What does the change in color mean and why is it apart of your measurment? Is that your octopus in the picture? / Do the varying color changes indicate levels of well-being or stimulation? What affects these changes?
Octopus change color depending on their mood and activity level. My octopus will be measured on a 1-3 basis. 1 being white, 2 being spotted/mottled with color and 3 being a dark, purple red. White generally means the octopus is inactive/sleeping or uninterested. Spotted/mottles means that he is somewhat interested and moving around the tank exploring with some interest and dark purple/red means they are highly active and interested. The color can definitely indicate well being. The darker the octopus, the happier and more stimulated he is! Things that can affect these changes are abrupt changes. They are curious animals but as with most animals, quick movements and changes can frighten them and they will turn white. And yes! That is my wonderful octopus! :)
How does he see his food if his eyes are on the side of his head? Could this be a problem inside the tank that he can't see it? What do octopus see?
Although the octopus has eyes on the sides of its head, his pupils are actually faced horizontally. The cool thing is that no matter what position the body of the octopus is in, their eyes will rotate to stay horizontal. Its like if you put a marble in the bottom of a large ball and turn it, the marble always stays at the bottom while the ball rotates. So, even if the octopus is upside-down, they still see right side up! They also have a very well-developed nervous system so they can recognize objects and can learn behavior. So I can't tell you exactly what they can see, but I can tell you that since I've been working with my octopus so much, he actually recognizes me and knows who I am! :) (Best thing ever.)
What kinds of stimuli and "playtime" would an octopus find in it's natural environment? / How do you play with him? What do you do to get him to move around?
Stimuli really consists of new objects and environmental stimuli that are different from their usual habitat. In the wild, shells and different objects laying on the ocean floor can be used for play. For my experiment, using my hand and colorful toys such as baby toys make them very curious and they will almost always come out to see what is new in their territory. My hand seems to be his favorite!
Why does the octopus not bother the small fish in the same tank? Are common octopi solely crustacean eaters or is he simple not able to catch them to make a meal out of them?
Honestly, I would have to get back to you on this one! I will write it in another post. All I can say is that octopus like crustaceans the most, but will eat fish is they can catch them. We just feed him raw fish, so they are not a priority. But as of tomorrow, the fish in his tank will be taken out because I have actually noticed that the fish have been biting at his eyes and not making him a very happy octopus :(
Do 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?
Yes, octopus live by themselves. They are very territorial animals so other than mating, octopus prefer to be alone otherwise they will unfortunately fight to the death.
When you say "live food with puzzle," what do you mean? What type of puzzle/live food will you give him?
When I say "live food with a puzzle" I am referring to putting live food (live shrimp or crabs) in a jar, hamster ball or snorkel tube so that the octopus has to figure out how to open them and retrieve his food. This helps with stimulating/playing with him at the same time as feeding him and working his intelligent brains!
Keep them coming! I love all of the questions I can get!
Is there anything that would distinguish the gender of an octopus and is so what are the features?
ReplyDeleteKatrina Dill OCE1001 SP15
Taylor--nice job of answering your questions. Would it be possible for you to post a video of the enrichment process? e.g., placing a toy in the tank and watching your octopus' reaction and movements?
ReplyDeleteSince an octopus has eight legs does this increase it's overall strength compared to other sea creatures the same size? If so, what is the comparision. Also, does it have the strength to overpower something larger in size?
ReplyDeleteKatrina Dill Sec 01
Are there behavioral differences between the sexes of octopus? If your octopus were a female, would it cause different results to stimuli?
ReplyDelete-Bethany Cobb, Sec 1
Dana P. sec. 50. I just need to know about that head! What's the deal with it? in one picture it seems to be holding carrots while in all others it seems to drag it around. Is there a brain in there or what? And why does it drag it around rather than hold it upright like all other animals?
ReplyDelete