[Octopus]: Dax, O. briareus

sedna

Architeuthis
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This tank sat empty from the time Anya died in May until 2 1/2 weeks ago when Philip from KP Aquatics messaged me that he had another briareus for me. Over the summer, we made lots of updates to this tank as it is 21 years old! New live rock, corals and an awesome new Kessil light helped spruce it up- and helped me from the growing depression of an empty tank on top of all of the other 2020 bullshit!

Dax arrived the day after the election, which was a balm for all of us- an excellent distraction! A male, at least “middle aged” by the size of him. He’s definitely nocturnal, he comes out in the evening as the lights are ramping down in intensity from blue to red. This light has a “moon cycle,” which we set mostly because we can, but he was definitely out early during the new moon! 🤣

His name follows my current habit of choosing Star Trek characters. I immediately thought of “Dax” from DS9 when I saw the size of him-because Captain Sisko calls Dax “Old Man.” I don’t think he’s that old, but I do like name so I went with it!
 

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Those of you who know me understand that I am superstitious for the first two weeks of octopus acclamation. 🤣. I don’t go public with them until I am sure they are healthy, but I still take lots of pictures. Here are some more shots from the last couple of weeks of DAX after dark, and the tank in general.
 

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No new pictures, just a boring update that everything is normal (that’s the kind of boring I like!). Dax is s l o w l y becoming more interactive, but he does spend all day in a spot where he can watch the action in the living room. There are a couple of rocks that we’ve been arguing over placement, of course Dax is winning... 🤣.
Just so very thankful for TONMO.com and our amazing community today!
 
Rhapsody in blues... Dax has started coming out earlier in the evening as he’s settled in. He’s definitely getting more comfortable with the action in the living room, and is interested in what happens in the evening. We see a nightly cloud of sucker shedding around 5pm or so, then he comes out to hunt and play.

I don’t think he’s as old as I originally did, but I still can’t tell which arm has the tip missing- it looks like the third right arm sometimes, but then he shifts and I can’t tell... I’m hoping as he becomes more social I’ll get a better look at it.
 

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Dax is settling in nicely and becoming accustomed to the pattern of life at our house. He sleeps all day, but usually in a spot that gives him a perfect view of the room. As most all of the octopuses that have lived here have done, he comes out when we sit down to dinner. If we eat early, then he’s out early with us. After 12 years of living with this behavior, I’m confident that they understand something about- or are at least interested in- the social nature of dinner time.

He’s happy to stick feed and actually quite gentle about it- he’s more interested in the food than tug-o-war. He loves shrimp and crab, but WILL NOT take oysters at all. This is funny to us because we have a polypterus who refuses oysters too, but the other polypterus and puffers love them.

He also loves to hug his zoas. 🤣. It’s become a nightly ritual, just as he’s coming out to be social he does this big stretch by hugging this particular rock which is covered in zoas. I think he got a hermit crab there his first couple days in the tank. Regardless of his reasons, it’s just fun to watch!
 

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This is a silly entry, but covid dreams are catching up with me. I’m fully behind the stay at home measures, even though I’m currently unemployed. Being cooped up hasn’t seemed too bad because I just sit by my fish tanks all day.

But last night I dreamt that I really wanted to go out. I put Dax in a bucket so we could go to the park and wade in the river- which made complete sense in my dream...
 
Dax is very cute - maybe he should be called Dax the zoa hugger lol. At some point in the future I will build a system to home an octopus and it would be great to get a species that is interactive and not nocturnal, even a couple of hours of daylight play with an octopus would be fantastic.
 
Dax is very cute - maybe he should be called Dax the zoa hugger lol. At some point in the future I will build a system to home an octopus and it would be great to get a species that is interactive and not nocturnal, even a couple of hours of daylight play with an octopus would be fantastic.
I stopped keeping the super nocturnal ones this fall, because I just can’t stay up late enough to enjoy them!
 
Dax has started to come out around 4:30pm to see if anyone is in the room. If there is, he shows off on the glass to get you to play. If you ignore him, or he doesn’t notice anyone, he goes “back to bed” until he sees us sitting around the dinner table. I’d say he’s getting social!
 

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