[Octopus]: Itza - Octopus maya

[Dana Ritterbusch]

Glad to hear it!

 

[Nancy]

Haven’t heard from you for a month. How is Itza? OK, I hope.

Nancy

 

[Maggie]

Every now and then my 11 year old daughter asks about Itza as well

 

[Carmen22]

Hi everyone, thank you so much for asking Itza is great and I have 2 new octopuses of different ages now, we are trying to figure out the best age to sell them; I am also getting 2 new octopuses this week to see if they can live together, (since all of this research is part of a project to make having an octopus as a pet a possibility not just eat them) I am making a guide and I have to cover all possibilities, I am quite scared of putting two octopuses in the same tank, but they’re all together in the farm, do you know if this is possible in a fish tank?

 

[DWhatley]

PLEASE DO update on how the housing of two together works out. Soooo jealous of your opportunity!

We have raised 3 species on TONMO. The most difficult has been O. briareus and they are definitely cannibalistic and cannot be house together after about 1 month (possible less). O. mercatoris (dwarf, Caribbean) has done well with multiple siblings even in a relatively small tank. O. bimaculoides also seems to be able to be raised in small numbers together in a large tank but I only know of one instance where this was successfully tried. All successes have been with siblings but size and time of introduction may be more important than relationship. O. vulgaris has also been kept in very large tanks together with varying results of predation. Any attempts we have seen of even keeping different species in a common tank but separated have resulted in aggression and death.

What is the possibility of selling the pelletized food you are using? Is it also being fed as the only food to adults on the farm?

 

[Carmen22]

Also I have a lot of pink worms like this (picture) in a new live rock, are they dangerous to my octopus?

 

[DWhatley]

I don't think it is possible to avoid bristle worms, especially with Caribbean live rock. They are often considered cleanup crew but are also considered an unavoidable nuscience. They are not typically a problem for healthy animals but there concern for young and senescent octos. They will detect the deteriorating flesh of dying animals and start "cleaning up". I move my senescent octos to a suspended breeder net to live out their last days when I see the worms beginning to settle on the animal.

A word of caution, do not remove/touch them with your bare hands as those hairs (bristles) will embed in your fingers and can be painful until they finally make their way out of your skin (voice of tank cleaning experiences )