[Octopus]: Brainiac II - Callistoctopus aspilosomatis

Thanks D :smile:

I bought some crabs online but it will be a while until they are sent out to me due to a stock issue.

I've contacted Kevin and will see what he says. I put some clans in the tank which seem to be feeding everybody nicely.
 
I'm hoping for a shipment this week from Kevin but the temperatures here are not healthy for shipping anything live (potential record low for Atlanta on Thurs - a bit warmer where I am). I hope he ships anyway as I am almost out of crabs for Jabba (last surviving cuttlefish) and if they don't survive the temps, they should still be viable as food and can be frozen. I don't think he is collecting this week (and possibly next week) because of the cold. He planned to go out for shrimp late last week and promised to get me whatever he could find. I really had not expected Jabba to still be alive at this point so I let my stock get low. I have a couple of crabs as clean-up in my shrimp tank and a few shrimp so he should not starve.

I picked up half a dozen new clams last week when I went out for crab claws. The two I put in Jabba's tank (the warmest of all my tanks) did not survive but the other four are doing fine since there are no predators to bother them.
 
OK, Thanks D. Same as you I have enough small crabs and snails in the tank that Brainiac won't starve, but I want to find an alternate food source for him so I can have a CUC.

Just have to continue experimenting in what works best.
 
I am concerned that my octo has no apparent den. I have a claypot which I made a doorway in (sanded to make sure it isn't sharp), but it isn't being used for anything. I have a decorative bridge which could be used, but remains empty. My rocks are in such a formation that, as far as I know, there is no obvious den. I can't see any shells or..anything that has been arranged to indicated a door. When I see it retreat, it seems to go under a certain rock..is it possible it is just hiding under a rock all day and is not using a den?
 
LOL, that IS his den. More than one keeper has been frustrated by their octopus ignoring cleverly sculpted dens and choosing some other humanly unaesthetic hidey hole. Using or creating a door is generally more frequent when they are nervous withe their surroundings or brooding. Rearranging rocks is another favorite of some animals but I have only seen major rock shifting when a female is securing a brood den. Others have seen males do it though and sometimes more than once either out of boredom, growing or some other unknown reasoning. The one thing I THINK I get is that most (my female mercs have been an exception) want a dark place where you can't see them.
 
Ahh, well that' s just dandy. I don't mind that he isn't using my pot, I was just worried he didn't have a proper den because I thought a more enclosed space was needed. I definitely can't see it during the day, so I think it is doing fine. Thanks D :smile:
 
In the wild, it's pretty common (if not universal?) for members of Callistoctopus to bury in the sand/rubble rather than entering into a solid den. Give a pile of pebbles and some sand and it go into the corner and pile a bunch of sand/rubble over itself each morning, and come out all night.
 
In the wild, it's pretty common (if not universal?) for members of Callistoctopus to bury in the sand/rubble rather than entering into a solid den. Give a pile of pebbles and some sand and it go into the corner and pile a bunch of sand/rubble over itself each morning, and come out all night.

That makes sense and matches with what I've been able to see..so that's one less worry.

I am concerned that I've had him for almost 2 months now, and he tends to spend most of his time climbing along the glass and not doing anything within the tank itself. I know they all have different personalities and such, I just hope it's not a sign of something negative.
 
That type of activity is not uncommon for octopuses in aquaria. Is it a male? As it's facing away from you, check the arms on the right side. If the third one back is much shorter than the opposite arm (i.e. the third left arm) then it's probably a male. Males sometimes pace a lot, and this might be related to aging, and/or mate searching behavior. In the wild a full grown C aspolosomatis could wander for easily 50 ++ meters a night during its foraging bouts, so it's not a surprise if they seem not to settle into a tank.
 
That type of activity is not uncommon for octopuses in aquaria. Is it a male? As it's facing away from you, check the arms on the right side. If the third one back is much shorter than the opposite arm (i.e. the third left arm) then it's probably a male. Males sometimes pace a lot, and this might be related to aging, and/or mate searching behavior. In the wild a full grown C aspolosomatis could wander for easily 50 ++ meters a night during its foraging bouts, so it's not a surprise if they seem not to settle into a tank.

Thanks Muctopus, that is interesting. It does appear to be male and that would certainly explain its behaviour.
 
Just a minor update...but I actually have little to report.

Octopus is still seemingly healthy and wanders across my tank walls at night..., but he hasn't expressed any desire to interact. He is no longer afraid of me but I haven't gotten him to interact while feeding..he just takes the food and goes somewhere to eat it. Often he will hang at the top of a tank wall and watch me while eating.

I've had tot ravel for work so haven't had as much time to try and get him to interact also. I'm hoping he will become more interactive when I can devote more time to him.
 
What can I do to make Brainiac a bit more social/less shy?

I've had him almost 4 months now...and about a few weeks after he was introduced, he started being very active,crawling across the tank glass every night. I was then away for a month for work, except for weekends, and only saw him briefly, normally just enough to ensure he was alive, so wasn't there interacting with him during this time.

I've been home the last few weeks and have barely seen him, and he doesn't even come out for food now, although I will rarely glimpse him.

Is there anything I can try to make him less shy, or to check for any issues that may be making him stay in his den 24/7 ?
 
Always double check your water quality when you notice a change (I usually do a large water change even though the few numbers we can easily check are well within limits). Pay special attention to the salinity, I don't know why but lower salinity seems to have an effect on some personalities. There does seem to be a critical point when more attention (or less for the opposite effect) is key to higher interaction but this may be more what I think is happening than any actual differences. With this species, it may be that he is active only at 3:00 AM and your absence has reinforced this more natural behavior. We really have not figured out these animals well so it is a guessing game. Is he eating food you offer by stick/hand?
 
He was eating it when I offered it on a long bamboo stick, but wouldn't interact at all. I dropped in some shrimp peices about a week ago and it rushed out to eat it. Since then it hadn't been seen except ever so briefly, even at feeding time.

My salinity got a little bit too high for a few days due to a problem with my ATO, but that has been fixed and salinity has been a steady 1.025/1.026.

It was observing me for a while so hopefully it will start coming out more.

One thing that doesn't help is that I have a wall mounted TV opposite the tank. I can't really help this due to space constraints, and to make sure the TV light is not shining bright into the tank, I have a curtain I place around the tank. This has the result of the octopus not being able to see me when I'm sitting in my living room, which probably doesn't help things. I tend to have my lights off and a curtain only covering the front of the tank..some gets in the side but not much, but maybe too much...without the red light on it seems pretty dark though, dark enough hat I can't make anything out.
 

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