- Joined
- Nov 27, 2006
- Messages
- 1
Hi all! I currently volunteer at the National Aquarium taking care of a variety of animals, including my favorite, our Giant Pacific Octopus. He is currently 16 pounds, but the lady we had before him got all the way up to about 40 pounds. We do a ton of tactile stimulation-- letting him explore our hands, mantle rubs, hand-feeding-- for up to an hour or more each day.
I checked out the Octopus Bites forum, but unsurprisingly, there was nothing about GPO bites. We all just pull ourselves away from him once he sucks our hands up to maybe 6" away from his mouth and so far it hasn't been an issue. I was wondering, however, how serious a bite from such a big boy could be. Could I lose a finger or a chunk of my hand? Would he find it tasty and keep on biting? Does he have any kind of chemical that could be released that would make it more painful or harder to treat? Any knowledge would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you all!
I checked out the Octopus Bites forum, but unsurprisingly, there was nothing about GPO bites. We all just pull ourselves away from him once he sucks our hands up to maybe 6" away from his mouth and so far it hasn't been an issue. I was wondering, however, how serious a bite from such a big boy could be. Could I lose a finger or a chunk of my hand? Would he find it tasty and keep on biting? Does he have any kind of chemical that could be released that would make it more painful or harder to treat? Any knowledge would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you all!