Hindenburg- O. Mercatoris

went to the fish market again..got fresh squid and mussels. offered her squid on a stick..she didnt even move. put the mussel next to her den..hopefully she'll eat it. you think she might be scared of my feeding stick? i fed some squid to all three of my meat eating crabs and they seem to adore it. they said they wont get crayfish for another month, guna grab cyclopeeze first thing in the morning from lfs..they were closed today ><

i forgot, i saw her pushing a crab this morning but he pinched at her and she retreated back into her den, i cut off his claws and offered him to her but she wouldnt take it. I'm thinking she just wanted him away from her den
 
What you ar seeing is typical of a brooding female but I am still not comfortable with the look of the mantle and if she may have already laid her eggs. Unfortunately, I only have a little observation experience and am making guesses that could be off base. I have seen my females mantles grow over a period of a week (or less) and then brood in a den but how the look while they brood and how to tell if there are still eggs (or even if they can be egg bound - something I am wondering about with KaySoh and possibly Beldar) is still well beyond anything I can confidently identify.
 
the mussel was still alive last night, so i left him in..he was gone this morning...I dont even see the shell..I'm assuming its in her den...think she finally ate something =]..on another note she has once against switched to the pvc..is it normal for them to keep trading homes?
 
It is common with males or females not being comfortable with a brood chamber. The mussel may be being used as a door somewhere (with or without the innards)
 
well i found the mussel it apears to have just recovered its strength and sank to the bottom..i think alive. it was in her plastic tank den in her marble pile apparently it was a nice treasure. She has however not come out since she moved from the tank back to the pvc pipe...at what point should I move the shell in front of the pipe to make sure she is alive?

I've learned a good bit from this little octo..going to have to re arrange my big tank before i find an octo for it
 
I would check the mussel immediately and daily. I have had very good luck with clams living a very long time but not mussels. When they do die they get pretty nasty and the clean-up crew does not alway remove the gunk.
 
dont know if this helps you now, but when the water warms up a bit in a few weeks, i will be making regular trips to the coast to catch shore shrimp and crabs for my cuttle fish and bringing them back here to SA i am sure i can bring extra for you if needed.
 
hobogato;150786 said:
dont know if this helps you now, but when the water warms up a bit in a few weeks, i will be making regular trips to the coast to catch shore shrimp and crabs for my cuttle fish and bringing them back here to SA i am sure i can bring extra for you if needed.

thanks for the offer, but it would seem Hindenburg is on her way out and I've decided to transfer Universities to A&M Corpus Christi so I shouldn't have a live food problem as I wont be getting any more critters after Hindenburg till I've relocated. I've decided to take Marine bio as a second major as opposed to the normal bio track I was currently on.
 
Hindenburg hasn't emerged from the pvc in a few days. I can see that she is alive she moves around some..but isn't coming out unless shes just ridiculously sneaky. I do think there might be a crab missing..but im not going to be hopeful about it.

funny story I had no idea Fiddlers like to escape..I had them in my feeder tank which doesn't seal tight around the filters in the back..i found a fiddler in my kitchen this morning >>
 
Somewhere we have an old thread recounting fiddler escapes but I could not find it. I usually recommend a tall bucket but the more important thing is to keep their climbing rock to the center of the containing tank. I keep mine in small 2.5 gallon tanks and don't have much problem with it but the tank has about 1.5 of water over sand and a center climbing rock that does not touch the sides. Prior to coming up with this set up, we would find them as far as 30 feet away.
 
lol mine got way over 30...i have a big house and he crossed most of it...i'd guess maybe 70?

fiddlers live fine under water right? at least for a few weeks..I dont have a rock where they can climb out of the water
 
Fiddlers breath air (not through gills) and should have access to dry land. Their shells need water and they are a brackish water animal that survive in a variety of enviornments. That being said they seem to be able to survive for long periods underwater in full marine tanks so they may be able to extract or retain O2 in other ways. If what I read is correct - a saw a lot that was not when I went looking (like someone saying that they do not shed) - they go to deep water to lay their eggs. We have seen them kept in all kinds of set-ups that work for as long as the animals are needed as a food source. My set up is shallow sand covered by 1.5 inches of water with a non-live volcanic donut (more or less) shaped rock in the center (that gives them more surface to climb on then a solid rock). I flush the sand with freshwater with each new batch to clean it and then again with saltwater to remove chlorine then add the saltwater for the month. If I lose one and don't get it out before it smells, I will repeat the cleaning process and if the water gets low, I top off with a little fresh but otherwise, I don't do no maintenance on the tank until I get a new batch (roughly monthly). I order anywhere from 20 to 40 at at time (depending on the current occupants of my octo tanks) and split them between two of these small tanks. Lately, I have been feeding them a small section of dried seaweed (that I keep for my cowries) and that seems to work well and is less poluting than dried food.
 
i taped up the holes earlier in the tank...but just found another fiddler in my kitchen lol. It almost had to have gotten out before the tape was there..i just cant figure out how else it would get out. I just fed the crabs in Hindenburgs tank..only one came out to eat..that leaves two fiddlers and one crab(im not sure what kind) missing..maybe she really is eating.
 

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