Once bitten, twice shy

[DHyslop]

Mr. Octopus gave me some venom last week when I was playing with him. If he's out playing when I open the lid he'll usually come to the top and start grabbing me. I enjoy playing tug of war, but he'd never given me more than a nibble. It felt like a very bad beesting. These photos are of my finger within about a half hour. I took some ibuprofen and slept on it, the next day my finger was still noticeable but not quite as bad as the night before.

 

[corw314]

Ouch.....My reasoning exactly as to why I'm a little hesitant to let Spike get ahold of me..........

 

[monty]

It's too late for this time, but for future reference:

http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/octobite.php

recommends hot water treatment for octo bites, and has some references.

sorry about your finger. I'm glad you're not terribly allergic to cephalotoxin.

 

[zyan silver]

hmmm.... trained assassins. zy

 

[Nancy]

Hmm, that's the worst bimac bite reaction we've had, I believe. Maybe people react differently to the venom. Or maybe this was a deeper bite, not just a nibble. I'm posting my husbands hand after Ollie bit him, which was much less severe. At any rate, unless you have a severe allergic reaction or get an infection from what's in the water, these bites seem to be minor.

Nancy

 

[cuttlegirl]

yikes, sorry to hear you had such a bad reaction... are you allergic to other animals (like bees)?

 

[DHyslop]

I haven't yet encountered any other animals I'm allergic to. Nonetheless its a good reminder that these are animals that can act unpredictably--Mr. Octopus had plenty of opportunities to do this to me in the past and didn't.

Dan

 

[Taollan]

I honestly believe differences in bites have less to do with differential reactions than it does with whether or not the octopus actually envenomates and to what degree that it does...

 

[Michael Blue]

So, are all Octo's venomous to some degree, or just certain ones?

How about cuttles and Squid?

I know the blue ring, blue lined Octos, striped pajama squid and more recently the flamboyant Cuttle are truly venomous, this question regards the remaining species.

Thanks!

 

[sorseress]

Dan, was there anything different about your interaction this time? Did he seem to act any different? Taollan's comment made me wonder why, if in fact it's a matter of "choice" on the part of the octopus whether it envenomates or not, why he would this time and not before.