Octopus briareus question

[Animal Mother]

That's great! I'm glad to hear you're having success with the little one. Love the pictures too!

 

[DWhatley]

I have been reading a very old book that I feel any octo keeper should be forced to read . Jacques Cousteau's The Soft Intelligence is still very current as far as much of the octo personality and handling information is concerned. They also did a lot of disection and research in a manner that would be frowned on today (and even later by Cousteau himself as he learned about the fragility of the oceans) but much of the information obtained has not changed.

One of the most important things I feel a keeper can gain from reading the book is a feel for the differences in personalities and the differences and results in handling an octopus. Some needs to be inferred but some of the statements are very direct. The team learned a lot from a woman by the name of Joanne Duffy (self taught GPO diver and handler) and include some of her recommendations about handling them in the wild. A continuous point is the need to be extremely GENTLE. When I "pet" Octane at night, I only use enough pressure to make contact and let him decide how much petting he wants. As a result (conjecture) he has been increasing the contact time and the amount of his body that stays in contact with my hand weekly. Strangely, initially, he allowed mantle contact first and arm contact last - I would have expected the opposite. Also note that Octane came to me as an adult (I believe younger octos are less likely to make physical contact) and our time together has been over 5 months.