Have any of you noticed any distinct behaviors in your octopus? I feed my octopus large pieces of shrimp but he never eats the whole piece. He eats it while sitting on his favorite rock, and when he is done he swims over to the front right corner of the tank and drops the leftover shrimp there. I dont need to worry about shrimp rotting in my tank because he places it right there for me to take out! He has now done this 4 times in a row.
behaviors
- Thread starter Rudiger
- Start date
SushiGirl
Premium Member
Most animals don't like to foul their dens. I had a horse that used to poop only in one corner of his stall! It's fairly well known that if you're having a problem with a house pet using the bathroom in a certain spot in your house, you move their food and water source to that spot & they'll stop.
With octos, I've heard they usually pile all their "empties" (crab & snail shells) in one area of the tank only, far away from their den. It probably helps to keep unsuspecting prey from knowing there's a predator in the den area, making it easier for the octo to capture food.
With octos, I've heard they usually pile all their "empties" (crab & snail shells) in one area of the tank only, far away from their den. It probably helps to keep unsuspecting prey from knowing there's a predator in the den area, making it easier for the octo to capture food.
cephalopoder
Premium Member
Octopuses will usually remove any uneaten food away from their den. The empty shells and crab
carapaces of its prey that have been cleaned out are left at the entrance of some species dens. This is called a midden pile. Octopuses use the midden as shelter around its den. This is how you look for a octopus in the wild, by looking for midden piles.My bimacs allways keep empty mussle, clam and snail shells in front of its home. They will carry any uneaten food all the way across the tank sometimes or even stick it out of reach or shoot it away with its funnel.
chris
carapaces of its prey that have been cleaned out are left at the entrance of some species dens. This is called a midden pile. Octopuses use the midden as shelter around its den. This is how you look for a octopus in the wild, by looking for midden piles.My bimacs allways keep empty mussle, clam and snail shells in front of its home. They will carry any uneaten food all the way across the tank sometimes or even stick it out of reach or shoot it away with its funnel.
chris
jimichonga
New member
SushiGirl said:
Actually, Octos use the empty shells to "decorate" there den.
When doing research about my Vulgaris I learned that scientists looking for Vulgaris in the wild, instead of actually looking for an Octo that will be camouflaged (which would be next to impossible) they look for a cave that has empty-discarded shells adorning the entrance. Octos also use empty shells as a "door" to there den.
Rudiger, your lucky that you have a tidy Octo, I usually have to clean out every nook & cranny of the rocks to get out uneaten pieces of meat.
jimichonga
New member
OOOOOPPPPS, I guess I was typing that up as you were posting.
OctoMonkey
New member
Hi
I have seen both modes of shell placement in captivity.
The bimac I have just now is following Rudigers. Even though it has 3 or 4 main dens where it hangs out in the live rock, it consistantly leaves empty crab carapaces right at the front pane of glass. I also seen that, without fail, with the Bali Longarms octopus I had last year and Octopus cf filosus.
The vulgaris I have, has been using shells to block off 3/4" pvc pipes which it has chosen to live in. It blocks both ends with something like astraea shells or the cephalothorax of a largish crab. It seems to just eat a crab where it finds it, and that's where the bits are left when it is finished! Its not so tidy lol
I think that there will be lots of reasons to determine which species does what... probably depends on the octopus's size in relation to being a prey item or what habitat it has chosen to live in. It would make more sense for these baby bimacs to hide their den while they are so small by throwing waste further away. Perhaps as they get bigger they dont need to as they are not so easily eaten by predators???
Maybe, like with so many octopus behavioral traits, it depends on the individual??? Might be an interesting case study there?
Colin
I have seen both modes of shell placement in captivity.
The bimac I have just now is following Rudigers. Even though it has 3 or 4 main dens where it hangs out in the live rock, it consistantly leaves empty crab carapaces right at the front pane of glass. I also seen that, without fail, with the Bali Longarms octopus I had last year and Octopus cf filosus.
The vulgaris I have, has been using shells to block off 3/4" pvc pipes which it has chosen to live in. It blocks both ends with something like astraea shells or the cephalothorax of a largish crab. It seems to just eat a crab where it finds it, and that's where the bits are left when it is finished! Its not so tidy lol
I think that there will be lots of reasons to determine which species does what... probably depends on the octopus's size in relation to being a prey item or what habitat it has chosen to live in. It would make more sense for these baby bimacs to hide their den while they are so small by throwing waste further away. Perhaps as they get bigger they dont need to as they are not so easily eaten by predators???
Maybe, like with so many octopus behavioral traits, it depends on the individual??? Might be an interesting case study there?
Colin
