Alice Update

[Eagleray]

Well, our little pygmy octo that we supposedly bought is not. Alice has grown bugger than Smedley was. Her tentacle span is about two feet long when she is totally spread out. Her personality is also growing. We did not see her for the first few weeks. She hid a lot and would only come out when the lights went off. Now, I don't think she sleeps. She is there when I get up in the morning, when I get home from work and still there when I go to bed. Her 85 gallon tank is almost ready. I know that she will be much happier, and I don't think it will stress her out too much to move. My husband and I have been figuring it out, how we are going to do it. We also have a new addition. His name is Butter and we aren't sure what type he is. He has the same mantle shape as alice, but his coloring is totally different. He is normally black with what look like white bands. He has recently started to change his colosrs more, but it seems that the normal color is black and white.
Our internet is still down so it is few and far between that I get to check posts and post updates. But just wanted to catch everyone up on what is happening in our tanks.
Happy New Year Everyone!
Tim and Beth

 

[Nancy]

Thanks so much for the update. I'm sure Alice will like her new tank!

And welcome to Butter - how did a black and white octo get that name?

Hope you'll be able to post some pics soon.

Nancy

 

[tonmo]

Thanks for updating us! Tell us more about your plan to move Alice to her new home... what precautions are you planning, and how do you plan to help her acclimate?

I guess Butter gets Alice's old digs?

 

[Eagleray]

Butter got his name because I used to call Smedley Smeddle Butters. I am pretty pathetic with all my animals, and they all have nicknames, so Butter just happened. His nickname has now become Butternut. I don't know why or how.
As far as moving Alice, we are going to use a gallon container with holes in it. We will put a shrimp in there and hope she goes into it. When she does, we will but the lid onto it and leave her there to get used to being in a small container. The LFS has big bags that we can use to fill with water and then put the container into it to move her to the other tank.
We may just use a bag though. We had to move Smedley and he had no problem. In fact, I just nudged him into the bag and he went right in. maybe Alice will cooperate.
Any suggestions on the best way to move her?

 

[corw314]

Did you acclimate Smedley when you moved him or just put him right in?

Just curious!

Carol

 

[Eagleray]

When we moved him, we revoved most of the rock in the tank and then I just nudged him into a large bag that I got from the LFS. he went right in, but Alice is MUCH bigger and isn't as docile as Smedley was. She's not mean or anything, but... Who knows how she'll do. After we moved Smedley, we left him in the bag and aclimated him the same way we did when we first brought him home. we will do that with Alice too. The move is happening in another week, so I will keep you posted.
Tim and Beth

 

[Colin]

sounds good so far.. nice and easy

 

[Burstsovenergy24]

How exactly do you do drip acclimation?

:?

 

[corw314]

I use a piece of airline tubing with a knot tyed in the middle to control the flow, put the creature, either still in it's bag or in a bucket and start a syphon, till the waters replaced at least 2 times what he was in. Slower the drip the slower the acclimation!

Then I pour out most of the water in the sink and release in the tank! Has worked for me!!

Carol

 

[Burstsovenergy24]

Thanks!