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Surprise! It's a Mimic!
- Thread starter davelin315
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By the way, on this one I have thought about photos or video of predators as they display their mimicking behaviors when predators are around. I am pretty sure that the lionfish pose is the one she does when she flares out her mantle and along her arms when I startle her and the flatfish if one she does a bit as she sits on the bottom moving from one side of the tank to the next but have not seen things like the seasnake which sounds like it requires some burying of her body and this substrate is too coarse it seems.
Very cool videos, I was most definitely entertained!
To me it sounds like your friend is very well-fed to be bothered with the jar.
I believe that one of the reasons that octopuses are so fascinating is their individuality. But I suspect that this individuality has a lot to do with what each octopus encounters during its life. So, for example, usually when you come across a medium-size male with lots of wounds and a couple of arms missing, it turns out that he is more streetwise, agile and intelligent than a huge well-fed and intact male. Hard conditions result in a more cunning octopus.
To conclude, maybe try the trick with the jar when your friend has not eaten for a while (mind you, I do not mean underfeeding, just present the jar with the crab before the normal lunch time).
Also, try unscrewing the lid yourself underwater to get a sense of how difficult the lid is, as there are lids that open with considerable less force than other. Start with the easiest (maybe cheat a bit the first time and let it a bit loose) and when the connection between the jar and food is established, you can try other lids.
Finally, were you present while you were filming this? In the video with the shrimp, it looks a bit like the octopus was checking you out, so maybe its attention was distracted by your presence...?
Good job for keeping your octopus well stimulated by the way...
To me it sounds like your friend is very well-fed to be bothered with the jar.
I believe that one of the reasons that octopuses are so fascinating is their individuality. But I suspect that this individuality has a lot to do with what each octopus encounters during its life. So, for example, usually when you come across a medium-size male with lots of wounds and a couple of arms missing, it turns out that he is more streetwise, agile and intelligent than a huge well-fed and intact male. Hard conditions result in a more cunning octopus.
To conclude, maybe try the trick with the jar when your friend has not eaten for a while (mind you, I do not mean underfeeding, just present the jar with the crab before the normal lunch time).
Also, try unscrewing the lid yourself underwater to get a sense of how difficult the lid is, as there are lids that open with considerable less force than other. Start with the easiest (maybe cheat a bit the first time and let it a bit loose) and when the connection between the jar and food is established, you can try other lids.
Finally, were you present while you were filming this? In the video with the shrimp, it looks a bit like the octopus was checking you out, so maybe its attention was distracted by your presence...?
Good job for keeping your octopus well stimulated by the way...
It's actually not a screw on jar, it's a betta jar that has a small hole in the top. It's smooth everywhere, no rough edges, and the crab can live in there (now going on what, 4 days?). I do leave it in there but as you mentioned, I'm reticent to "underfeed" to motivate her to go after the crab. I do, however, have these funny photos of what an utter failure the crab in a jar has been so far.
I tossed in some crabs and one landed on top of the jar. She very quickly grabbed it and proceeded to sit on the jar while she ate but still paid no attention at all to the single crab in the jar despite having a hole that would seem to be far larger than needed to get into the jar.
By the way, if anyone wants to see the full array of photos and videos, here's a link to the album I'm keeping along with another photo that shows her when she gets irritated that I'm so closely looking at her.
Mimic Album
Mimic Album
Does the crab move around? I wonder if it has to be moving to get her attention.
What if you tried with the top off first? Feed her only in that container but with the top off so she’s used to the idea of it being easy to get in there. Make it incrementally more difficult instead of starting at a more difficult level…
That is something I've been thinking of but I am not convinced that she actually sees it in there. Very odd but the complete lack of any sort of acknowledgement makes me go back to questioning whether she can actually see through the plastic itself. On the other hand I keep on adding more crabs to the tank for her to hunt down and eat so I'm kind of defeating my goal in seeing her try to get inside the cup to eat.
Yup, it definitely does move around and does quite a bit in fact.
I am almost sure she can see it...Maybe she has not found the hole yet though (which, again, I think it's unlikely). As far as I understand, she can only get the crab by putting one arm in, right? If so, she is clever enough not to risk the arm getting injured by the crab, especially since she knows there are more crabs going around...
Try a glass jar, maybe open and just upside down, just to test your theory about visibility?
I would except I don't have any glass jars. I happened to have this one from some bettas I got in.
The hole should be more than large enough for her entire body to fit through and she doesn't seem to have any fear of female fiddlers. The males have the large claw that they try to fend her off with (unsuccessfully) but I think she recognizes their display as a possibly dangerous situation. I am pretty sure she can see it as well but she simply has made no effort to even investigate it which surprises me.
How about a clear drinking glass or Pyrex dish? Anything glass and transparent (that your wife will let you take out of the kitchen) should work to see if the issue is that she cannot recognize the crab through the plastic.
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