[Cuttlefish Eggs]: Jabba, Jool, Ziro, Zorba - S. Bandensis

Lost one of the cuttles today (9 months old). I am not sure why. They have been hard to feed for the last month. Their aim seems fine but they don't seem to be able to hold food (alive or dead) in their tentacles. They can scoop up food with their arms though and I have been hand feeding them. This week they have eaten less and tonight did not take any food from my fingers. I am not 100% sure which one died but it may have been the little female (carcass was larger but may be due to water absorption).
 
Oddly, their tentacles appear normal but they can't hold anything with them. Their arms seem to work fine and they are still eating but have to catch their food using their arms. Very sad (and surprised) to lose the little female first as she had the most personality. She is the one that would "attack" my fingers instead of the food and hold on but never nipped. I am a little worried the males may fight now that she is gone.
 
I see a lot of male coloration when I put my hand in the tank but have only notice one mark of aggression so far. Keeping them eating is a challenge. I have ordered more live crabs since they are able to take those down with their arms and beaks but they are all but refusing the frozen shrimp I have (both small mysis and small table shrimp) and can't catch the live shore shrimp. The tentacles fire and are on the mark but don't catch anything.
 
I lost one of the males about a week after the female died. Jabba and one other male are still alive. I initially tried shore shrimp but they can't seem to make their tentacles work to catch them and most ended up in the filter sock. Jabba is still very accurate with his arms but the other male has trouble seeing the food and will not take food (dead or alive) from my hand. I have been leaving a couple of live crabs in the tank after Jabba eats. They are sometimes gone and sometimes still wandering the tank in the morning so I am not sure if the smaller male is eating at all.
 
Jabba is now the only remaining cuttlefish. It appears they have died off by size, the female being the smallest and first to die, Jabba being the largest and still hanging in there. I am quite sure this is not related to food supply as I have been careful to be sure each has eaten the same quantity every day. Additionally, their relative sizes have remained the same throughout their lifetime.
 
Jabba is approaching his one year birthday. I don't think he will make make the 23rd but he has way outlived his (supposed) siblings. He does not see well and I have been hand feeding him freshly killed shore shrimp for the last few weeks (he could catch his own small crabs up until recently). His front arms keep showing damage the seems to heal and the become damaged again. I am not sure if the healing process has actually taken place or if I am looking a different angles. Initially I suspected that even the smallest of crabs were able to pinch him before they died but now I suspect he is rubbing them on the glass to cause the damage.

Tonight he came out while we were eating (he is mostly nocturnal now) and watched us (I usually feed him before supper but had not yet offered food). I suspected he was hungry but when I went to feed him he was barely moving and did not come for the shrimp. He let me put my hand under him and "tickle" his belly. When I moved my hand he came back to it, this time head first and held on with his arms and ... BIT ME :biggrin2:

He then went to the glass with his arms splayed and I was able to poke a shrimp between his arms and the glass. I believe he ate it but he seems very very weak so I was surprised that he was swimming again early this AM. I know his time is limited but he just keeps on ticking.
 
I've never had skin broken but have had nips from two species of octopus and now the cuttle, all animals that have nipped have been in senescence. I have never had a healthy animal bite (famous last words :biggrin2:)
 
Birthday! Much to my amazement and delight, Jabba has reached his birthday. He continues to eat a freshly killed/fatally damaged shore shrimp most days (sometimes two if they are small). I put frozen mysis in the tank daily for the serpents and am not sure if he eats those as well but he does not eat more than two small or one large shore shrimp. There are still two very small live crabs in the tank that he seems to ignore.

His arms continue to show damage and I see him up against the glass so I don't know if he is rubbing them raw (as seen in older reports but he does not seem to bang into the glass). I have wondered if he is chewing on his arms and yesterday I noticed a 1" section floating in the water column. I suspect he bit this off himself. His tentacles are still in tact and he uses them "catch" his supper. Often he will miss and if he hits my fingers will only try one more time before giving up. I have found that if I keep my fingers out of the water it helps him to locate the shrimp better. Live shrimp are too fast for him but he can one that falls from my fingers and catch them, usually after 2 tries. His color is (damaged arms excepted) still pretty good.
 
Happy birthday Jabba! I got a S.bandensis fix yesterday. I was taking my students on a field trip to the zoo and they had bandensis in an aquarium across from their GPO (who came out for me and danced across the glass). Their cuttles were about 1.5 inches, cute and interactive.
 
I bought a stick on kit for my niece's phone (they really are not that expensive) but I don't know that she ever used it. Cool idea but, my camera takes far better images than my phone and I can use a tripod to compensate for my not so steady hand.

@cuttlegirl, when Jabba dies, do you want me to freeze him and send in dry ice?
 

Shop Amazon

Shop Amazon
Shop Amazon; support TONMO!
Shop Amazon
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Back
Top