4 Months for Gimpy

[corw314]

Somehow yet again, the date has passed by...I see behavior changes in Gimpy. She...and as you know I always refer to my octos as he's unless I have deffinate denning behavior...Well, seems Gimpy has taken up residence back in the front of the tank under a huge rock. She is pulling shells in, excavating sand out, and her behavior has changed from an outgoing always stalking her food source (me) to becoming very reclusive. She is still eating, but rarely leaves her new den. I've also noticed her feeding has slowed down. She was a verocious feeder, looking daily to now one crab and she's back in her den for at least 24 hours and then when she emerges, she rarely leave the front of her den.

 

[tjohnson]

You know what that means.... Is she wild caught?

 

[Armstrong]

Just out of curiosity, were in New jersey do you live? I might not be too far. But, only 4 months? If it's wild caught, that makes sense but that sounds too early. Perhaps you got it when it was already aged?

 

[squall7733]

Thats my worst fear as I'm starting to dig into octo's having it age TOO fast and only keeping it alive for 6 months.

I read on another topic that he was wild caught, unless thats someone else, so I'm guessing it must have already been a few months old when you got it.

I love that pic though, Gimpy really does look like a beautiful speciman.

 

[Feelers]

I rekon its kinda cool with their life spans being short. Its part of why they seem so alien (to me at least). Sad to hear about gimpy tho, are you prepared for hundreds of tiny gimpys?


And why does everyone seem to end up with female octos? What happens to a male during senescence? Just wondering..........

 

[cthulhu77]

Kind of odd...it turns out that almost 100 % of the octos we collected in Mexico last year were females...the male digueti obviously are either dead or rummaging around somewhere else.
Maybe the females are just more prone to hiding or staying in one place when being hunted?

 

[Feelers]

I thought that they were only more sedentary when they started senescence?
It would appear that they become sedentary after being fertalized, even though they are a long way off (4 months in this case) they egg laying stage.

 

[corw314]

Haven't seen her since I posted this. She has the front of the rock barricaded with shells. This is the last time I saw her. Not accepting food. Amazing how fast she changed from being such an outgoing friendly octopus to totally reclusive. And yes she was wildcaught so hopefully maybe I will have babies.

Armstrong, I think I do live near you and I'd invite you over but there's nothing to see now! Maybe the next one, or if these eggs are fertile.

 

[bobwonderbuns]

ok, stupid question here -- how long is the lifespan of an octo in captivity (residential aquarium) supposed to be?

 

[corw314]

They can live from a few months, if it's a mature dwarf up to over a year. Gimpy had to be I'd guess maybe 3-4 months old when I got her.

 

[bobwonderbuns]

was this your first octo? Are you planning to get any more?

 

[corw314]

This was my 6th I believe and I'm going to Pa today to pick between two they have in stock as I have a vacant tank in my livingroom!!!!

 

[bobwonderbuns]

right on!