Blue ringed octopus
- Thread starter Chris Witort
- Start date
Gonodactylus
Premium Member
Given that this is Hapalochlaena lunulata and not one of the larger species of Hapalochlaena, a 14 gal system that is stable is more than adequate. This is a really small octopus weighing at most 10 g - and they don't eat much as adults. As long as uneaten food is promptly removed, there should not be a problem. On the other hand, I don't recommend keeping blue-rings in cubes. Too many places to hide and/or escape. I'm not that worried about it getting out of the tank. If it does, it won't last more than a few minutes. My concern is that it will go missing and that an accident could happen while searching for it. Some of my closest call with blue-rings have come when I didn't know where they were. In the systems we use, there is no place for them to hide and the sealed lid is not opened until we have visually identified the animal.
Roy
Roy
You kept a mimic for 1 1/2 YEARS?! Most people keep them alive for a couple of weeks!
Josh_Canada
New member
^ i would love to see any pictures you have of its growth/health after a whole year and a half. that is amazing.
kiel
New member
the diversity of the information and perspectives in this thread really has evolved into something wholelly informative about these animals...
jay76, that's an amazing video. it's common knowledge amongst most second + generation australians that they're dangerous but i can appreciate that your curiosity would land you in that position, especially in the heat of the moment while you're doing something exciting like splashing around in water above the barrier reef
excellent video. do you mind if i share it with a few people?
jay76, that's an amazing video. it's common knowledge amongst most second + generation australians that they're dangerous but i can appreciate that your curiosity would land you in that position, especially in the heat of the moment while you're doing something exciting like splashing around in water above the barrier reef
excellent video. do you mind if i share it with a few people?
KoralKeith
New member
I see bluerings being sold all the time in the bay area
CephDude
New member
I personally think owning a blue-ringed is a fine idea... I've done it many times, and I know many people who have as well. As far as I know, it is not illegal to own one, definitely not in Arizona. If they were illegal to import, many wholesalers in California, would not regularly import them. You'd have to really try to get bitten, they're more afraid of you then you think. They're great for a smart hobbyist to own, due to the fact they don't normally get bigger than a golf ball. They also have a great survival rate, and take readily available live food (fiddler crabs, hermits, ghost shrimp etc).
CarlitosReef
New member
The tiny poison octopus carries enough venom to kill about twenty six humans.:eek1: before it gets me il :uzi:
I found this here http://www.itsnature.org/sea/other/dangerous-blue-ring-octopus/
I found this here http://www.itsnature.org/sea/other/dangerous-blue-ring-octopus/
AlexS95
Active member
No, they don't: they ship horribly.
CephDude
New member
Not in my experience, I've had over 10 trans-shipped, all of then have survived over 3 months. I consider that a pretty good survival rate, for an animal that has a natural life cycle of 6 months... You hear that Wunderpuss and Mimic's have bad survival rates as well, I've never had a problem with them.
cadre
New member
Actually, I don't think the shipping is the reason for the high mortality rate on these guys. It seems to be more likely that many die due to old age after being received. I have received many octopuses at my store and never had one die except due to old age. I have not received Blue Rings however, so they may be different (doubt it).
That said, the fact that it can be done is not a reason to do it. There are many awesome cephs that are not nearly as poisonous as the blue rings. The people who get blue rings as their first ceph, or as their first saltwater animal tend to be the ones that think of animals as "accessories." I know not everyone like this but from my personal experience it seems to be the case. I just wonder why people don't start with an octopus that won't kill you. I'd rather have an octopus I can interact with, especially since they are so smart.
Iv read that the blue ring does not always inject its poison into its prey,if the shell is to hard or if it doesn't hit its mark,it will inject the poison into the surrounding water to paralyze its prey. which might be why its evolved with such strong venom .If someone fed it snails and hermits this would potentially increase the volume of venom in the water. Something to think about well doing water changes or touching the water at all.But I have no problem with people doing what ever they want as long as it doesn't harm the creature or any humans other then there selves
Gonodactylus
Premium Member
There is no study that I know of that has shown that blue-rings purposefully release TTX into the water column to kill prey.
Roy
Roy
im not 100% by any means, heres an artical of google.but hey its just google and its not a scientific artical. The blue-ringed octopus is the size of a golf ball but its poison is powerful enough to kill an adult human in minutes. There’s no known antidote. The only treatment is hours of heart massage and artificial respiration until the poison has worked its way out of your system.
The poison is not injected but is contained in the octopus’s saliva, which comes from two glands each as big as its brain. Poison from the one is used on its main prey, crabs, and is relatively harmless to humans. Poison from the other gland serves as defense against predators. The blue-ringed octopus either secretes the poison in the vicinity of its prey, waits until it is immobile and then devours it, or it jumps out and envelops the prey in its 8 tentacles and bites it
See: The blue-ringed octopus
The poison is not injected but is contained in the octopus’s saliva, which comes from two glands each as big as its brain. Poison from the one is used on its main prey, crabs, and is relatively harmless to humans. Poison from the other gland serves as defense against predators. The blue-ringed octopus either secretes the poison in the vicinity of its prey, waits until it is immobile and then devours it, or it jumps out and envelops the prey in its 8 tentacles and bites it
See: The blue-ringed octopus
anouther artical These species are also clever in camouflaging themselves in the water. The presence of certain dermal chromatophore helps the octopus to blend with environment when needed. You can thus never know when this clever creature can change its color!
When the prey is at a distance, the Blue Ringed octopus can even squirt the venom through the water to attack its prey and one more... The most dangerous cephalopod is the small blue-ringed octopus, which produces highly toxic saliva powerful enough to kill a human.
To catch prey, it either releases saliva into the water and waits for the poison to take effect, or catches, bites, and injects prey directly. Its bright coloring is unusual for an octopus, and the numerous blue rings covering its body become more iridescent if it is disturbed.
When the prey is at a distance, the Blue Ringed octopus can even squirt the venom through the water to attack its prey and one more... The most dangerous cephalopod is the small blue-ringed octopus, which produces highly toxic saliva powerful enough to kill a human.
To catch prey, it either releases saliva into the water and waits for the poison to take effect, or catches, bites, and injects prey directly. Its bright coloring is unusual for an octopus, and the numerous blue rings covering its body become more iridescent if it is disturbed.
