Got my octo!!

[ddarko66]

I finaly got my octo last Tuesday. It seemed to be a little smaller than expected. It's mantle is no more than 1/2''. I aclimated the little guy with the drip method and did not have a problem. He is starting to get used to his new home. He loves to play games! His fav. is hide and seek. He can play for days. He was eating feeder clams for the first few days but now shows little interest. I am now feeding ghost shrimp and trying to get him on frozen foods. I will post pics as soon as I can catch him out again.

Donnie Darko

 

[Nancy]

Well congratulations! Does your little octo have a name yet? It seems to be doing quite well.

Ghost shimp doen't have too much nutritional value, so thawed frozen shrimp would be good, or maybe small hermit crabs.

Yes, the little ones shipped out now are much smaller than the wild caught ones were. Maybe this will enable you to establish a good relationship very early.

Keep us posted!

Nancy

 

[ddarko66]

My new octo's name is Ripley. She has been doing a number on my hermit crab population sence the first day. I order small SW crabs in the next week. I have some red crabs but they are quite large and Ripley is not big enough yet. Her first night she grabed a Hernit crab. I sat there for hours watching her try to get the crab out of the shell. She's a pro now! I have been reading the book "The Octopus and the Orangutan". It is a great book dealing with the issue of animal intelligence, a must read for us animal nuts.

 

[Nancy]

Welcome to Ripley!

Octopuses have to learn at each step - sometimes you feel sorry for the little guys trying so hard. My little bimac had a terrible time with the small salt water shrimp. She came at them head first. When she was older, she had a number of sophisticated techniques for catching these small quick shrimp, including hanging upside down at the surface of the water at night! It worked!

Nancy

 

[cthulhu77]

One of the best books out there...a definite "must read"...glad your octo is doing well!