pygmy octopus

[Mike Bauer]

What can anyone tell me about a pygmy octopus!
How do you tell the sex?
Can I keep one in a 10 gal tank?
How long do they live?
How big do they get?

Thanks

mtbauer@one.net

 

[OctoMonkey]

There are several species from all over the world, and could be species like mercatoris, aculeatus or joubini etc etc.

With difficulty, males have a specially adapted arm called a hectocotylus.. tricky to se on pygmies but both sexes seem to make equally good/bad pets

possibly a10 will do but its on the small side

that depends, most are caught as adults and so only live a few weeks to a month or so

depends on species average mantle 2 - 3cm and arms between 10 - 30cm


pygmies arnt the greatest of octos to keep as they are wild caught, dont live long and are antisocial comapred with others like bimaculoides

 

[Mike Bauer]

picked him/her up today

picked him/her up today

I went and got a pygmy octopus today!!!!
It is about 2 inches long total head and arms together.
I picked the smaller of the two at the store because I hoped that the smaller one was the youngest. The store owner told me they were still young and would get bigger and would live up to about one year.

At what temp should I keep the tank? Currently it is at 72 degrees. What is a good food for squirt. I put feeder guppies and small feeder shrimp in the tank for now. I have low light and live rock with lots of hiding places for squirt. Will I ever see him again or will he hide forever?

Thanks for all the help

Mike

 

[OctoMonkey]

The store owner told me they were still young and would get bigger and would live up to about one year.

hope hes right and im wrong but i think he is over confident

You should try and post some pics if you can

72 - 78 will probably be okay, cooler the better as it will live longer

the octo should start to ome out once it settles in

 

[ozadars]

good luck! some pictures would be cool

 

[cirri]

Unless it is not pgymy and the lfs was right it will get bigger. Ozadars good question any pics to see the liitle guy?

 

[Mike Bauer]

sorry no pics yet

sorry no pics yet

I will take some pics if he will ever show himself. At this time I see an arm reach out and grab something every now and then.

I don't want to move the rocks around and unset him. I home he will start comming out soon. Doesn't like the light at all. come out once about 4:00 am and I haven't seen him good since.

I have feeder guppies and some gost shrimp in the tank for a food source.

Mike

 

[cirri]

Looks like you have had him 10 days by this thread. Is he eating a lot?

P.S. now that you are an octo owner check out www.TONMO.com

 

[Mike Bauer]

My octo has eggs

My octo has eggs

Hello All

My octo now has a nest of eggs under a rock. She is garding them all the time. She never moves from that spot under her rock. Can't see the eggs much because she has her body over them but they are different sizes.

Is there a chance they will hatch?

Mike

 

[RicksReefs]

yup, my joubini's hatched out, momma died after hatching,
(which is normal) i had a few dozen hatchlings, they ate
each other until there was one.

 

[cirri]

Mkie,

Rick is right. Pgymy octos are not cative breed, and therefore could have mated before capture. In a few days you will see small black dots, about the size of a pin head. If you see these they are fertile. Do you know enough about octo tell if this a mecatoris or joubini. There are other octos to consider but I highly unlikely. GL with the eggs!!!

 

[OctoMonkey]

if the eggs are few in number and about 5 - 8mm long it will be mercatoris, lots of small eggs wil be joubini

 

[cirri]

Ello Colin,

Fancy meeting you here LOL, its neptune. you are always there with the full story aren't you?

what abour bocki eggs or some of the other pgymys?

 

[Mike Bauer]

How long do eggs take to hatch?

 

[cirri]

an average about 6 weeks

 

[OctoMonkey]

Hi Neptune... LOL yeah been hanging out at this forum for a long time too

 

[Mike Bauer]

They started hatching!!!!

They started hatching!!!!

All

There are lots of small eggs. They started hatching today. About five have hatched thus far. How do you care for these babies? What do you feed them? Should I catch and seperate them?

Mom is still alive and looking good. I didn't notice until I walked by the tank and noticed little ink clouds floating in the tank.:bum:

 

[cirri]

Congrats,
Get the some pods. or crustacean larvae

 

[saltwater sam]

Do octupuses need mates to reproduce or are they born with eggs?

 

[cirri]

Octos do need mates, however, some very young females will carry sperm with them from introduction as juv. their whole lives, for use when they are able to produce eggs.