Ollie inked again!

Nancy

Titanites
Staff member
Moderator (Staff)
Joined
Nov 20, 2002
Messages
5,816
Location
Dallas Texas
Latest Ollie report:

Ollie is doing fine, but he's trying some new things and in the process has inked three times in the last month or so. The most recent was yesterday, and it was my fault. I got up early, turned on the room lights, and found Olllie stuck onto the front glass. Up until this event, Ollie on the glass means he's awake. Well, apparently he was sleeping on the glass, and when I turned on the tank light, Ollie freaked out, let out a lot of ink, and disappeared into a small side entrace to his den (yes, he actually went to the effort of making himself smaller!). Fortunately I had water ready for a water change, and the skimmer removed it all in 3 hours.

I tried the pantyhose net during the last two inkings and have unfortunately found it useless. The ink is too dispersed, like a smoke cloud and it not at all sticky. Maybe it would work for a younger octopus.

I've also saved the ink that the skimmer collected. Perhaps I can make a paint or an ink from it, like is done with cuttlefish ink (or used to be).

Here's a pic of Ollie, facing sideways on the glass.

Nancy
 
hehehe, so when do you suspect the four inking will occur?
well as you see a good skimmer serves it's purpose, oh and how much water do you change, I say 35% just to be sure that all ink is removed. :smile:
 
Oh, I suppose Ollie will ink again, despite my efforts not to spook him. I used to turn his tank light off at 9:00 pm, , but now I leave it on until I go to bed - don't think he sees too well out of a dark tank. And I'm making no sudden movements.

I have an oversized skimmer, thanks to Colin's good advice. It does most of the work, and quickly.

I changed 12% of the water that day, and another 12% the next day.

Nancy
 
...oh scared off the dark is he. :wink:
Well I make a real effort not to frighten my ceph's either, even though I try not to make sudden movement's it's hard since im so active...I run around the whole house in a crazed manner looking for my shoes so I will alway's find a surprising cloud of ink in the tanks because of passing by the tank in a rush. :heee:
 
Maybe you could try to make him aware of your presence before suddenly turning the lights on. You could wake him up by tapping whatever the tank is on lightly. The pantyhose net won't work unless the ink has just been erm :roll: well, inked. :smile:
 
Hey Nancy!

Ollie looks huge! Especially when you take into account the measurements! Hermin used to get startled and ink. I used to leave the light on 24 hours. I found if I was wearing a white tshirt that was when he would startle. Maybe something about the color white reminded him of some danger by instinct? What color are you wearing when he inks? Something to think about.

Carol
 
corw314 said:
Maybe something about the color white reminded him of some danger by instinct? What color are you wearing when he inks? Something to think about.

Carol
oh that's a very good question indeed, but nancy had a previous article about that now that I remember, isn't he afraid of blue or purple nancy?
 

Shop Amazon

Shop Amazon
Shop Amazon; support TONMO!
Shop Amazon
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Back
Top