O.briareus photos and video

andrewkw · Dec 19, 2010

I have had this guy close to 3 months. I used to keep dwarf cuttlefish but after they didn't lay eggs I decided to try something new. Today was the first time I saw him on the glass.

He was out for a good hour and a half. For the first 6 weeks or so I NEVER saw him. Never at all. Not at night, not during the day nothing. Slowly but surely he has been coming around. Now I see him at least a bit everyday. He will peak his head out of his den during the day but at night is when he is most active.

He didn't mind the room lights on when I shot this video. It's still pretty grainy but hopefully soon he will start to come out during the day. When I first got him he had just 6 arms, but the other 2 have grown back completely. He eats live fiddler crabs as well as regular uncooked shrimp off a stick.

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andrewkw · Dec 23, 2010

Some videos of varying quality

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66deuce · Dec 24, 2010

Very cool!

andrewkw · Jan 3, 2011

Got some good photos this morning then much to my surprise he was also out during the daylight. he NEVER comes out when the tank lights are on.

First the night set :

The first few were taken at iso 1600 and relatively slow shutter speeds. I still increased the brightness and lowered the contrast to get a bit more light. The rest are with flash.

I like that one a lot even though it's dark. The room's tracklighting makes it appear the sun is rising.

andrewkw · Jan 3, 2011

Some more from today

A few are slightly out of focus but I think they still capture him well.

I haven't seen him this light green since he was a kid lol

trukgirl · Jan 6, 2011

He is really cool!!

Monster00101 · Jan 8, 2011

andrewkw said:
Some videos of varying quality

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Thats so cool. im suprised to see its takes him so long to take it off the stick. I have a zebra moray and she tries to take the stick some times too.

powerlogix · Jan 21, 2011

Nice looking octopus

rabidcrab · Jan 25, 2011

thanks for the post man this gave back really fond memories of my first octopus. Same species, I had him for nearly 2 years. He was the happiest and coolest animal ever. I taught him several tricks.

How did you get yours? LFS or catch? I caught mine in the fla keys, he was a baby - the size of a golf ball.

andrewkw · Jan 25, 2011

rabidcrab said:
thanks for the post man this gave back really fond memories of my first octopus. Same species, I had him for nearly 2 years. He was the happiest and coolest animal ever. I taught him several tricks.

How did you get yours? LFS or catch? I caught mine in the fla keys, he was a baby - the size of a golf ball.

LFS I'm very far from the ocean, and even further from where they live.

I let him grab my hand yesterday for the first time. I thought about petting his head, but I think he was thinking of taking a bite.

rabidcrab · Jan 26, 2011

andrewkw said:
LFS I'm very far from the ocean, and even further from where they live.

I let him grab my hand yesterday for the first time. I thought about petting his head, but I think he was thinking of taking a bite.

Nice! Ya I found mine under a rock on the beach right in the shore line. I was taking an after noon walk on my last night in the keys and turned over this rock to find a baby octopus. At the time I didnt know anything about them and I really had wanted one for the past couple months. After turning over his rock, I quickly looked around for something to put him in, and found a trash Styrofoam cup.

I taught mine to change colors on request; from blue to red to brown and greenish. I taught him to reach out of the water for food, and to open jars.

He loved to latch on to my hand and Im pretty sure he would have taken a bite of my hand if I didnt always pull away. By the time he was about a year and a half old I had to use all my strength to pull my hand away from him, or I usually just moved his arms by an anemone and they stung him off lol

andrewkw · Jan 26, 2011

I fed him by hand yesterday and the food was shrimp not my hand!

I really like how this picture turned out, but I'm still trying to get a perfect shot of him he never wants to co-operate though.

andrewkw · Jan 28, 2011

New pics

I thought I took a lot more pictures, but I did get a few decent. I really need better lenses

It's too bad my glass was not cleaner

I always seem to get the flash in the pic too, here's a 10 minute photoshop job

cropped to be panoramic (and hide other cosmetic imperfections in the photo)

There might be a few more. Today I will clean up the glass in the hopes he makes another extended visit hopefully at an earlier time.

andrewkw · Jan 29, 2011

I know that last one is out of focus but I love the pose.

The last pic you can see that he is eating a large piece of shrimp.

andrewkw · Feb 7, 2011

New pics at iso 3200 and 1/10 shutter speed. Super slow so if he moved it would blur.

That last one was at 1/30th what a mistake could have been a real nice one. It's very rare for me to see him on the rocks like this.

Too bad my hand reflection is in that one.

All of the pictures were taken through the front pane which I always try and do since its starphire (not sure if it really makes a difference for photos but there's usually less water to shoot through vs a side shot), however I would keep checking him out from the side. Every time I would he'd turn either his head or eyes to maintain eye contact or at least so he could see where I was.

andrewkw · Feb 13, 2011

First a couple from yesterday :

This just looks awkward

Maybe my favorite photo yet

Fed a couple more fiddlers today. I've had them for months and months so I should burn through them before they die. The filter on their tank died and I don't plan on replacing it, however the small amount of water is still clear and does not smell. There's probably another aquaclear in my basement somewhere I should check...

I don't put the lid on the jar one because i think it's made of copper and two I'm not sure if he would be able to get it off. He has been hesitant at times to go in the jar and prefers to reach in and pull the crab out.

andrewkw · Feb 18, 2011

I tried to get an accurate measurement of his mantle but the silly guy is afraid of the tape. The camera flash doesn't bother him but measuring tape even on the outside of the glass does...

I'd estimate his mantle is about 2.5" I know arm to arm he can reach about 27" maybe more if he's fully stretched out.

wedwards · Feb 18, 2011

That is amazing!!! Making me want one! haha

andrewkw · Feb 20, 2011

So the last couple of days have been pretty interesting. Yesterday it looked like it was snowing in the tank. I looked a little closer and there are tiny suction cups everywhere. He shed his skin.

This morning, he was going absolutely crazy. I watched him for a good hour, he went everywhere in the tank, going in an out of holes, almost like he was showing me what he can still fit through even though he's so much bigger now. He also reached the bottom of the tank right to the top. (24" high but I already knew his arms were that long). He did many different colour changes and puffed up to make himself look even bigger. I took several photos but really wanted to get some video. Unfortunately all I have is a crappy pocket hd camcorder that does TERRIBLE in low light. I took a couple of videos then used a little 10k dymax led light with the camera and got a few decent shots. I thought about turning on the tank lights early but did not want to screw with the timer.

After watching for a bit longer I gave him a piece of shrimp. Now this was really unexpected. He swam up to my arm and grabbed it with all 8 of his. Usually he holds on with 2-3 arms and uses the rest to brace himself against the rock so I can't pull him towards me. This time he was going all out. I could not hold my ground, well I probably could but was not going to injure him. So in I went and I thought for sure I was going to get bit but once I let go of the shrimp in my hand he eventually let me go.

I really really wish I could have video taped that but unlike my octopus I only have 2 arms so it could not be done.

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and some new photos

At first he didn't want his picture taken :

but then he must have realized a meal was coming

andrewkw · Feb 24, 2011

O.briareus photos and video

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