New Octopus owner

[Shea]

Hello everyone I'm new to owning an octopus so naturally I have a few dumb questions. I bought a two spot octo yesterday from my LFS that they have had for nearly a month. When I got her into her new home, she hid for nearly three hours them came out to explore and get some krill from me. She hides at night and is active for the majority of the day. In the tank with her is three damsels that will hopefully become a snack. One of them is pretty good sized and I am kinda worried that it will beat up or scare my my octo. Has this happened to anyone or am I just paranoid? She is great she spends alot of time on the front glass of the tank staring at me. I swear she also likes looking at tv

 

[monty]

to you and your octo.

That all sounds pretty normal, but the damsels should go ASAP. We've had a number of reports that damsels will harass octos, and can bite at their eyes and blind them. It's possible the octo could kill them, but it's very likely that they'll harm or stress the octo.

 

[DWhatley]

It has been awhile but several people have reported that it appeared their octos watched either TV or the computer.

Remove the fish if you can, you are not being paranoid and they are likely to hassle the octo. Stress is a major negative and Damsels can be very agressive.

 

[Animal Mother]

Congrats and welcome. Sounds like you made a great find for your first octopus.

 

[gholland]

and congrats!

Is it a Caribbean two-spot (O. hummelincki)?

 

[Shea]

I will remove the damsels as soon as I can catch them. As for being a O. Hummelincki I'm not quite sure. When in her neutral color mode she is dark brown and her false eye spots are purple with a small blue ring in the center.

 

[DWhatley]

If you think she might be Hummelincki, look through my pictures and videos of Octane. The larger photo of my avitar as well as several other photos showing makings is on page 4 (all are not always visible). They have a very wide range of coloration (including just brown) but in some modes you should see a yellow ring around the blue eyespot, a brown stripe that runs from the head (below the eyes), through the eye and just behind the eye, blue tips on the suckers, a "pig tail" when not showing cripsis and arms only about twice the mantle and head size.

From the little I can see of your avitar, the eyespot looks quite different but a larger picture would be helpful.

 

[Shea]

I was thinking/hoping that she was a bimac because I heard that they are much easier to care for.But after looking at the pictures of Octane, I'm positive that she is a hummelincki. Should she have "toys" in her tank to play with? If so what kind?

 

[gholland]

From the little I can see of your avitar, the eyespot looks quite different but a larger picture would be helpful.

Is your avatar a picture of the octopus in question?

 

[Nancy]

The main difference between keeping a bimac and a hummelincki is the water temperature. Bimacs often require a chiller and their temperature should be in the low 70s or even in the sixties. Hummelincki live in tropical waters and 78 degrees would be a good tank temperature.

Hummelinckis are often a bit smaller than bimacs, too.

Nancy

 

[DWhatley]

If you watch some of my videos of 'Tane, I don't think you will be disappointed if you have a hummelincki. I have never cared for a critter as deeply or missed one so strongly. Even my husband looks at his tank every night expecting him to be watching us and come out for attention.

None of the hummelincki owners have reported much luck with toys but I do think Octane was bored in his last month. Your mention of yours (does he/she have a name?) watching TV makes me wish I had set up the laptop to see if it entertained him, something I will do with the next one.

Gholland, I am envisioning a whole new set of experiements

 

[gholland]

Gholland, I am envisioning a whole new set of experiements

Oooooooh yeah!

 

[Shea]

No it's just an avatar that I found. I haven't decided on a name for her yet but I'm playing with the idea of naming her either Flow or Ocho but haven't decided yet. I'm already really attached to her, she is extremely active and fun to watch. I'll probably try some different toys in her tank just to see what happens. I'm glad that she doesn't need a chiller but I would have bought one for her without a second thought. So for hiding places is live rock enough or should she have other things too? Also are O. Hummelincki nocturnal? She seems to be out when the light is on and goes back to her den when I turn them off.

 

[Lime]

Hah Shea! I was thinking of Ocho for a name for my octopus when I get one LOL. Just found that to be kind of funny.

 

[DWhatley]

Hummelincki is diurnal but I found the Octane tended to nap (especially as he aged) and sleep (eyes closed and slowed respiration) in until about 2:00 PM then stay up until lights out at about 11:00 PM, basically adjusting to our schedule. All hummelicki owners have found them particularly human friendly. The only major down side is that they are a small egged species so tank raising is not currently viable. Octane actually initiated contact with us rather than the other way around. He required a very gentle touch (and I have since read that this is what others have found about O. vulgaris in the wild as well) and once he was confident with one form of contact would experiment with another. Eventually he would climb into my cupped hand in the water and use it like a tube to scoot through the other side. Octane was always very, very gentle and never suggested he wanted to bite. The closest to aggression of any kind would be to pull on my fingers if I had the smell of shrimp on them from feeding. However, every octo story is different and they each have distinct personalities so, by all means, try toys. Carol has had a lot of luck with la arge leggo block and Octane showed short interest in a leggo octopus with a long plastic tie hanging down so that it floated and had something to grab. We also played a little with a plastic ice cube and pushed it back and forth in the current. Octane (as well as two others I have noted) did not keep an interest in any of the toys though but another might.

You might look through the journals with the key word hummelincki to read some of the other interactions you might expect.