pinch or scratch on mantle

[Fishy1]

Hey all!

I bought my octo about 3 weeks ago and it had either a scratch or pinch on the very tip of it's mantle. Over the weeks it has gotten dark there where the scratch was and the white behind that closer to its eyes. It is now all white, but the white area seems to be bigger. The body is about 1 1/2 to 2 inches and his legs are all about 7 inches long. The white area starts at the very tip of its nose and now goes up the mantle about 3/8" or so. He/she seems to be just fine, but I am wondering if this is a normal healing process.

I have tried to get photos, but am old skool and have to get them developed. I should have some for you tomorrow, but it is strictly nocturnal, so I hope they come out. He got mad at me when I took them of course. I guess that's what this guy is for only for octo eyes: heehee.

I also want to know if boiling REALLY kills all germs before putting a toy in the tank. S.S. ( aka: Super Sticky) LOVES smooth objects and toys. I have an old shell from Oregon, but it has been a decoration in my bathroom for years, so has no doubt had cleaning chemicals sprayed on it. I feel the chemicals are sunk into the shell and boiling won't work. I also want to boil some marbles, but have more hope for those since they don't absorb and have not been exposed to chemicals that I know of.

What say you?
Thanks so much for all your help in advance; I love this site!

Fishy1

 

[Nancy]

I think we need a marine biologist for this question!

Nancy

 

[Animal Mother]

As for the germs, yeah, boiling will kill germs. Forget about the shell though.

 

[Fishy1]

A Marine Biologist? ​

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Super Sticky would be very impressed by that, no doubt about it! Of course he/she is fairly arrogant I happened to notice, and would expect such a grandise medical analysis. He/she has been in good nature all this time, so I'm guessing it IS normal....but am clearly not positive.

I thought no on the shell as well. I'll give him the marbles and maybe order a new shell from an ocean dwelling community far, far away.

Thanks!
Fishy1

 

[Fishy1]

uh oh! help!

I was just surfing to try to ID my octo when I found this!

The image attached is exactly what S.S.'s nose tip looks like! It also came from a scratch!

After looking up how to treat this bacteria (usually found in saltwater) the only solution I saw is treating with Tetracyclene. Is this even viable for an octopus? Of course I'm not positive this is what's happening, but almost!

What should I do??? Here is the text that came with the image, the bacteria is called genus vibrio:

"© John W. Forsythe*


Two isolated juvenile O. briareus suffering from severe bacterial skin infections of the dorsal mantle and head. The clear white area on the mantle, head and arm bases of the left octopus is due to the total destruction of the chromatophore layer of the skin. This area should look just like the arms of this animal. These animals are in a special isolation chamber that allowed them to be dipped in baths of antibiotics to fight the infections. Bacteria of the Genus Vibrio were the most common pathogens found in the damaged areas. '

 

[Jean]

If your octopus looks like the one in John Forsythes pics then yes antibiotics are the only answer (other than euthanasia, if you have to go down that route then placing the octi in a bag of seawater in the freezer is the equivalent of putting mammals to sleep). Tetracycline should be OK, as in low doses (0.05 g/L seawater) it is used as a fluorescent marker for statoliths in squid and it does them no harm. The antibiotic should be available from any vet clinic but I'm not sure what the therepeutic dose would be. The NRCC should be able to help with that. Unfortunately John Forsythe retired last year and is probably not available for comment (I believe his wife is or has been very ill) but the centre would have records. We have never had to do this type of treatment as we've been very lucky over the years never to have had to deal with this kind of infection. Any fresh cuts/abrasions are treated with topical betadine and we've avoided infection (whew!). The only other problem we've had has been autophagy disease which requires the euthanasia route () as there is no cure.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Jean