Hello all! I'm reading up a year in advance on octopus care and would like to ask all the experienced keepers here if they could share what are the different sorts of warning signs or health indications to look out for when observing them to make sure that they're doing well? I understand it can be difficult to describe in words but I'd greatly appreciate it! Thank you.
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Hi @qiazopus; thanks for posting!
Lesions / sores / infections are fairly common. Sometimes they heal; sometimes they are lethal. Examples:
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Of course, there is senescense, a lot of the Journals you read unfortunately end this way; often after the mother lays eggs. This can sometimes be mistaken for general stress, which also causes an octo to appear white or pale.
Sometimes reclusive octo behaviors are concerning, but they can just as often be octopuses just being octopuses.
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Lastly (and I don't mean to suggest this is a complete list!), there is autophagy, where an octo bites / eats its arms, this is usually coupled with stress:
Lesions / sores / infections are fairly common. Sometimes they heal; sometimes they are lethal. Examples:
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Of course, there is senescense, a lot of the Journals you read unfortunately end this way; often after the mother lays eggs. This can sometimes be mistaken for general stress, which also causes an octo to appear white or pale.
Sometimes reclusive octo behaviors are concerning, but they can just as often be octopuses just being octopuses.
Diagnosing a sick octopus :(
Hi! I haven't really been on the forums in a very long time after my last octopus, Kim Jong Un, escaped and died. I got myself a new octopus and named him Karl Marx, and he have seemed to thrive a lot. I'm almost certain it's a male abdopus, possibly aculeatus, but not sure about that. Hes been...
Lastly (and I don't mean to suggest this is a complete list!), there is autophagy, where an octo bites / eats its arms, this is usually coupled with stress:
So much octo warmth around here!
So I've tried digging around for my next question to no avail (I might be blind but I can't seem to find any buttons to do a general search for threads using keywords
).
Anw I'd like to ask how do we verify that an octopus has passed away?
I thought of a few but I may be wrong -
1) Unresponsive to external stimulus e.g. human touch
2) Dilated pupils
3) Loss of colour-changing ability
So I've tried digging around for my next question to no avail (I might be blind but I can't seem to find any buttons to do a general search for threads using keywords
).Anw I'd like to ask how do we verify that an octopus has passed away?
I thought of a few but I may be wrong -1) Unresponsive to external stimulus e.g. human touch
2) Dilated pupils
3) Loss of colour-changing ability
The chromataphores actually continue firing some after death (here is a video I recorded in 2011 but Googling, "chromatophores firing after death" will locate others).
- You can usually observe the mantel moving (as well as the gill opening moving) if it is still breathing
- They start to decompose pretty quickly so smell can be a clue. Additionally you may notice bristle worms beginning to feast on the outer skin shortly before a natural death. I usually put senescent animals in a breeder net to live out their last day or so unmolested.
- Dead octos become very slimy. Some live species are naturally this way (I have notices this more with coldwater species) but many are not while alive. All are when they die.
So I've tried digging around for my next question to no avail (I might be blind but I can't seem to find any buttons to do a general search for threads using keywords
Our site Search feature is limited to Supporters of TONMO; a bit of incentive to support the community. D is correct, however - content can be found via Google... but our closed system search engine is more complete and contained to the site. We thank our Supporters, and I appreciate the opportunity here to plug the program
Thank you!!In case anyone else needs more info in doing some octo health check-ups, I attached the following paper in which a very useful table of observations can be utilised
