of the diet of this pygmy species".

Only problem Feelers is that most NZ octopus are unwilling to eat shellfish. While there is nothing published about the diet of these guys, we've been keeping them at the aquarium for years. They thrive on shore crabs (common rock crab Hemigrapsus edwardsi, (mainly South Island), hairy-handed crab Hemigrapsus crenulatus,
tunnelling mud crab Helice crassa,smooth shore crab Cyclograpsus lavauxi, Half crabs Petrolisthes elongatus
and Common Shimps Palaemon affinis)

Hope this helps


J

 

[Arrogantsob81]

My bluering is on silversides and krill....

 

[Jean]

My bluering is on silversides and krill....

Where abouts are you? By silversides do you mean the marine fish??? If so tis interesting, our guys aren't really interested in fish. On the odd occasion when we've had no crabs we've put fish in for them and they ignore them!!!! Then it's a quick trip to one of the fishing companies that exports live crabs.........sigh $$$$$!

J

 

[Feelers]

Hey Jean on a marine bio trip I did we caught a big P Condiformis (spitting image of hannibal) and put him in a viewing tank(for a short time). Then we grabbed a live fish probably 10cms long chucked it in - eaten instantly.

I was surprised he ate - in a small tank with 20 people watching 5 minutes after being captured - and all the bits of fish got blown out his siphon tubes, very cool.

 

[Jean]

Hey Jean on a marine bio trip I did we caught a big P Condiformis (spitting image of hannibal) and put him in a viewing tank(for a short time). Then we grabbed a live fish probably 10cms long chucked it in - eaten instantly.

I was surprised he ate - in a small tank with 20 people watching 5 minutes after being captured - and all the bits of fish got blown out his siphon tubes, very cool.

Musta been hungry! Course maybe ours have learned that if they don't eat the fish their well trained humans will go find them a crab!

How much of the fish do you estimate was biffed? Squid eat EVERYTHING! unless it's bigger than themselves in which case they fillet it!!!

J

 

[Feelers]

I'd say he ate everything, the stuff that flew out the siphon tubes was just kinda "crud" that would play havoc on water parameters - but not really any substance to it.

 

[binaryterror]

When you feed a Bimac, can I just feed it small shrim from shrimpstuff.com? Or should I use those and clams (switching off and on every other day). Thanks

 

[Nancy]

Start with the clams and begin introducing pieces of thawed frozen shrimp and live small crabs. Smaller bimacs may have trouble catching the live shrimp.

Nancy