[Octopus Eggs]: Trapper's Babies - Tank Raised Mercatoris

[DWhatley]

Can Octopuses have Strokes?

Last night Sisty caught and ate at least one crab and looked and acted normally. Tonight he was out early and rolling around on the substrate. A close inspection showed that he seems to have lost sight in at least one eye and two arms are rolled up and will not unroll. He is struggling to navigate on the live rock and sand but can move on the tank walls somewhat normally. I have considered it and it may be selfish but I cannot bring myself to euthanize him

 

[dreadhead]

Olorin looked similar to sisty,it is very hard to watch.

 

[DWhatley]

Sisturus' Last Day

Sisturus survived what I will term his stroke (for want of a proper term) until tonight. By late this afternoon all his arms curled upward, allowing him to be upright (he was off balance and mostly upside down after the first two arms stopped functioning properly). He still ate a little over the weekend but stopped breathing late this evening. I removed him from the tank when the hermits started to investigate so that his passing would not effect Medusa's water quality. After I removed him, I noticed that the tip of one of the damaged arms was missing. I don't know if he bit it off because the arm no longer moved properly of if a hermit was responsible. My guess is the former as he was able to fend off the crabs (very small) when I moved him and the arm was tightly curled.

I wondered if Medusa would attack Sisty in his dying state. They interacted much like normal last night, inspite of the fact that Sisturus could barely stay upright but there was no suggestion of an attack or acknowledgement of Sisty's terminal status. Medusa was out on the tank wall earlier than usual tonight and I hope he will not become recluse since he always followed Sisty's lead when it came to human interaction.

Neal used to call me to come down from my office to feed them with, "Someone's calling you" and I will miss my little guy nightly coming to the front of the tank and waving his arms.

 

[monty]

RIP Sisturus

 

[Colin]

Hi D, sorry to hear about Sisturus but thanks for such a detailed account of the lives these octopuses have had!

 

[cuttlegirl]

 

[gholland]

Sorry about Sisty D.

 

[Nancy]

Very sorry about Sisty's passing.
RIP Sisty

Nancy

 

[dreadhead]

Very sorry to hear.

 

[DWhatley]

Thanks,
knowing he was over a year old and watching him loose the ability to color should make it easier to accept but he was so unusual in personality that it will take some time to get used to not seeing him when I look at the tank.

The two remaining males (Medusa and HideNSeek) can still color with only a little splotchiness so we will see if the loss of color continues to mark the last week or so with these Mercs.

 

[SandV]

how is medusa acting now that is big brother is not there to follow?

 

[MsV]

I somehow missed your sad news. I'm sorry to hear this.

 

[DWhatley]

SandV,
Dusa is coming out later (around 11:00) AFTER I put Cyclop-eeze in the tank but is still coming to the front, eating a shrimp and staying out most of the night. He actually seems to take his shore shrimp on a stick better than he had been and without coaxing. I have noticed (this started about a week before Sisty had his "stroke") that Dusa seems to keep his red coloring even at night rather than the typical , relaxed white.

 

[DWhatley]

HideNSeek and Monty's Red Tube Idea

Some months ago Monty noticed some semi-transparent red plastic tubing (TAP Plastics) for sale on-line and mentioned it as a possible den for nocturnals that would allow daytime viewing. I purchase a length of tube (along with other goodies) and put it in the tank with Miss Broody, HideNSeek and MIA. For the most part all three ignored it. Occassionally, I would see HideNSeek use the tube as a protected get-away path to the back of the tank but that has been all the octo useage until tonight. I will check during daylight hours (photos are with flash) to see if he finds the transparency too much for daylight.

 

[monty]

hee. I'm glad it got some use...