[Octopus]: ET - Octopus Hummelincki

ET eating. Hopefully I will have a cute video shortly but here is a still. I have noticed that O. hummelincki inks more often than any of the other octopus species I have kept but it has usually been at odd times as if there is a buildup that needs to be released. ET inks when he is frightened or taken by surprise so I have seen him ink about once a week, usually when the dogs are running amuck. This is the fine ink that can't be recovered with a net but the skimmer (followed by a water change) handles it pretty well. Fortunately, it is in small quantities.
ETEating_01.JPG


Here is the hand feeding video. Unfortunately, miss curious (Brie the PyreDoodle 6 mo puppy) was not much in the frame but you can see her nose popping up for a short time. ET is not too sure about the dogs and you can see color in his eyespot during the feeding. Brie has become somewhat curious about the thing that moves in the tank, none of our other dogs have given the octopus much thought but our Newfie would decide I was trapped when I cleaned the tank or was feeding and would insist on getting attention.

Excuse the replay of our Braves giving the Phillies an additional game up!
 
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O. hummelincki only seems to show colors on the eyespot when it is upset. Sometime you can't see it at all, sometimes it is just very pale. This has been true to varying extents on all of this species I have kept.
 
ET eating. Hopefully I will have a cute video shortly but here is a still. I have noticed that O. hummelincki inks more often than any of the other octopus species I have kept but it has usually been at odd times as if there is a buildup that needs to be released. ET inks when he is frightened or taken by surprise so I have seen him ink about once a week, usually when the dogs are running amuck. This is the fine ink that can't be recovered with a net but the skimmer (followed by a water change) handles it pretty well. Fortunately, it is in small quantities.
ETEating_01.JPG


Here is the hand feeding video. Unfortunately, miss curious (Brie the PyreDoodle 6 mo puppy) was not much in the frame but you can see her nose popping up for a short time. ET is not too sure about the dogs and you can see color in his eyespot during the feeding. Brie has become somewhat curious about the thing that moves in the tank, none of our other dogs have given the octopus much thought but our Newfie would decide I was trapped when I cleaned the tank or was feeding and would insist on getting attention.

Excuse the replay of our Braves giving the Phillies an additional game up!
What a fabulous pic! Love your lil' ET! And I'm adoring your videos. Thank you so much for sharing :*)
 
ET has been with me for 9.5 month. About a month ago he started showing signs of senescence through faded coloration, slower movements and sleeping longer hours. He continued to eat at about half his normal appetite until about 2 weeks ago and tonight he passed away. His senescence was less painful for me than some of the others I have kept and I suspect that the cooler water of the winter helped keep him more active and less seeming in distress. For the last month+ he has allowed/encouraged touching and stroking his mantle. He has also blocked the overflow in the tank frequently. Both behaviors I attribute to, "scratching an itch" as I have suspected for a long time that their skin becomes itchy as they go through their final days.
 
Et's Final measurements:
ml ~2"
al ~11"

Often it is difficult to tell exactly when an octopus has died because the suckers will stick to things and the chromatophores will continue to change color after the animal stops breathing. In Et's case, I knew his time was close because he did not move away from the bristle worms investigating his sucker pads. I place him in a floating fry container until he finally expired. The video was taken several hours after death, prompted by @Nancy 's inquiry about the photos I typically take to record final size. Viewing the video in full screen gives a better view of the chromatophores changing color.



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