Invisible Bimac

[jjensen6823]

Well, another update. My octo is now growing rapidly and much more active. Mantle is the size of a quarter or maybe a little larger. Tentacles are close to 4". I've been feeding him by hand, one thawed krill per day (if I give him a second, he either ignores it, or eats it but won't eat the next day, so I guess one is enough for now). At first, he wouldn't take the food from me. I had to move slowly right up next to his hiding spot. Lately, he has taken to ignoring the food and grabbing my finger! I think he wants to pull me into the tank! A week or so ago I added some lengths of 3/4" pvc and a couple elbows to give him something interesting to do. Tonight when I went to feed him, he was in a tube for the first time, and when he grabbed my finger, he yanked it all the way into the pvc before I knew what hit me. Well, actually, he pulled the PVC up off the bottom, and over the finger....

For those of you who hand feed your octo (Chris), have you ever been bitten? Are they just playing, or do they actually see a finger as a food item? If he wants to play, I'm glad to oblige, though he was sucking on my finger so hard I was afraid he'd leave sucker marks. But if he's going to bite me, maybe I should keep my finger away from his mouth? Any thoughts?

Jim

 

[Kevomac]

Biff the bimac does the some thing. If I let him get hold of me he will crawl all over my hand and try to pull me into the tank. The last time I did this, He tried to pull my hand apart after he figured out how to pull my fingers apart. It didn't hurt, and no he never bites me. He will not let go, however, and I have to pull my hand out of the tank with him holding on, at which time he spits water at me and eventually lets go. It's cool when I have fifteen minutes or so to let him check me out. Most of the time I don't.

 

[alligator]

I'd love to stick my hand in there - but it freaks me out! I'm afraid I will either (1) be bitten; (2) pull off one of his legs, or (3) make him ink.

Maybe I'll try to get up enough nerve tonight. After all, he's only about 1/1000 of my size!

 

[Kevomac]

Your only real risk is inking. Biff has put out small amounts of ink before but I have a 120 with about 35 gal. in the sump, so it quickly disperses and disappears in my tank.