[Octopus]: Mama Cass - O.briareus (tank hatched)

[DWhatley]

Mating Take Two - The Movie

Not professional or even good quality but hours of reviewing, discarding and finding clips that condensed a long night:

Tank is coming out a little more and ate before 11:00 tonight with some coaxing.

Cassy is not doing well. She stays mostly in an upper corner and is very passive, seeming confused. I hope it is her body changes causing the confusion and not the tank switch (I need to review my notes on Kooah as I half remember she acted confused before brooding but need to look back to see if I commented). Cassy's eyes seem dialated and her skin feels almost mushy. I hope it is my imagination.

 

[Lmecher]

I am hoping the changes in Cassy are in your imagination.
Who are you petting in the video? Tank? He seems to be too preoccupied to care.

 

[DWhatley]

Cassy is the white and green octo on the wall. Tank is the red one covering her.

Cassy is not doing well. She continues to stay on the wall and is very weak. I am afraid she may not brood and if she does, won't live long enough for the eggs to hatch. I don't know why the extreme change but she appears very much like an senescent animal. She is still eating though.

 

[SabrinaR]

Gosh I hope shes ok. Keeping my for you. Lindas right, we use that icon more than any other. We just hold our breath and wait and see.

 

[QueenB]

Hope everything goes well.

 

[Lmecher]

I am so sad to hear, you must be devastated. Do you think the mating was too much for her? I am still that she improves. Keeping these animals really has it's extreme ups and downs.

 

[DWhatley]

I just don't know. It may be we should have mated them younger. I put them together a month earlier than planned because her mantle was starting to enlarge and her mother laid eggs without it becoming extremely extended (KaySoh, who never mated, showed extreme extention over a short time before she brooded infertile eggs). Cassy's mantle continues to grow visibly and is becoming difficult to manage (as did KaySoh's and Maya's). The extended length of time under the webbing maybe an issue if there was a shortage of oxygenated water but I did not see rapid breathing or any sign of struggle. All I can do now is wait and watch but I don't have a positive feeling about the outcome.

 

[QueenB]

Any updates? How is she doing? Comfort

 

[DWhatley]

Cassy seems to be doing better. She goes to a den now instead of hanging on to the upper part of the tank wall and comes out at irregular intervals during the day and night. She will take a crab when she is out but will no longer eat table shrimp. When the octos I have raised were young they did not eat table shrimp for many months and I suspect it is too tough for them to chew. I think something similar happens when they are old. I have not seen anything written about the buccal muscle weakening or the radula becoming dull but suspect something like this occurs.

Cassy's colors are not yet grey but are much paler than before her mantle started to expand

Her mantle continues to extend. It appears longer but not fuller.

I noted a round hole in her webbing. This appeared after the second mating. I suspect the hole is from Tatanka but can't be sure as I gave her a male fiddler with broken claws and noticed as I handed it to her that it could still pinch.

There may or may not be a spermataphore in the webbing to the left of the hole. It shows in several pictures I took of the hole but I did not notice it while taking the photos.

 

[SabrinaR]

I am glad she is doing better. I was worried for you.

 

[QueenB]

So glad she is doing a little better. It's gut wrenching it seems.

I'm starting to understand the lifespan of these amazing creatures even better. When they pass on its like losing a child. But at the same time breeding them & raising the offspring is kind of a reminder of the amazing relationship between you and each individual Octo. They have their own unique personality. You still learn new things with each and every one.

 

[DWhatley]

Crab Dinner Close Ups

Cassy's crab dinner

 

[QueenB]

Now those are some nice shots! STRIKE A POSE!

 

[DWhatley]

Thanks, sometimes my camera does a good job and at other times it will not focus (the photographer can't focus a camera worth a lick). It had issues and went back to Canon after a year (exceptional customer service and warranty company with their cameras) but it never seemed to be as accurate with focusing after the initial failure.

She is out on the glass tonight (dancing with Tank earlier) so I probably need to offer her another crab

She was not interested in the crab but I noticed that the very end tips of most of her arms are missing. I would be in a a panic but I noticed this because she went over to sit in front of the new Koralia and put her arm tip in the front opening. These are larger than the originals I used (but have had two of these in her other tank without issue). The difference is that this one sits out in the open where the ones in her original tank are partially covered with LR. Needless to say, I put a filter bag over the Koralia to preven further damage. I don't know if it is her deterorating mental state or the fact that this unit is sitting in the open but it is the first time I have had an issue with the Koralias.

 

[QueenB]

I don't plan on putting any in the RSM for fear of the same thing. I instead bought hydor flo's to help with the powerful water flow and to help water flow behind the LR I'm putting in there. I'm only using one, as the left return pump is too big to fit one. It comes with fittings to fit just about every pump, bulkhead, or nozzle, but on my return it's too big to fit. Oh well extra's for emergency use.

Cute short video of one riding on a hydro flo.

You think any Octo arms would bother with it?