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Octopus isnt eating!!!

Fishfreak218

GPO
Registered
Joined
Jul 23, 2006
Messages
151
ok,
well i got this octopus yesterday... he ate a half dead shrimp last night..
then i tried to feed him tonite (frozen krill and frozen silversides) and he chew them up and spit them back out!!!
im paniking now.. .. should i be?
Is it because he is new and stressed out??
 
oh.. great..... um... i need cheap live food.. where can i get it??
i can go to the beach but the largest shrimp i will find there is a few maybe the size of small ghost shrimp..
.... theaquaculturestore is expensive... 10 fidlers for 13.95...
so if i want 20.. then that cost me like $27. and 20 wont last long...
 
20 would probably last over a month. Fiddlers, I would think, would keep him fed if you fed every other day. Get a mesh net and get down to the beach. I'm sure if you try for long enough, you can get some larger ones. Even the smaller ones would probably work.
 
will do... i am going to see if i can get to the beach on saturday...and i wil try to get some ghost shrimp before then to hold him over..
i can also try and catch my peppermint shrimp if he needs extra nutrition or something...
 
I don't think it would be worth tearing down a whole tank for a small shrimp, lol. I'd go buy another one for $5.00, or just gutload some ghost shrimp. At least that's what we do for seahorses that won't eat frozen mysis...

You said his mantle was the size of an egg right? Do you have a reef tank? Any other tanks? See if you can harvest some hermits from your other tank (if you have any). They love hermits!
 
Where are you in Florida? The Aquaculture store is in Florida also. Paul Sachs (the owner) is really helpful and friendly. Maybe you could call him and get some advice on where to find shrimp and fiddlers in Florida. You should be able to catch your own fiddlers...
 
are you defrosting the food in seawater? sometimes octos can be funny about their food if it's not....if he's young too, he probably does want the live food....but as said, most LFS carry ghost shrimp and crabs.
Also, I know you just got him yesterday, but octos don't always have to eat every day.....you can go every other day, if need be. :biggrin2:
 
i am in west palm beach.. a good 45 minutes away from any beach.. and far far far far far away from mangrove swamps.. which is wear im pretty sure fiddler crabs are....i do know of one place a looooong time ago when i was catching fidller crabs at a beach.. which isnt too far.. maybe an hour away.called red reef park... but i would collect food to last for a while.. but i have to make sure i dont make a dent in population.... i dont remember it as crawling w/ them....
there are hermits in his tank.. they have gone unoticed..
 
DrBatty;81229 said:
are you defrosting the food in seawater? sometimes octos can be funny about their food if it's not....if he's young too, he probably does want the live food....but as said, most LFS carry ghost shrimp and crabs.
Also, I know you just got him yesterday, but octos don't always have to eat every day.....you can go every other day, if need be. :biggrin2:
it was defrosted in his own tank water... maybe he is just full.. it was a pretty large cleaner shrimp...
he cant be that young b/c of his size...he is pretty large.. maybe a 2-2.5 maybe even 3" mantle and arms like 15" long
 
thank you very much for the quick help.. i will try again tomorow.. if he doesnt eat i will run out and get him something to eat.
its hard for me cause im 14.. which means.. 1) i dont drive
and 2) my parents can say either Yes.. or No
but they wont refuse to get food.. they arent cruel...
 

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