To find other hummelincki journals, look at the top of the
Octopus journals and photos (this subforum) (primary forum will be Octopus care) for the green stickies titled List of our Octopuses. The current year has its own thread and all prior years are combined and each year has a single post. After 2008 (I think) the name of the octopus will take you to its journal. Here is the link to the
current list. If your are not using a phone (I don't quite know what is available on mobile) your browser should have a find on page option. If you type hummelincki, you should be able to find all the references in either list (it is OK to rabbit trail to other animals though
).
Bait shrimp and crabs are perfect, kudos to your supplier. If you can't get them live, thawed table shrimp is quite acceptable. For crabs we go to the Asian markets and scrounge through the live blue crab bins for just the claws and then freeze them. Do NOT freeze whole crabs as the body organs will pollute the meat (you won't find crab uncooked in the frozen foods and you want to feed raw). Fiddlers can be obtained by mail if you don't have them locally or they are overly expensive but they are really too small for anything more than a snack. An occasional crawfish makes a good treat. You can freeze the tails and claws but not the body.
We usually get half a dozen clams every few months, soak them overnight in tank water to remove the grocery yuck (be sure the container has tall sides and that you change the water in the AM) and ensure they are alive and put a couple in the tank and the rest in other, non-octo tanks. If this is your only set-up, then only buy 2 or 3 at a time. Octavian will be able to open them herself but may or may not take an interest right away. Clams can help (a little, not a lot) clean the substrate and left in the tank as cleanup crew but keep an eye on them to be sure they are still alive. Other mussels are fine food (and you can offer just the meat if you need a change of diet food but letting them open it is thought to be an enrichment) but they make a mess of the tank and don't survive well where clams make a minimum mess and can live for a long time in the tank (I have had some for over a year).
SOME octos will eat snails and/or hermits. For Octavian, hermits are far too small for the effort and she/he is likely to leave them alone once it is clear there is a regular feeding time with easy food. If you want to add them for clean up crew and they are not already there, wait until she/he is eating well. If you already have them in the tank Octavian may or may not eat some or all of them.
We also feed all the other stuff in the tank Cyclop-eeze and have noticed that our octos eliminations are frequently red. We suspect they eat the Cyclop-eeze (and know for sure in some cases) but they may also be eating the pods that consume it so I recommend it in small quantities (frozen, not dried) as well.
Basically, anything you get from a seafood counter is acceptable to try but minimize any fish (or leave it off your list entirely) as studies have shown they will eat it but not do well if it is the main diet.
One thing I suggest to new member is to edit your profile and include something reasonable in the displayed location. City and state/province and country if not in the US is most helpful but creativity is accepted. Giving an idea of your location helps with food ideas as well as sharing local information and the occasional
mini-TONMOcon get togethers when members travel or live near by.