Blue Ringed Octopus

[dsaundry]

Cephalopods; Not an ideal speciman to keep at all, but the bottom line imo is this, there are a lot of species that are not ideal to keep but a lot of people do. If you know the dangers and accept the consequences it ultimately boils down to your decision. I have not seen to many tanks that are escape proof for a cephalopod, very difficult to do, and if you have kids it is a silly creature to have in the house. Just my 2cents worth.

[michika]

Originally Posted by gobytron

They have one at Big Als in Burnaby right now for 39.99.
I set up a 32 gallon tank with about 40lbs of LR with the expectation that I am going to buy this thing and house it all by itself, I'll bu using an xp1 for flow and to hide the heater and pack in some lr rubble and I will be using a prizm pro skimmer for filtration
I've definitely escape proofed the tank, just wondering if anyone has experience with these deadly creatures?

Research & Education Fail!

Dawinian Win?

[Ron99]

Yep, don't get bitten by it. They are not overly aggressive but they are extremely poisonous. The toxin will stop your breathing within a short time and unless you get put on a respirator (which you will likely have to be kept on anywhere from a few days to a few weeks) you will die. Their toxin is one of the most potent neurotoxins known. I used to work with it and it came packed in a glass vial that was then sealed inside a foil bag which was then placed in a metal can with alot of padding. It's dangerous stuff.

Big Al's is being really irresponsible if you ask me. Blue ringed octopus in Burnaby, barracuda in Richmond. I think I will email the president of the company about this as they are not doing the hobby any favours. How about a mass email campaign to the company?

[Ron99]

Damn, Ian, you beat me to it with a much more detailed answer :-)

[OceanicCorals-Ian-]

Originally Posted by Ron99

Damn, Ian, you beat me to it with a much more detailed answer :-)

LOL, More like a copy and paste for me! Different answer same result!

[gobytron]

well aware of how poisonous they are...
thanks for the recap though.

and what is dawinian?
I think you meant darwinian?
sounds like you yourself might want to chalk one up for ol' darwin.
or maybe you could point out where I went to wrong in my set up rather than sit safely on the sidelines and point with your friends?
You guys act like I haven't read up about this animal, but I have and I am undaunted, even by this gregarious board.

Okay, so they are poisonous
anything else?

again, hopefully something beyond the herd mentality of it's too scary and nobody does it, so don't do it?

I know you're all enjoying a laugh together here but I am going to purchase this animal, The tank is and will be escape proof and I have no kids and don't plan on hand feeding, petting or interacting with this creature beyond feeding it, keeping it mentally stimulated and ensuring water quality, so if anyone can offer me some advise on how to keep it alive for as long possible (up to three years from my research) please do.

[Todd]

Originally Posted by gobytron

and what is dawinian?
I think you meant darwinian?
sounds like you yourself might want to chalk one up for ol' darwin.
You guys act like I haven't read up about this animal, but I have and I am undaunted, even by this gregarious board.

Big words for someone living in vacnouver.

[KPG007]

Originally Posted by gobytron

well aware of how poisonous they are...
thanks for the recap though.

and what is dawinian?
I think you meant darwinian?
sounds like you yourself might want to chalk one up for ol' darwin.
You guys act like I haven't read up about this animal, but I have and I am undaunted, even by this gregarious board.

Okay, so they are poisonous
anything else?

again, hopefully something beyond the herd mentality of it's too scary and nobody does it, so don't do it?

Spelling corrections from a guy who lives in Vacnouver.....

I think the people on here are just pointing out the extreme danger of the animal, as you have not made it clear (until your last post) that you understand them.
As for input, if you're willing to take on the risk, go for it. Let us know how it works out. Post some pics too, I'd love to see it!

[TheRealBigAL]

*edit

[Delphinus]

I sincerely hope that this is a case of mistaken identity.

I saw a bluering octopus once at a vendor when I first entered the hobby some ten years ago or so. Beautiful creatures but to be honest I would not say more so than any other small octopus species. There are so many other options available for small species of octopus that realistically offer the same enjoyment but don't pose such a serious risk of instant-death to the unsuspecting consumer. In this case I don't think it was offered for sale, it was a bycatch or whatever, one of those "it was in the box." (In this day and age, I can't believe that this sort of thing would show up as a sustitution or whatever.)

In any case, I don't think this is something that should be offered so casually as a "look what's available this week" sort of thing. IMO this species shouldn't be available.. there are others that are less dangerous and I dunno, but an octopus is octopus .. is it really necessary to have the machismo associated with keeping a bluering? I can't really understand any other reason why one would want one.

Jus my $0.02. I'm really hoping it's just a case of mistaken identity.