Introducing Sleipner

I've tried krill a couple times. He'll explore it a bit with his suckers but will eventually try to blow it away. That's a clear sign he's not interested so I withdraw then--hopefully that builds trust, too.

Now that I stop and think about this I'm amazed at the interaction I'm having with him, even if he is a recluse! My clownfish don't tell me when they're not hungry--on the other hand they always are hungry!
 
Dan,
I am also worried about Trapper not eating. He moves his cave about every 4-5 days and I hold my breath until I find him again (the good thing is this behavior does lean toward Briareus). I have tried thawed shrimp on a feeding stick which brings the live, grass shrimp and blue legs right to his door but I have seen no remains (possibly because of the clean up crew in the tank - I hope). The two mithrax and fiddler I put in there are still roaming around (one guppy may have disappeared) and I am not sure how many amphipods the tank has produced naturally (I have not added any but my live rock was very ocean fresh). We don't have the neat vision set up you do so I don't know how often he leaves his cubby.

You mentioned not seeing ingested food ... uhh what should I look for?

Thanks,
 
My tank is at 68 and Spike is eating daily, 1" to 2" locally caught crabs. Here's a thought...I have always kept my light on 24/7. Maybe he is roaming when it's dark. Sounds like all his behaviors are normal along with the coloration compared to Spike....and if you have a ton of little food in there, he may very well be out terrorizing the tank, eating his fill, when the lights go out.

And ingested food, or octopus waste looks like long stringy, mucously stuff....

Keeping fingers crossed for both of you.
 
I found what I believe to be some poops today--I'm used to the red ones, but these were little flesh colored blobs with little stringy bits attached, about the same size. I think he ate a big snail last night, but I'm not sure (sometimes he'll integrate a live snail into his den wall!)

Dan
 
Brock,

You might try to limit Blinky's feedings to one a day. Although they can't overeat per se, too much food can shorten their lifespan. That's likely to be one reason Cuttlegirl's cuttles outlived mine by two months.
 
As for the frequency of eating at colder temps... I can say Einy's appetite was stunted when I moved him into his own tank. The tank he was in at first stayed between 72-75 and he ate as often as I would give him food. The tank he is in now stays around 65. He doesn't eat nearly as much as he did before, and I haven't seen him out of his shell since I moved him. I added 3 fiddlers at the same time a few nights ago, and as soon as one stepped in front of his shell, he pulled it inside. A few hours later I checked, and another one had been ripped apart several inches away from his den, so obviously he is coming out, just not when I'm around. The third fiddler is still running around in his tank.
 
You might try introducing some thawed frozen shrimp, not as a substitute for fiddlers, but as an alternative for some meals.

It's good to have some variety in food, but also, if your fiddler shipment is late, you'll have another type of food your octo will accept.

Nancy
 
Well, I've had an interesting afternoon with Sleipy.

First, I decided to become aggressive with a fiddler. Not only did I dangle it in front of his den, but I pretty much forced it inside with my finger and wouldn't let it leave. Sleipner didn't seem to care. At one point the fiddler even wedged himself between the octopus and the side of the pipe. I've noticed Sleipner has a couple white spots on him similar to the ones that would appear on my cuttles from time to time. Perhaps they're damaged iridiphores from a crab pinch? Its consistent with why he doesn't like to go after crabs, and why he's a little sheepish even when he has.

I was worried that this might stress him out a little bit, but after the ordeal ended Sleipner came back to the front of the den to peer out again. I let him relax about a half hour or so while I thawed some krill.

I worked the krill against his medial suckers using the feeding stick, and decided to stick with it (har har) even after he tried to blow it away. Sometimes he gives an ambiguous response: he will move his body so the piece of shrimp is pressed against him near his mouth: you could argue he's trying to push it out of his den or trying to engulf it but is thrown off by the stick. Sometimes while doing this he will leave his den almost completely.

I tried using my fingers instead of the stick and had a little bit better luck. He took a piece of krill, reoriented it a few times and nibbled on it for a couple minutes before spitting it out. You could see that the face and eyes had been sliced up by his beak. If he had been chewing on the more tasty end of the shrimp perhaps he would have kept it? I'll try again tomorrow. This entire action didn't seem to phase him at all either--he did nothing to slink far back into his den, blow water, turn white or ink. It was almost like playing.

After he rejected the shrimp I tried giving him a snail by hand, but that was the point he pulled an empty shell in the front of the den to say "enough." I think he does trust me to some extent because the shell isn't very big and doesn't really offer any cover; whereas he could easily grab a couple big shells and block most of it off.
 
Have you tried removing the claws of the fiddler and then offering it? It does sometimes take some convincing to get a cephalopod to try dead food, but it sounds like you may be making progress. Good luck!
 
I've been trying with the females, but I suppose their little claws can hurt just as bad as the big fiddle.

I'm also bringing the temperature up to 70 for a day or two to see how he responds to that.
 
Tonight I have a hypothesis for why Sleipner hasn't been eating like he should. Its a bit radical so I won't share until tomorrow when I can examine some of his poops under a lens--that will make or break my idea.

In the meantime, a question for the other octo owners: is it common for your octos to sit with some or many arms in their mantle cavity when resting in the den?

Dan
 
Dan,

Unfair tease, if your theory does not pan out are you going to at least explain your thought?

I haven't really seen all of Trapper (vulgaris/breareus?) since I installed him/her in the tank but what I can see is almost always the underside with arms curled upwards. Unfortunately, I cannot see where the tip of the arm is being placed.
 

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