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| My Octopus Octavius! |
Scientific Question:
Does changing the octopus feeding
conditions increase enrichment and exploration periods?
Enrichment pertains to giving animals in captivity stimulus (toys, playtime, puzzles) to increase happiness and health while living in a constant environment. I am studying octopus because they adapt quickly to their environments, are very intelligent and can become "bored" and unhappy which will decrease their health and make them self-destructive. (Examples of this are: hitting their heads against the sides of the tank and swimming sporadically around the tank).
So for three weeks, I will be studying a common octopus at the Marine Science Center. He is very anti-social at the moment since he is new to the tank, so we hope that this experiment will increase his activity and become more social in the tank with the other animals.
Each week, I will be changing the octopus food.
(Fed twice a day)
—Week 1:
Raw food
—Week
2: Live
food
—Week
3: Live food
with
puzzle
—I will then be measuring how far out of his den/level of activity he is throughout the day(0-100%) and what color he is from 1-3 ( 1= white, 2= speckled 3= dark purple/red.)
Then I will be timing enrichment periods. These periods are where I will be playing with him. This happens in between feedings and I will time how long it takes for him to begin playing with the toy and how long he actually plays for.
Eric L. section 50--what does the change in color mean and why is it a part of your measurement? and is that your octopus in the picture?
ReplyDeleteJanice P. sec. 02. Hi Taylor--this is so cool that you get to work with an octopus! My question is that I wonder when I look at the octopus and wonder about his vision. Seems his eyes are on the side of his head. how does he even see his food? Could this be a problem inside the tank that he can't find it. What do octopus see?
ReplyDeleteLee OCE 1001 50 Taylor, do the varying color changes indicate levels of well being or stimulation. What affects these changes?
ReplyDeleteAmber C. Section 50
ReplyDeleteWhat kinds of stimuli and "play time" would an octopus find in its natural environment? Something along those lines may make him feel more at home! I hate to hear that he's not acclimating well, I hope what you're doing helps him!
Mitch OCE1001 Sec. 01
ReplyDeleteHi Taylor! I am very interested in your IRP, as I am a volunteer at the Marine Science Center and am lucky enough to get to work with this very octopus. As I'm sure you know, the octopus is housed with some small blennies and damselfish and my question to you is: Why does the octopus not bother the small fish? Are common octopi solely crustacean eaters or is he simply not able to catch them to make a meal out of them?
Any answer would be appreciated. Thanks!
Marta Fagundo sec 65 Very cool topic, my question is how do you play with him? What do you do to get him to move around?
ReplyDeleteDo octopuses usually live by themselves or with other octopuses? Would having “friends” (other octopuses) in the tank with him help to lessen his boredom or would it make him mad?
ReplyDeleteAnna S. Sec. 01
Also, when you say “live food with puzzle”, what do you mean? What type of puzzle/live food will you give him? I'm really interested in how this works, so any answer will be greatly appreciated!
ReplyDeleteAnna S. Sec. 01
Do any octopuses have suction cups under their head? Also, how strong are their suction cups? Could you incorporate the ability of their suction cups in any way to encourage activity/enrichment, (like maybe something sticky they had to get off of their suction cups or something to swing/hang on)? It’s alright if you don’t have time to answer the first few questions, but I am really curious about the last question. Thank you! :)
ReplyDeleteAnna S. Sec. 01