[Octopus]: Tatanka - O.briareus (tank hatched)

I only saw Ollie shed suckers once a week or so. Diablo sheds a lot daily, when ever he is active I see them floating around. I use fibery fluffy material to catch them at the spillover. I have to change it frequently or it clogs the flow. That may be something specific to O. vulgaris.
 
When I first got Isis I saw her shed a lot. She does it every few days or so. I have sponges over the over flow to help so my CPR doesn't get clogged but since she's been in the tank its been constant maintenance keeping them clear.
 
I am beginning to worry about Tank. He has started only eating every other day. There is a possibility that he is eating snails that I recently added to the aquarium but Cassy is eating two small meals daily so the difference is a concern.
 
I have determined Tatanka is a MALE

Tonight was a busy night for octopuses in the house. We ate supper about an hour later than usually and just after we finished Tatanka popped up over the LR and was watching us. YES!!! Both the brieareus had eaten during normal tank feeding again tonight (almost a week now) but Neal offered her more food to see if that was why she was out. He grabbed at the stick but was not interested in the food. The days are a lot shorter now so I don't know if the outside darkness (but the lights are on in the room) or just maturity is having an effect but both of the twins are becoming more and more early evening active and their aim is getting better locating objects with their arms. I think their sight is improving but it is hard to tell if it is sight alone or better coordination.

I posted on Cassy's thread that she was out on the outer wall for the first time. Tatanka must have read my note because when I went down to check on Monty, he was up at the top of his tank hanging on to the overflow with 4 arms sticking through various holes. Once he knew I had seen him he slid down the wall and behind the LR but did not stay concealed. Instead he made his way to the front wall and danced for maybe 5 minutes. I got a decent look at his third right arm and am sure he is male.

I offered a hand and he took it with two arms and tugged for maybe a count of 10 (a whole lot longer than the touch and goes). Then he released and did a quick dive into the LR. However, he decided to try once more while securely attached to the rock and explored my fingers with about an inch and a half of one arm tip. If the first tug was a count of 10 then the exploration was a count of 30 or more and the arm removal was slow.

This is probably the first year that I will be glad for the end of daylight savings time as it is likely these two will be out during our evening meal.
 
Tatanka came out during early tank feeding (just before our supper time) so I grabbed the camera and set it up infront of the tank on a tripod then left for a second to retrieve something to wipe away some of the water marks on the tank. He did not like the three legged monster AT ALL and inked his way back into the LR. He continued to watch us through supper but only from the safety of his den. That makes two inkings today because of the camera (I accidently flashed Monty with a similar result this afternoon).
 
Hmmm, interesting My guys never react to the flash, I use it all the time on them, I actually have never taken a pic without the flash. Every now an then I they flinch a little but that's it.
 
I never took a picture of Tank during this event. I set up the camera and left the room to get a towel to wipe off some of the salt "grease" on the outer wall. It was the three legged creature that made him ink.

I did not use the tripod today :biggrin2: and did get a few shots of him capturing the feeding stick. We tried scallops (that I suspect may be fish) again today with the same, not eaten result as our last attempt. Tank, however, did want the feeding stick and was not about to release it.
 

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We have not seen much of Tank lately. He is only coming out at the 11:00 feeding and only enough to catch his food. He has also moved to the dark side of the tank vs the red light side where he has lived most of his life. I have not even seen him dancing on the glass early in the morning. He does eat daily but not quite half of what Cassy eats (she is much larger again now). When I cleaned his tank today, he did not appear even to defend an area which led to a failed 30 minute search to locate him. I was so concerned I started looking in the sump and on the floor (I can usually find him). Fortunately, he came out for supper so I am less concerned but don't know why he has become so reclusive.
 
Tank is finally starting to show up with the aquarium lights on. Tonight I was able to take a couple of videos. The first one shows that he is still very timid but curious. He replayed this duck and cover act several times tonight but never was frightened enough to ink.




This one really shows why I believe this species does not hunt by sight and is extremely far sighted (we notice they can detect movement 15 or more feet away but can't seem to see anything that is not at least an arm's length away).
 
Your observations about sight are interesting. When they hunt by covering a rock with their webbing, they really don't need to see.

My bimac was not farsighted, as far as I could tell. She was good at seeing things both near and far, at least within a few feet.

Tatanka is looking good!

Nancy
 
Tank "played" with me for maybe 45 minutes last night and eventually tollerated a pinky stroke or three between the eyes (I think this area does not have much feeling). However, tonight he stayed behind the LR and grabbed his food without coming out when Neal fed him. I am hoping he will start being more social but I thought he was going to be the social one of the two and he has turned out to be very reclusive (so far :biggrin2:)
 
So far is right, you never know what tomorrow holds. I found between the eyes has been a preferred petting spot. I will stay tunned, I am getting my fixes through you these days. I really miss having one in the house :sad:
 
I wish I had more to report on Tatanka but we rarely see him. He seems to be doing well, is eating daily and looks healthy when we catch a glimpse but he has not socialized at all. I am surprised at this behavior since he seemed to be the one that was going to be the most social. He is so unlike his sister who comes out during our super time and seems to invite us to her tank. When we do see Tank out and about, he shows very little webbing where Cassy makes a point to display hers right down to the arm tip. Cassy is still shy but very curious and appears to want attention where Tank stays hidden. They are in the same room with their tanks at opposite ends. The tanks are styled differently but are very similar in content. Tatanka's tank has the lower wattage of the two tanks for daylight lighting. I did note tonight that all the octopuses we have kept in the location of Cassy's tank (two different octopus tanks have been set up there) have become interactive (except Maya who began brooding after 2 weeks).
 

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