- Joined
- Dec 17, 2002
- Messages
- 20
All,
I'm compiling records of longevity and husbandry information for mimic octopus in captivity. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has first hand experience with this species or the wunderpus. Please, no second-hand or anecdotal information from those you have seen in pet stores. I don't need just "good news", I'm also interested in learning about "husbandry failures".
After years of hearing how delicate these are,and researching what I could, I acquired one and have found their husbandry to be pretty straightforward with just a couple of twists. The longevity records that I've compiled so far (all for adult octos acquired from the pet trade, except one from a dealer in Japan) shows a range of 2 days to nine months. Although the data set is still small, except for two records where one animal lived two days and one lived about nine days, all the other notes have shown a range of 4 to nine months (except ours at 5 weeks, but it is still alive). This is pretty respectable for a tropical species acquired at adult size. Most of these records are from public aquariums, so I'm interested to learn if home aquarists are seeing similar results.
I've attached a pic of our little guy. Lots of what I've heard about them has been wrong. I think people who haven't actually have kept one are extrapolating from what the species does in the wild - they don't require sand (ours actually prefers to hang out in the coral rather than in the sand). When its well fed and content, it curls up in a ball and blends in to the gravel or a rock - having no stripes at all. Ours has refused all live food (Uca, Lysmata, Gambusia) but began taking Euphasia off a broomstraw from the second day. We have it in a 40 gallon tank with an undergravel filter - no simpler aquarium than that. They don't require huge amounts of room (although I think the jury is still out on the wonderpus - they are apprently more active, and may need more space).
Jay Hemdal
I'm compiling records of longevity and husbandry information for mimic octopus in captivity. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has first hand experience with this species or the wunderpus. Please, no second-hand or anecdotal information from those you have seen in pet stores. I don't need just "good news", I'm also interested in learning about "husbandry failures".
After years of hearing how delicate these are,and researching what I could, I acquired one and have found their husbandry to be pretty straightforward with just a couple of twists. The longevity records that I've compiled so far (all for adult octos acquired from the pet trade, except one from a dealer in Japan) shows a range of 2 days to nine months. Although the data set is still small, except for two records where one animal lived two days and one lived about nine days, all the other notes have shown a range of 4 to nine months (except ours at 5 weeks, but it is still alive). This is pretty respectable for a tropical species acquired at adult size. Most of these records are from public aquariums, so I'm interested to learn if home aquarists are seeing similar results.
I've attached a pic of our little guy. Lots of what I've heard about them has been wrong. I think people who haven't actually have kept one are extrapolating from what the species does in the wild - they don't require sand (ours actually prefers to hang out in the coral rather than in the sand). When its well fed and content, it curls up in a ball and blends in to the gravel or a rock - having no stripes at all. Ours has refused all live food (Uca, Lysmata, Gambusia) but began taking Euphasia off a broomstraw from the second day. We have it in a 40 gallon tank with an undergravel filter - no simpler aquarium than that. They don't require huge amounts of room (although I think the jury is still out on the wonderpus - they are apprently more active, and may need more space).
Jay Hemdal