Pearl's Journal

[Stevie]

Hello all! I have decided to start a journal on pearl. She has been with me for a couple weeks, and has grown enough to know that she is a 2 spot? Her personality is so different from Alexandra's. She is just now warming up enough to tollerate me. Alexandra never inked, and never tried to escape. Pearl on the other hand is sneaky, and inks if I drop the food too close, or clean the tank near her. She is eating well, her favorite is hermits. She has already grown a little, and will come out to "play" during the day for an hour or so. I will post pictures as soon as she starts staying out long enough. I am doing 2 water changes a week, and she is eating 2 or 3 hermits a day. She refuses frozen food. Hopefully I will post some pictures within the week.

 

[Animal Mother]

Cool! Look forward to pictures!

 

[Nancy]

Yes, we're happy to see Pearl's journal. Look forward to pics!

Nancy

 

[Stevie]

This is a picture of her playtime. My phone was the only thing around. She is still eating well, and exploring her home. She has a few favorite places to hide during the day. It seems that she has a daily routine, depending on the time she will be in her spot for the day.

 

[Stevie]

Pearl even after the eggs is eating a lot! I finally ordered fiddlers and she eats about 3 a day. She is starting to come out again, and seems to finally grasp that I am her source of food. Her playtime is at about 2-3pm. If I enter the room during this time she will propel from rock to rock, and then to the glass to wait for food. I am beginning to think that the eggs will not hatch, and that is fine, I just hope that she stays alive for a while. She is more active and a lot more interested in me as the weeks pass.

 

[Nancy]

Pearl is not behaving like most octo mothers after they've laid eggs. Some continue to eat, but most don't leave their dens with the eggs. So maybe, just maybe, she'll survive longer than we think.

Nancy

 

[cuttlegirl]

Is it possible that those are Alexandra's eggs instead of Pearl's?

 

[simple]

yea cuttlegirl has a point, those may be Alexandra's eggs. I never thought about that, put it is very possible.

 

[Stevie]

I do not believe that they are, I cleaned the tank so well after Alexandra passed away! And I actually took the live rock out, scrubbed it, then put it all back in. I guess anything is possible but it is highly unlikely. The eggs are attached to live rock just outside her den. She is still doing well as an update however. I need to order more fiddlers as she has eaten a dozen so quickly! I am debating just taking the eggs out. Does anyone have any advice on this? They do not seem to be doing much, and she did not seem to notice them.

 

[DWhatley]

Stevie,
Are you sure they are ceph eggs at all? I put dried algae in the octo tank for my pencil urchins (otherwise they get rather canivorous) and some white critters hatched that look a lot like eggs but with small feeding arms at one end. Initially, I wondered if some of Miss Broody's eggs had "gotten lose" but on close inspection, I realized these were something else entirely. Can you take a couple of the "eggs" out and photograph them?

Of course, I will not be much help with an id since, after two hatchings, I have yet to be able to see the first egg!

 

[Stevie]

I tried to photograph them but the pictures won't come out right. My camera is well, not so good. I can say that I did an image search on google, and they appeared to be ceph eggs. I also made sure to check fish eggs as well and they definately were not damsel eggs. I took them out shortly after I noticed them, and examined them closer, there were what appeared to be close to 100 round/slightly teardrop shaped eggs in a cluster. the black dots that I thought were there were however just spaces between eggs. So maybe they were not fertile? Either way, I have discarded them. She is still active for her short time daily, and eating. I brought home hermits a couple days ago, and she ate 2, then like a little drunk went back to her den carrying one, and fell asleep still hanging an arm outside her den holding her next meal. She is still fairly shy, and her texture changes quickly.

 

[Nancy]

Stevie, could you invite an friend or relative with a good camera over to your house to photograph Pearl? It would be nice for you to have good photos to keep and we'd enjoy seeing her, too.

Nancy