Feeding Question

[SWANN]

Hey guys,

I was just wondering if there is any wrong with just throwing in bunches of snails and hermits as food and clean up for the octo. I get both at wholesale..so its not that much of a financial burden. I ask because it seems you guys only feed the octo 1 a day if even in some cases. Is there anything wrong with giving the octo an almost constant supply of food?..other than more food more waste, fact.

 

[Rudiger]

The only problem I can see would waste, as you said. If there is a plentiful supply of food the octopus may be tempted to be a messy eater and leave half eaten crabs.

But the reason I feed the octopus one crab at a time is so he must rely on me for food. When he gets hungry he starts moving around on the front glass to get my attention. Also I can hand feed him which is always fun. If there are lots of crabs in the tank the octopus will eat whenever it wants and not interact with you. I feed my octopus three times a day.

pat

 

[Death Shrimp99]

It might kill them and not even eat them and there you would have a problemb. Probally the smaller the better because if there real small he might not eat them or see as a threat to him.

 

[OctoMonkey]

As Pat said, I found that it makes the cephs less reactive to us. They have everything they need so dont bother hunting or 'trying to get our attention'.

More food more waste is true, but then you would also (depending on how quickly your octopus eats them) have to feed the live food too, just in case the scraps are not enough for them and watch for any uneaten or partially eaten bodies in the tank.

I wouldn't do it as I prefer to hand feed the octopuses. I fel it gives me a much better idea of how they are doing and they are far more likely to be active when they link my presence with food.

This may just be personal opinion though.

C