CHEWY

[bluespotocto]

Well I have had my octo for a little while now and I decided to start a journal with him. I captured this guy about a month ago in Santa Barbara California. I am almost sure he is a Bimaculoides. His mantle is about 3 inches. He started to take thawed shrimp from my hand about two weeks ago. He will also play a rousing game of tug a war with my hand. Here are some pics of him. I need a little of advice here. I have left my self in a bit of a sticky mess. I am leaving for a week and I am all out of live food! I cant order any because it is a weekend. I leave tuesday and even if I do order some I wont get them in time. We are having a friend take care of him for us and I am not sure if he will take the shrimp out of some one else's hand.WHAT SHOULD I DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[DWhatley]

You can try start feeding him with a feeding stick. Your local grocery will have bamboo skewers (about a penny apiece in a bag) that work well for this if you do not already have an acrylic one (I actually prefer the bamboo and never use my acrylic). It is likely he will take the shrimp this way very quickly and is more likely to take it from someone else once he is used to it.

 

[cuttlechris]

I use the same exact method that D describes. As long as a tentacle touches the shrimp i'm sure it wil nibble at it or see what it is.

 

[bluespotocto]

I have seen that other people will feed there octos hermit crabs. Can I just go to a pet store and buy some even if they are fresh water? Well I think they are fresh water. Is it bad if I feed him a fresh water snail or some thing?

Thanks

 

[DWhatley]

You won't be able to leave freshwater anything in the tank during your absence. If it is freshwater, it won't live in saltwater and you will polute the tank. Additionally, the general recommendation is no freshwater food for saltwater critters but there are hedges (crayfish and some brackish creatures come close to the nutritional needs) for short term and snacks.

The only freshwater hermits I am aware of are land hermits and those will drown quickly.
Freshwater snails will die almost immediately, if not sooner, when placed in saltwater.

Mollies, goldfish and guppies will live for awhile in saltwater, HOWEVER, virtually all pet stores treat them on arrival with copper, and would likely be leathal to your octo.

Saltwater hermits are fine. They are an acceptable clean up crew as well as potential food. Some octos will eat them, some won't and some will eat them when they are young but not as adults (neither my mercatoris' nor my hummelinckis would eat hermits but GHolland's mercatoris would and we both raised them from hatchlings).

 

[L8 2 RISE]

I would suggest trying to get him to eat off of the bamboo stick, getting 20-30 hermits at a buck a piece and put them in the tank (the salt water kind...) and if he goes after them than at least you know he'll have some nourishment. Then, look around for Asian food markets or Asian grocery stores in your area. If you don't like the smell of fish, bring a gas mask , then explore the store, there are often hidden "surprises" there that may do - live this and live that - just look for live crustaceans, most likely crabs, but there might be shrimp... If this doesn't work, check your local petco's and petsmarts for fiddler crabs - which they sell as pets and may be under any name so make sure you know what they look like before you go - buy as many as you can find (6-7) which you'll probably end up paying 2-3 times as much for since they don't sell them as "food", just make sure you don't tell anyone at the store that they're for food, I had a friend buy one and tell the person who caught it for him that it was food for his mantis and they wouldn't let him buy it... . That's "all" I can think of right now...

HTH,
Sam

 

[L8 2 RISE]

oh yeah, for the fiddlers, just fill a bucket with some sand or something, put a few large rocks in, fill it with fresh water (so that it's about 1/2-1 inch deep above the sand and so that the rocks are out of water and then just "chuck" them in.

 

[DWhatley]

oh yeah, for the fiddlers, just fill a bucket with some sand or something, put a few large rocks in, fill it with fresh water (so that it's about 1/2-1 inch deep above the sand and so that the rocks are out of water and then just "chuck" them in.

Fresh SALTwater (half strength is OK). A loosely fitting cover (piece of plastic, cardboard, etc) is recommended if the sides are not high.

 

[sedna]

Thanks for starting a journal! You've already gotten all the suggestions I'd give. I always bring something nice for the neighbor lady when she watches over my zoo.

 

[L8 2 RISE]

Fresh SALTwater (half strength is OK). A loosely fitting cover (piece of plastic, cardboard, etc) is recommended if the sides are not high.

I may be wrong, but if I remember correctly, fiddlers are technically brackish water, but tend to be in fresh water. On top of this, you may remember my trip down to GA for the sea turtles. On the island, there were literally thousands of fiddlers in the fresh and occasionally brackish ponds, but barely any in the salt water ponds....

 

[DWhatley]

I think the salt is needed more for their general body condition (taste the freshwater ponds on an island, they are brackish, rarely actually fresh) and not for their gills. I believe they breath above the water, in the open air. Tap would need conditioning and prepared salt (I use full strength) would be better. As long as they can get to the surface (mine climb the overflow and cords) they seem to do well for weeks in a full reef system.

 

[bluespotocto]

Well I think I have solved my problem. Today I went to the beach. I live really close from the coast. I grabbed a bunch of mussels. I know he eats those so I think I should be fine if the person watching the octo cracks one open and puts in the tank ones a day. Then I will still order the fiddler crabs and the person will just pick them up at the post office and I will have the crab sanctuary ready for them. Any other suggestions would be great. Chewy is doing great also. Whats funny though is I think he likes music!? I came home and turned on some music and he came out right away. I turned it off then went back to his den. I have been doing that for the last couple of weeks and it seems to be working.

Thanks

 

[cuttlechris]

Cannot connect to MySQL server
Nancy showed me this link for pretty cheap fiddlers. Just lettin' you know.

 

[bluespotocto]

Ya I have seen that site. I think I am just going to start collecting some food for him to save some money, you know these guys are pretty expansive adding up all the things you need to get.

 

[Nancy]

Bluespotocto, you have to be careful about those mussels. The uneaten part must be removed promptly, because it can foul the water. Are they small mussels?

Nancy