getting bitten?

[rc]

of all the octo i have had in the past i have never actually let one crwl on me, i have allowed them to grab my finger and thats about it, ive always been worried of getting bit, i am planning on getting a bimac, do they inject any venom when they bit?
does it hurt?

 

[joel_ang]

I personally haven't and wouldn't want to try getting bitten. But from other peoples experience( not with bimacs), the venom can cause temporary paralysis and numbness around the affected area. Usually the bite is not felt or noticeable in the case of species like blue-rings. But I don't think anyone has been bitten by a bimac...yet.

 

[Nancy]

Yes, bimacs can bite you. The trick is to get them used to your hand when they're little, so if you get bitten, it's an insignificant bite. They don't bite out of anger, they are curious and think that a hand might be food.

Bimacs don't have a bad bite like some octopuses. It's more like a small wasp sting. Ollie never did bite me, but he did bite my husband when Ollie was little. He barely broke the skin. We figured out that he knew our fingers, but was not used to a whole hand. After that, we could touch him, pet him or whatever, and he never tried to bite.

Of course, there is always the chance that you might be allergic to the venom, like some people are allergic to bee stings, so that's something to consider.

Nancy