[Octopus]: KaySoh - O. briareus

DWhatley

Kraken
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Location
Cape Coral, FL
Acclimation time: 3 hours
Arrival packaging
PH: < 7
Nitrite: < .05
Nitrate: 10 ppm
Specific Gravity: 1.021

With the low PH I took 3 full hour to acclimate her (I think) using a turkey baster as a water adding measure and keeping an air stone in the acclimation chamber.

I wrote Tom before SueNami died and asked to be put on any list (or start one) for the next baby briareus. He replied that babies were not likely until spring but for me to watch the website as he expected some in the coming week or two. GHolland caught the availabilty announcement and I contacted Tom after SunNami's death. He had a small one available and I put my name on it :cool2:.

I also had him send me as many live bait shrimp as would fit in the package without increasing the shipping. I knew there was a chance some or all of the shrimp would not make the trip but that they would likely be OK to freeze. Tom could only get 6 shrimp to fit and 5 arrived alive with the 6th having no smell was offered to and accepted by KaySoh near the end of her acclimation (I prefer to feed before release). When I looked at the shrimp acclimating on the stove, I had to take a picture as it struck me as funny - not your normal shrimp dinner.

KaySoh (I guess I should explain that Neal named her after the Spanish word for cheese because we tend to mispronounce briareus as brie air us :wink:) acted much like SueNami and would not come out of the critter keeper (SueNami had to be removed from the bag as he was too large for the critter keeper) when put in the water. I finally tipped the container up toward the dark wall and she voluntarily exited, went to the wall and then slid down into the LR.

We did not expect to see her again for a few days and were pleasantly surprised when she started peeking out of the LR while our neighbors were visiting and sitting on the love seat directly in front of the tank. She has not come completely out of from her protection but she has been active behind the rock, visible most of the evening and put an arm through the cross over tube once. There is a live shrimp and a crab on the other side when she decides to go hunting and gauging from her demeanor, she is likely to find them tonight.
 

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Nothing interesting to report on Kaysoh. She is pretty much acting like a normal young octo and not being seen. She does seem to know when we are going to feed the tanks because she comes out from under her rock but still stays to the back of the rock cave in the dark. She will take frozen shrimp but only if we poke it down into the hole. We are using SueNami's plastic ice cube with zip tie to feed thawed shrimp but there are live ones in the tank if she wants to hunt at night.

This week is the first time I have seen fiddler shed. I found an empty shell two days ago and then another yesterday AM. Since I knew the shed was really new I investigated the container and found the soft shelled fiddler. She was having a difficult time manuvering and was floating in the 1.5 of water in the little tank. I think fiddlers are herbivores and don't seem to bother each other but I put it in a separate container overnight.

I am also experimenting with isolating a female with eggs. I often see females with eggs but have started feeding them when the eggs show because they die shortly after I notice the eggs. This one I put in a small, dark container by herself to see if it makes any difference. I think I may need to raise the water level in the container as I believe they may lay their eggs in the water rather than on land.
 
Kaysoh came much closer to the front of her cave tonight to take her second helping of shrimp. After she secured the shrimp Neal offered a finger at the top of the tank and she reached up and touched, no pulling, just a curious touch. I think we are making progress!!! :biggrin2:
 
Only the acclimation ones as she still does not come out from her cave. She is getting a tiny bit bolder now but it will still be awhile before I will be able to photograph her. We got to see eyes and mantle at feeding time this weekend albeit, still in her cave, so we are making progress.
 
This behavior exactly like what I have experienced. I look forward to reading more as it gives me something to compare Caligula's progress with.
 
Do remember that neither Animal Mother (Kalypso) nor CaptFish (Legs) saw their octos for a month or so. AM didn't even realize Kalypso had escaped the critter keeper and CaptFish didn't know he had a live one left in the tank. Patience! SueNami was even slower to be seen on a regular basis. Ultimately, he was out most of the time we were in the room but he never interacted much at all except for at supper time(his and ours). I still believe his lack of interaction was because of his eyesight but I miss seeing an octo in that aquarium and am trying not to be disappointed during this shy period.
 
It's true at first I forgot all about having an octo, but man now she's out all the time a begs for human contact at least twice a day. We even play some simple games with each other, but it all takes time. Contact and petting are the most rewarding to me, but it took awhile for us to trust each other for that.
 
Every couple of days Kaysoh gets a little bolder at feeding time and we start to see slightly more of her but I have still not seen her out beyond the shelter of the LR. We suspect she is still quite young and will need to age a little before gaining confidence in the open. Her appetite seems to have picked up and that is a relief as I have been worried about the quantity of food she has been eating (one shrimp a day given in two feeding sessions) and the amount of encouragement we have had to give her to take the food. We fast the octos on Saturday (there are live items in the tank should she be really hungry) and this may have helped her decide to be more aggressive with the offerings since. Neal has also noticed that originally, she did not seem to be able to coordinate the ends of her arms to take the shrimp and would need to grab it about half way up the arm. Over the last two days, she has been using the arm tips (but extending the arm further out). It is not possible to tell whether the change is a coordination advancement or if she now recognized the food and does not need to taste it with the more sensative inner suckers.
 
Venturing out, Finally

Today (three weeks since introduction to her tank) I noticed that a clam had been moved to the top of a rock, not a place a clam could have easily placed itself so we decided KaySoh was finally being more active in her new home. Later, I cleaned her tank and she gave me what I have come to call the warning touch. It only occurs during tank cleaning and it is only a touch, no push and no sucker attachement. My interpretation is, this is my home and stop messing with it! It seems to occur at the point an octopus accepts its environment. I was pretty happy with these developments but then she continued to come out from behind her rocks several more times during the evening. At one point I went over to the tank to look at something and did not find her in the back part where she had been (more visible than usual but not out in the open). I did an Oh, well sigh and then to my surprised a noticed a color change on the rocks right out in front :mrgreen:. I ran upstairs for the camera and wiped down the front of the tank so she, of course, took to the shadows but then gave me a nice little video by extending her arms and investigating the front of the tank. She is still very small and her max extension in the film was over 2 feet! Then she really did go back behind the rocks. I videoed a clam moving in her tank and she got curious so I was able get my first half decent photo since introduction to the tank.
 

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