Octopus briareus photos and videos

[corpusse]

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.

Not sure how to post youtube links into the thread but here are the videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6J-gtcS9Zg&hd=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz8VHt_1SUM&hd=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9MdbdXzqyo&hd=1

and some new photos

At first he didn't want his picture taken :



but then he must have realized a meal was coming

[Funky_Fish14]

Great pictures! And really cool story!

You oughta give yourself more credit with the videos, the ones taken with the light are totally great man! Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,

Chris

[corpusse]

Finally got a hand feeding video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7inUFjSY_po&hd=1

[corpusse]

Another new video, not as cool as the hand feeding one, but still not bad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA1PEH5bVEA&hd=1

I've taken a ton of pictures - I photograph this guy so much as he's just that cool to watch. I will post some new ones shortly.

[corpusse]

Another quick hand feeding video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKKO1Bm5V1c

I'm was very surprised he came right out for the food right away. I was in a rush to feed him before work and he came out quick and grabbed it and then retreated to consume it.

I'm less afraid of being bitten these days.

[corpusse]

I'm 99.99% sure he will not bite. The fact there has not been a recorded bite with this relatively common species, the fact he didn't bite my hand when it smelled like shrimp and he crawled over it to get to the shrimp and now this :

Originally I was planning on feeding him tonight since he now does come out during the day with coaxing but I was vacuuming and he came out to see what all the commotion was so I got out the camera and took some videos. I also noticed I still have a ton of crabs in my fiddler tank, which I rarely if ever feed.

First I got this video of him swimming around.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gixiowERJOA&hd=1

Then I decided to see what would happen if I put my hand in without food. After a few seconds he came over to explore pulled me a bit let me touch him as well and did not show any signs of aggression. I was pretty sure he was hungry as it had been a day and a half since he ate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WOH-WXSlRA&hd=1

After the video I went and grabbed one of my crabs, put him in a jar and put him in. I didn't think it would go by this fast but the 42 second video came out great!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBrxhKTg9XY&hd=1

I will lookout for a jar with a lid this weekend. I'll also try to wait until sunday night to feed him again, Since the crab was a lot smaller then his usual meal of large shrimp he may even come out tonight for a feeding.

[fishoholic]

Very cool critter, great pic.'s and video's

[paddyob]

Wow. I want one.

How much is an animal like that?

Asides from tight fitting tops, etc... how have you found the care level?

Very interested to know.

[corpusse]

Originally Posted by paddyob

Wow. I want one.

How much is an animal like that?

Asides from tight fitting tops, etc... how have you found the care level?

Very interested to know.

Care is very easy. Only real issue is you probably have to start with live food and endure several weeks or months of no sightings. This is the main reason for the live food, it's not that he won't eat dead it's you won't see them until they are comfortable.

I haven't posted in a while, mostly due to being busy and or sick.

Only thing new is he lost the tip of one of his arms to a powerhead. No big deal. It's regenerating.

I have still been taking tons of photos and videos, now I"ll try and get around to sorting through them and posting some good ones. It's now been almost 7 months since I got him.













One cool thing that has happened is he finally let me pick him up completely (still in the water) Usually he will keep a couple arms on the glass or rock so he can not be pulled too far but he crawled right on to my hand the other day.