My first O. Hummelincki

Its official, Bubbles has stopped eating. She still accepts food, but I keep finding it either littering the sand bed or attached to the intake of the pump. I assume this means she is nearing the end. She's had a good run. She was resting beneath the sump pump this morning when I went to check on her. She was blanch white and barely breathing. She would inhale/exhale maybe once every two to three seconds. I thought she was dead accept she was still hanging onto the side of the sump. It took about four or five minutes of me sitting there before she woke up and realized she was being watched. She flashed from white to red to black, then began flashing white with large black spots to black with large white spots, and back again repeatedly until I moved away from her. She has never done this before. I wish I could have video taped it, but I wasn't expecting that kind of reaction. Her breathing increased dramatically as well. It was almost as if she was panting.
 
I tried feeding Bubbles again last night. She took the shrimp and moved it to her mouth, but when I came back later she was walking around the tank and the shrimp lay untouched in the substrate.
 
I havent seen Bubbles in over a week so I went searching for her last night. I found her underneath a large flat rock with small rocks pulled all around her. I feel extremely confident that she has eggs and that this is the end for her.
 
It is very sad but on the other hand, you have had her for almost a year.
Poe (O. hummelincki) ate occasionally while she brooded, it was about 3 weeks from her last crab until I lost her. She showed more interest in live fiddlers than dead shrimp which she pushed away.
The worst part about this time is knowing what is to come and there's nothing we can do about it. I have enjoyed reading about Bubbles, she is a terrific little octopus.
 
Thanks. I'm glad that I provided so many of our members/staff with an entertaining journal. I'm not sad because I know that she lived out her entire life unharmed and happy to what I could perceive. I'm just disappointed that I could not find her a mate and get a chance to raise her young. I will miss her a lot though. She has been a truely amazing and wonderful octopus and friend.
 
It's official,..she's dead.:sad: It has been a while since I last checked on her and I wanted to see if she was doing ok. When I looked under the rock I couldn't see her. I pulled the rock away and she was laying there dead. From the look of her, she'd been dead a few days so I'm going to put the TOD around April 1st, 2011. That made her age roughly 15 months with 12 months in captivity. Fare well Bubbles...fare well.
 
RIP Bubbles::angelpus:

We will miss reading about her and watching your videos. You kept her
for a very long time, which is to your credit as an octo keeper. Thanks for sharing her life with us.

Nancy
 

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