Ziva's Replacement

eng50

O. bimaculoides
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Oct 23, 2008
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...SWF.com has sent us a replacement for our last O. hummelincki. They have once again gotten several more octos from thier same supplier in Haiti. I am sure this one is also O. hummelincki, however I am concerned as far as its size....(see pics)

If anyone has input on sex feel free, I do not see the curled arm, and of note the rear left arm must have been removed and regrown some time in the past. If you watch the video I posted, you will see an interesting behavior in which it uses the regrown arm to 'hold up' or move its mantle!!

D, I'm fairly sure it is much like Octane, and really dread a short interaction with a really nice Octo...

Comments, thoughts insights are always welcome!!

No name as of yet will name it when we know the sex...

Bill
 

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Safe arrival and packaging was noted. Acclimation went well, it liked to squirt me often while I was watching it! When it was placed in the main tank, it was non stop motion (4+ hours) until we fed it and it settled in the rock work.

Mantle size is almost 2" and arm span is close to 12" Arms are very thick at bases and webbing is almost saggy. He/she is very apt at coloration, texturization and morphing. Eye spots very well defined both in color and texture..

A noted different behavior maybe due to age? He/she always moves 'mantle first' not 'eyes first' if that makes sense..the mantle always is crashing into or touching whatever is in the direction of travel..odd..

He/she seems to have picked a nice 'front of the tank' place to make a home!! I can actually see two sides of it at rest..nice for a change!

Bill
 
Let's hope I am wrong but my first impression was full grown adult. I am hoping that in the video there was a lot of current where it was swimming but the "floppiness" of the mantle, you mentioning that an arm is used to support the mantle and the constant motion don't add up well. I also think octopuses are more apt to be human interactive as adults or maybe their eyesight goes and they do not see as much movement beyond their tanks.

The good color and stong camo may counter my fears but they may stop using that ability rather than loosing it after they are comforatable in an aquarium. The fact that the floppy mantle is being intovatively supported is both curious and very interesting.
 
You should just be glad he/she is as active as it is, Fletcher has always been so reclusive that I have never seen her all stretched out, I have only seen her fully out of her den a few times. :welcome: to your octo.
 
I dont have any additional info to offer, but just wanted to say that that is one great looking octo! hopefully its age is relatively young, especially if you have a good viewing spot of his/her den :smile:
 
Thank you!

Yes the active and outward nature is inherent to the breed I believe...

Sadly I think you are right D, FYI-there is no real current in this side of the tank at all she is doing all the movement on her own...Im guessing a her anyway..most likely post egg laying from what I have read. I should have asked them for the smaller of the ones they had, but didnt know they had more than one..

We will make the most of the time we have and note all that we can..

She is still active..lights off, and no room activity, and she has explored every inch of her tank...but still cant remember where the glass is! She tries to swim out into the room with us constantly and of course crashes mantle first into the glass..

If you would like any info I have not provided to help figure age etc, let me know..

Bill
 
She will not take a rest! Like a kid with major ADD is the best way to describe it, she will keep climbing all over the glass and stop for 10 seconds then back at it with no particular purpose I can see..Very cool on textures and colors though!!

Going to try feeding her again, maybe shes just really hungry from the transport..

Bill
 
Well thats discouraging reading, but reality none the less..

On a side note, I do see that (possibly) He curls that third arm. It is still used to move etc but most definitely is kept curled. It appears to have sucker disks to the tiny end but thats hard to say for sure..any other true 'tells' of maleness?

I spent most of the day looking at your posts on Octane D, and he really seemed to be larger than our octo is. Maybe we are just hopeful...

If its a male his name will be DiNozo for several reasons..One being his huge nose (mantle) HeHe..

Bill
 
Well, I'm pretty sure male or female, the suckers will enlarge toward the center of the body. However read D's little guide on identifying the sex of an octopus.
 
Well todays update is not the best..he has found an old den in the rear and buried himself in it. Hasn't moved all day..I will try to coax him out this evening, hopefully just finally settling in but we will see..

Bill
 
D,

Is it possible that the Hummelincki's crave human contact? DaNozo made contact tonight and not just mildly...he wanted rubbed between the eyes and forward of that for about an hour or so!! I was more nervous than he was. We followed your procedure and have fed in one corner and established touch in an opposite corner. Its no wonder this octo was caught in the wild, he probably went up to the diver and rolled over and said pet me!!!

Its bad because i will become very attached very quickly at this rate, and I dont think he has terribly long to go...

He made absolutely no attempt to grab either my wife or I and was not very exploratory either. He just felt her finger one time and didnt try again. In the entire hour he just kept pushing his mantle to our fingers and hands asking for touch/petting...amazing

He is eating well and does so for our viewing pleasure..he will take a crab and eat it on the glass very cool to watch, just takes forever!!

He lost the tip of one arm working on some fresh clams we got him but he opened all four over the course of 3 days, no idea how but he did and cleaned them out entirely...

I did not get any pics but will try to get some next session probably on saturday when I have some time...

My observation, if you want octopus interaction, Hummelincki's are the way to go!!...

For those that don't know SWF.com only gets this species and they come from Haiti..

Bill
 
:wink:
Cool, yes? :biggrin2: I tend to think this "human attention craving" may come at a specific age but there is not enough data and there are some who don't do it. I so want a young one to observe through a full life time.

So far this is what I have noted:

If you have not experienced about a 2 week, no attention time after initial consentual contact, then don't freak out if this happens. I suspect they have something strange with their memory because I have seen this in three animals (one not hummelincki). When the no play time ends, nightly/daily interaction continues as if there was no interruption.

As they approach then end of their lives, the length of human play time slowly but consistently gets shorter.

I have not been successful in introducing much of a change to the playtime routine, at least not a long lasting new activity and would like to work with this next time.

I suspect the mantle (they also like petting on the underside) and between the eye "petting" may simply feel good. It may be that their skin gets "itchy" and the softness of a human finger feels better than the rough surfaces in nature (something on the nature of a cleaner shrimp - Mucktopus confirmed that she has seen at least one species accept cleaner grooming).

I suspect there is not a lot of feeling in the mantle (definitely not as sensative as the arms and suckers). This seems odd to me for survival but only the mercatoris seems concerned with protecting eyes and mantle.

I am envious. SueNami never really accepted me (I still think this is due to the exteme far sightedness) and has refused any food for over a week. Even without the interaction, his passing will be very difficult. You just get attached to these guys, regardless of their personality.
 

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