[Octopus]: Brainiac II - Callistoctopus aspilosomatis

We have noted a lot of octos that seem (totally NOT scientific and possibly anthropomorphic as well) to be fascinated (I'll hesitate on sayin enjoy) the colors/movement of TV and computer screens. The only note I have seen in the professional literature suggest that they cannot identify food unless the definition is in HD but the moving lights may actually attract them so I would do away with your curtain and watch to see if curiosity brings him out. I don't remember, did you for sure see the curled third right arm of a male?
 
Well I saw him last night, which was awesome. He was out and about, and keenly watching me, but too afraid(I think) to actually come over and do anything.

I've included a photo to show my TV across from my tank...my fear is that even with my brightness on my TV turned down to 0, that it is still to bright for the octopus...it still lights up my room decently without needing a light. What I had started doing was putting a curtain only over the front and left side, so it would not see the TV but would see me and whoever sitting on the couches. I think this may have been working at the start, but it has become harder with me being away for work so much.

I think I will just have to keep at it, and hope he becomes more social.

I am happy to report though that he seems fine living of frozen table shrimp, so I haven't had to worry about catching live foods, although I am going to get some feeder crabs that I can use as an incentive for him to come out. Planning to put one in a prescription pill bottle with the childproof twist lid and see if he can open it :smile:
 

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I suggest trying something much less difficult to open. O. vulgaris and O bimaculoides have the brute strength (especially vulgaris) but I would expect this one to give up easily. If you can find a clear plastic "easter egg" type container (like the prizes in the machines with a crane) and add slits to give the crab water, it has been used by a few people with success. Otherwise, starting with a simple screw on lid that is just barely screwed on has seen a lot of success.
 
Well a big change the last few days, I think I've found the answer.

First and foremost...I have to be home. He seems to recognize me, but is never "happy to see me", i.e. doesn't come out or show himself after I have been away for a while. After a few days of being home though, he will seem to come out and when he does, is pretty active after say 11PM or 12.

I've been testing how much light I can expose him to, and I am happy to report he doesn't seem to mind the brightness of my TV. I had it on the other night playing a game and forgot to turn the brightness down, and it didn't seem to affect him. Pupils were narrow, but he didn't seem to mind.

He hasn't shown any interest in interacting yet with my hand, but certainly watches me pretty keenly. He seems interested in me and will always come over but inch back before he gets to close then inch forward again.

What I am pretty happy about, is that he seems to have made my brooklyn bridge tank decoration his home. Also added a picture showing his tentacles clearly, verifying he is male.
 

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:thumbsup: on all accounts :biggrin2: I definitely prefer males to females because of longevity of active time and I think they are somewhat more interactive. One may be because of the other though and not really a sex difference. I have mentioned that taking time with them makes a lot of difference (but a lot also depends on the animal). You might try hand feeding for a week to see if his curiosity increases.
 
So, no luck with hand feeding but bonding is hopefully an ongoing process.

He still seems very curious about me, and increasingly less shy, but still to shy to make physical contact.

His main hours of activity seem to be, with some consistency, between 3am and 7am.

I am looking to buy some live food for it. I just bought some live brine shrimp that I am going to keep in my main tank, isolated in a special net thing for raising newborn fish.

I am thinking of fiddler/feeder crabs, but am concerned they are too big or that they pose a threat with their claws. Still looking into it.

I have bought some corals, which is the next stage for my tank. Being that my octo is nocturnal, this should work out fine...hoping he wont tear them up but the ones I bought were all cheap and can afford to be lost if it doesn't work out.

Corals I purchased, that all appear safe from what I was reading:
  • Umbrella Leather
  • Tonga Super Green Mushroom
  • Ricordea Yuma
  • Green Frilly Mushroom
I added some videos of him being active to my gallery as well.

[video]3233[/video]

[video]3234[/video]

edit: So it seems video tags are not yet implemented. Not sure how to embed the videos from my gallery in a forum post.
 
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LOL, it initially looks like he is climbing on your lamp :biggrin2:


I am not sure how to share these directly from the gallery. I viewed them on YouTube and then used the share link to get them to show up on the post.
 
Well, last night was interesting.

Brainiac was out relatively early for him around 1:30AM, and was not too shy. My girlfriend was there as well and so hopefully he is starting to recognize her also.

What was interesting, was an encounter between Brainiac and my spider decorator crab. They both went for a peice of shrimp at the same time...the crab seemed to freeze, and the octopus had its tentacles all over the crab. I was worried a bit worried, but I think the crab was paralyzed with fear and just stopped moving. He didn't move for quite some time after that encounter, and then went back to normal.

The Octopus shows no fear at all regarding the crab, so I think it is completely safe....I have come attached to this crab over the last 2 years and don't want to see it torn apart, but that is probably the inevitable conclusion.
 
Is it definitely able to eat the crab? Does the crab post any threat?

I have a lot of trouble gauging since the crab isn't big but it's legs make it look big, same as the octopus. The seem similar in size when accounting for their difference. I don't think his pincers are that big and he isn't fast.

Is it possible the octopus didn't want to risk it and was happy to just settle for the shrimp and not fight?
 
The concern would be for the crab, not the octo (pincher size, not body size), octos can take on most crabs their own size. They do lose arms but are not a likely meal (assuming healthy, senescent animals are food for everyone). When the octo put its ARMS (no tentacles on an octo, two on cuttlefish and squid and 90 - or so - on nautilus) on the crab, it was likely tasting it in consideration for a meal. Why it was rejected is anyone's guess and does not mean that next time the outcome will be different. Different octopuses have different favorites. There is some evidence that their first exposed foods (potentially even when still in the egg) become their favorite but observations are limited and the experiment did not rule out other foods, just suggested preferred. I don't know if this particular crab is found in the same waters as this octopus so it may be unfamiliar where the shrimp have become well known as food items.
 

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