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- Jul 13, 2008
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- 1,515
Sorry I've been too busy to keep up with this guy, what an awesome octo! Your relationship with him reminds me of Animal Mother and his briareus.
Somewhere between Kalypso and Penn 
Tonight he beckoned me and when I obeyed, he crawled to the top of the tank and partly over the top and proceeded to squirt at me. Fortunately, he does not fire very far. I thought maybe Neal had not fed him yet but he had already eaten. He let me pet him without being aggressive so I am not sure what the squirting was all about. When he first started to squirt at me, it was always when I would look over the top so I make a point of looking through the sides. This time, I was properly watching but he felt the need to climb out (half way and no effort to go further) and try to give me a bath.
Tonight he beckoned me and when I obeyed, he crawled to the top of the tank and partly over the top and proceeded to squirt at me. Fortunately, he does not fire very far. I thought maybe Neal had not fed him yet but he had already eaten. He let me pet him without being aggressive so I am not sure what the squirting was all about. When he first started to squirt at me, it was always when I would look over the top so I make a point of looking through the sides. This time, I was properly watching but he felt the need to climb out (half way and no effort to go further) and try to give me a bath.
Enrichment
Diego has been quite different from the warmer water animals we have kept. He is the first octopus to disassemble hardware (fortunately, the cap he keeps removing is for esthetics only and the Koralia just gets redirected (we cut off the other pump because of his interest and concern he would pull it out of the pipe and get an arm caught). I have never felt that additional entertainment was needed for any of the other octopuses but this one seems to need a challenge. There were a few legos in the toy box so I constructed a feeding puzzle:
The first offering (very loosly attached) was taken immediately. Last night I made the legos tighter and still did not have time to grab the camera so tonight, I firmly attached the pieces. He was pretty quick with getting the main treat block separated (removing the green one from the group) but then held on to the red and blue group until he had eaten everything from the red (three small pieces of shrimp). Then he separated the red and blue group and got his dessert
Diego has been quite different from the warmer water animals we have kept. He is the first octopus to disassemble hardware (fortunately, the cap he keeps removing is for esthetics only and the Koralia just gets redirected (we cut off the other pump because of his interest and concern he would pull it out of the pipe and get an arm caught). I have never felt that additional entertainment was needed for any of the other octopuses but this one seems to need a challenge. There were a few legos in the toy box so I constructed a feeding puzzle:
The first offering (very loosly attached) was taken immediately. Last night I made the legos tighter and still did not have time to grab the camera so tonight, I firmly attached the pieces. He was pretty quick with getting the main treat block separated (removing the green one from the group) but then held on to the red and blue group until he had eaten everything from the red (three small pieces of shrimp). Then he separated the red and blue group and got his dessert
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- Mar 23, 2011
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THAT IS TOO COOL. i wish i had a tank for a bimac. those guys are sweet.
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- Oct 1, 2009
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What a clever boy you have. I am interested in what you come up with. 
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2009
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Incredible video D!
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- May 30, 2009
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- 458
Very neat, too bad I never see these guys locally.
Side note, corals seem okay with the low temp, how are they doing?
Side note, corals seem okay with the low temp, how are they doing?
The corals are doing very well but they are all hardy softies. The sponge did not survive but I have tried a couple of barrel sponges over the years and this one lasted the longest but still did not make it. Even the gorgonian seems to be happy with the temperature and LED lighting. The leather is very old (I have had it at least 4 years and it was from a friends tank that had not had new things added in several years) and was not doing well in the large tank. It looks better than it has in a very long time. There is also a serpent star in the tank that does not seem to have had any issues with the temperature. All in all, a good experiment with 71 degrees (thermostat set at 70 but the tank stays at a consistent 71).
Diego's growth rate has definitely slowed and for now, the tank seems to be acceptable but I may still need to move him to the larger tank in the fall. He can still swim a little but the shape and rockwork give him lots of climbing opporutnity. We are experimenting with him allowing me to pull him around the tank - where he holds my finger and I move him from one side to the other. He is not quite sure if he likes this or not. He does not release my finger but will only release the rock of walls for a few seconds.
Diego's growth rate has definitely slowed and for now, the tank seems to be acceptable but I may still need to move him to the larger tank in the fall. He can still swim a little but the shape and rockwork give him lots of climbing opporutnity. We are experimenting with him allowing me to pull him around the tank - where he holds my finger and I move him from one side to the other. He is not quite sure if he likes this or not. He does not release my finger but will only release the rock of walls for a few seconds.
Probably the best video I have ever taken but I have to admit the subject was being very cooperative!. All three wanted to play for long periods tonight. That strikes me as odd and I wonder why. This includes the new little abdopus who should not be ready to interact.
but I have to admit the subject was being very cooperative!. All three wanted to play for long periods tonight. That strikes me as odd and I wonder why. This includes the new little abdopus who should not be ready to interact.Eye problem
About 10 days ago Diego started acting kind of shy and was not as active as normal. He would come to eat but not play and stayed in the dark most of the time. From his den peeking out I noticed he was not opening his right eye. A day or two later I notice the eye was staying flat while the left would be raised. He would open it just a little when he came to eat and I saw a white spot on the lens. The spot could have been/be some kind of parasite but with the eye stalk staying flat (possibly swollen) I decided to treat with Tetracycline. I have used it successfully on two infections in otherwise healthy octopuses, once with an eye infection and once with a swollen arm section. Without any real guidelines, I give it for 10 days with the thought that the animal infected is not the target and 10 days has been recommended to kill bacteria in humans. In the last two successful uses, evidence of recovery came at about day 5. With Diego I saw an improvement at day 3 and at day 6 his eye and behavior appear normal but I can still see a fading white spot on the eye. Unfortunately, I could not get a photo of the symptoms but you can see in yesterday's photo that both eye stalks are raised (the left may be just slightly fatter but I could not get a left side picture to compare and to the naked eye they look the same) and I think he will fully recover.
I don't think it had anything to do with the eye problem but also this week the flower anemone that was in the tank before Diego mysteriously released from the rock and was sitting on the sand. I never saw Diego touch the flower but it was directly over (without blocking) his den. I have seen two senescent O.hummelincki pull very insistently on mushrooms that blocked free access to passage and I am guessing Diego pulled up the flower. I was uncomfortable with the flower in the tank (low sting but I have seen reaction and don't mix them intentionally) so the flower was reacclimated to the nano temps and seems to have settled in.
About 10 days ago Diego started acting kind of shy and was not as active as normal. He would come to eat but not play and stayed in the dark most of the time. From his den peeking out I noticed he was not opening his right eye. A day or two later I notice the eye was staying flat while the left would be raised. He would open it just a little when he came to eat and I saw a white spot on the lens. The spot could have been/be some kind of parasite but with the eye stalk staying flat (possibly swollen) I decided to treat with Tetracycline. I have used it successfully on two infections in otherwise healthy octopuses, once with an eye infection and once with a swollen arm section. Without any real guidelines, I give it for 10 days with the thought that the animal infected is not the target and 10 days has been recommended to kill bacteria in humans. In the last two successful uses, evidence of recovery came at about day 5. With Diego I saw an improvement at day 3 and at day 6 his eye and behavior appear normal but I can still see a fading white spot on the eye. Unfortunately, I could not get a photo of the symptoms but you can see in yesterday's photo that both eye stalks are raised (the left may be just slightly fatter but I could not get a left side picture to compare and to the naked eye they look the same) and I think he will fully recover.
I don't think it had anything to do with the eye problem but also this week the flower anemone that was in the tank before Diego mysteriously released from the rock and was sitting on the sand. I never saw Diego touch the flower but it was directly over (without blocking) his den. I have seen two senescent O.hummelincki pull very insistently on mushrooms that blocked free access to passage and I am guessing Diego pulled up the flower. I was uncomfortable with the flower in the tank (low sting but I have seen reaction and don't mix them intentionally) so the flower was reacclimated to the nano temps and seems to have settled in.
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- Sep 25, 2006
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Thanks for the info. It's good to have options if our animals ever get an infection. How much Tetracycline did you add per day, and to what water volume?
Since this happened during the hottest time of the year, I wonder if water temp could be a factor. What's the water temp, and has it changed in recent months?
Since this happened during the hottest time of the year, I wonder if water temp could be a factor. What's the water temp, and has it changed in recent months?
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2009
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- 1,462
Fish antibiotics and human antibiotics are identical. Though be careful with tetracycline and all cycline meds as they go bad a lot faster that others and become toxic. Most antibiotics (with proper storage) can last 10-15 years (based on the study the government did when they started requiring expiration dates on meds).
My husband and I stock them up so we have some on hand in case of hurricanes and other disasters. During hurricane Ike we were with out power and all doctors office were closed for 3 weeks- could have been a bad time if someone had gotten sick. That could prevent us from being able to get to a doctor should one be needed.
If you buy the tetracycline as fish meds then on the side of the bottles it tells you how to apply it ie how many pills per gallon.
IMPORTANT- this is based on 250 mg pills.
Directions: Add contents of capsule to aquarium water at the rate of 1 per 10 gals. Repeat in 24 hours. Continue treatment for 5-10 days.
Here is one site that sells them. http://www.kvsupply.com/KVVet/produ...&Tree=,Fish Health&refcode=Froogle&URLCheck=1
My husband and I stock them up so we have some on hand in case of hurricanes and other disasters. During hurricane Ike we were with out power and all doctors office were closed for 3 weeks- could have been a bad time if someone had gotten sick. That could prevent us from being able to get to a doctor should one be needed.
If you buy the tetracycline as fish meds then on the side of the bottles it tells you how to apply it ie how many pills per gallon.
IMPORTANT- this is based on 250 mg pills.
Directions: Add contents of capsule to aquarium water at the rate of 1 per 10 gals. Repeat in 24 hours. Continue treatment for 5-10 days.
Here is one site that sells them. http://www.kvsupply.com/KVVet/produ...&Tree=,Fish Health&refcode=Froogle&URLCheck=1
