• Looking to buy a cephalopod? Check out Tomh's Cephs Forum, and this post in particular shares important info about our policies as it relates to responsible ceph-keeping.

Surprise! It's a Mimic!

And finally, some photos taken while she was eating, post getting pinched.
IMG_20200603_220406_MP.jpg


IMG_20200603_220429_MP.jpg
IMG_20200603_221337_MP.jpg
 
I break the tip off the male fiddler top claw before feeding. The fiddler often throws the claw if I am not quick enough but breaking the tip keeps me and the octo from getting pinched enough to make a hole.

Judging from the pulled "flap" on the crab she runs off with, maybe she is not injecting venom but simply using her suckers to kill the crab by separating the shell. Even the female crab you examined with the skewer after she has killed it appears to have had the "flap" pulled.
 
I break the tip off the male fiddler top claw before feeding. The fiddler often throws the claw if I am not quick enough but breaking the tip keeps me and the octo from getting pinched enough to make a hole.

Judging from the pulled "flap" on the crab she runs off with, maybe she is not injecting venom but simply using her suckers to kill the crab by separating the shell. Even the female crab you examined with the skewer after she has killed it appears to have had the "flap" pulled.
I have done that in the past as well but tend to leave them alone now in terms of the pincer. I figure it is enrichment making sure to eat carefully. 😜

That very well could be the case with how she is killing them, I have been contemplating figuring out how to film from below to see what is happening under her mantle... those little convulsions as she kills the crab could very well be the act of pulling the shell apart.
 
She is still going strong and I observed a new "color" pattern on her tonight but was not quick enough/willing to stick my crabby hand into my pocket to grab my phone to get it. Tonight when she went after her first crab she turned completely black, no stripes, nothing. It was pretty stark going from the beige color to full black but after grabbing her first crab she went back to the dark color with some patterning on her in the beige color. Will try to get a photo of it tomorrow night when I next feed her.
 
It's been a bit since I last posted as things have gotten incredibly busy of late but she is still doing great! I am contemplating a wholescale change to her environment by siphoning out the gravel and replacing it with some oolitic sand to be more similar in texture to her native mudflats and also thinking about removing the rock as she doesn't seem to care for any sort of hiding places. I may also rearrange them along the back wall instead so that there is more open space or perhaps will cut them so that I can fit some into the sides of the system itself. Also thinking about a possible move to a tub but pretty sure that would be disastrous in terms of her escaping... maybe a 40 breeder with a lid instead.
 
It has been awhile since I posted and things seem to be winding down for her. I did not make any changes to the tank as her appetite has begun fading over the past couple of weeks. She still eats but only every couple of days it seems. She stays with her non exciting whitish beige coloration majority of the time and doesn’t exhibit her stripes. When she gets angry she simply turns black. I have not seen any eggs but a, keeping en eye out on her (they carry their eggs instead of laying them in a cave). Will try to post some but a little sad that she is beginning to fade. She still seems overall pretty healthy but again, I recognize the change in coloration and behavior as signs of senescence so might be counting the weeks or days at this point. Whatever happens, it has been a pretty awesome journey - glad you were all able to tag along!
 
She is still hanging on but not really eating. I do know that she has eaten here and there but nothing like before. Here's a couple of videos from 2 weeks ago and then photos of her from last week. She is still reactive at times and when I go down in the middle of the night when lights are out she moves around a bit more and has some better color but I think it's down to days now.
 
Well, tonight she looked a little better but is still not eating. She seems to have scaled back a bit on some of the twisting of her arms that she was doing and she went hunting around a bit but did not eat any of the crabs she came across. Her behavior is actually quite different than before so I still think senescence is upon her (hunting across Rick's in light which I have not really seen before). I am still finding empty crab shells so chances are she does eat here and there but not like before. I did discover that the sharks in the attached tank knocked something loose during feeding tonight which caused all of the bubbles but fixed it and it does not seem to bother her. Still no sign of eggs which I would expect to see regardless of the lack of any males in the tank with her.

 

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