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just watched this YouTube - my pet octopus playing/eating
omg i want an octopus so bad
omg i want an octopus so bad
anyone have a pet octopus??? (or any cephalopod for that matter)
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I never own an octopus before but i heard keeping them alive is quite tricky and their life span is usually quite short too.
this site might help: Octopus Basics -- Keeping an Octopus as a Pet
this site might help: Octopus Basics -- Keeping an Octopus as a Pet
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octopus er cuttlefish
never had an octopus b4 couldn't find any at lfs but have successfully kept few cuttlefish that grew to 2+ inches from egg stage and just as abruptly kicked their buckets within a year's time. voracious little beasts that hunted down all the little shorecrabs i could throw into tank. shortlived they may be but i had tons of fun watching them and feeding them those crabs dinners.
never had an octopus b4 couldn't find any at lfs but have successfully kept few cuttlefish that grew to 2+ inches from egg stage and just as abruptly kicked their buckets within a year's time. voracious little beasts that hunted down all the little shorecrabs i could throw into tank. shortlived they may be but i had tons of fun watching them and feeding them those crabs dinners.
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I once saw one at hidden reef before they went out of buisness. It was around $500, they had it in a 10g biocube. They are really hard to take care of though. I looked into them b/c my aunts friend had one many years ago then it died or something, it was huge though and in a 600g 12ft tank all by itself. This one looks in good shape though, never seen that kind before.
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Had one a few years ago.
Observations:
Octopus are mostly nocturnal, so really quite boring as pets - only see them at feeding time. Rest of the time they're hiding in their cave.
Octopus are escape artists and can fit through any opening their beak can squeeze through.
Octopus have short lifespans (most live a year, breed then die). By the time the Octopus gets to the pet shop, its several months old so you're buying a temporary pet (will live under good conditions for another few months).
Octopus need to be in a species tank. They will pretty much eat any fish or crustacean you put inside the tank.
Octopus are very, very smart.
On the other hand, when they are active, Octopus are extremely cool.
King Ed's can order them in for you if you have a species tank for it (ask Robert).
Anthony
Observations:
Octopus are mostly nocturnal, so really quite boring as pets - only see them at feeding time. Rest of the time they're hiding in their cave.
Octopus are escape artists and can fit through any opening their beak can squeeze through.
Octopus have short lifespans (most live a year, breed then die). By the time the Octopus gets to the pet shop, its several months old so you're buying a temporary pet (will live under good conditions for another few months).
Octopus need to be in a species tank. They will pretty much eat any fish or crustacean you put inside the tank.
Octopus are very, very smart.
On the other hand, when they are active, Octopus are extremely cool.
King Ed's can order them in for you if you have a species tank for it (ask Robert).
Anthony
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I had a pet pacific small octopus (cold water, if the Hermosa pier in Los Angeles can be considered cold). They would wrap around the bait at night and get caught in the hook; so this old Chinese guy had one in his bucket and I brought him home to a twenty gallon saltwater I had already setup.
He recognized me: mottle pattern was different for me as opposed to visitors. When I left Santa Monica I let him go at the pier and came north to Vancouver! I had him for over a year and he was the size of my hand palm.
His name was Aristotle, after the internal beak they have i.e. Aristotle's lantern!
And that, Antony, was before you were ever born!
He recognized me: mottle pattern was different for me as opposed to visitors. When I left Santa Monica I let him go at the pier and came north to Vancouver! I had him for over a year and he was the size of my hand palm.
His name was Aristotle, after the internal beak they have i.e. Aristotle's lantern!
And that, Antony, was before you were ever born!
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i was told that if you give an octopus a peanut butter jar with food inside it can figure out how to twist off the lid and get to the food
Mike deGruy: Hooked by an octopus | Video on TED.com rly cool octopus video
Mike deGruy: Hooked by an octopus | Video on TED.com rly cool octopus video
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Me too! It would be nice to have an octopus if only I can afford to keep them 
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There are a few videos of this on youtube like the one right here:
YouTube - My Octopus opening a container to get a crab!!
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woh... awesome
thx man
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holy crap they can eat a shark
YouTube - Giant Octopus Eats Sharks at Aquarium
YouTube - Giant Octopus Eats Sharks at Aquarium
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When I worked at a local pet store some years back. It had a blue ringed octopus.
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Octopus in general are quite hardy. As Anthony pointed out there are basic issues with them that can make viewing them a challenge. Their lifespan is also an issue and if you are unlucky enough to get a pregnant female, she expires shortly after giving birth.
They are VERY smart and can be trained to do almost anything. I knew of one at a clam hatchery in the Pacific that would leave it's pond each night, crawl out of the water, crawl into the next adjacent pond and eat a clam or two, then return back to it's original pond.
VERY SMART!
They are VERY smart and can be trained to do almost anything. I knew of one at a clam hatchery in the Pacific that would leave it's pond each night, crawl out of the water, crawl into the next adjacent pond and eat a clam or two, then return back to it's original pond.
VERY SMART!
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North Pacific Giant Octopus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Only a 3 - 5 year lifespan in the wild. They probably get a new one every so often. It's not like they're hard to find around these waters or that you'd be able to tell one from another.
Aquarium lifespan is even shorter as others have mentioned. You'd be lucky to get a year out of an octopus purchased at an LFS.
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is it just the females that die after laying eggs? do the males die after mating? maybe if you got a male it would live longer? or a female that never got prego?
idk, i can see myself getting really attached to one of these itd be a shame to have it die so fast
idk, i can see myself getting really attached to one of these itd be a shame to have it die so fast
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Its really the luck of the draw (ie. whatever the collectors catch & the distributor ships to the LFS) that will determine what is available. Usually, they won't name the species of octopus or be able to tell gender or precise age. You'd have to do a lot of research before you go look for one and if you special order, you pretty much have to take what is ordered. If its already there as part of a regular order, you can take your time to decide whether or not it fits what you've learned about IDing your ideal specimen.
The giant Pacific octopus live longer (perhaps longest of the family), but who is set up to keep one of these. Most will come from tropical seas (the LFS ones), NOT local waters.
If you're really interested in seeing the giants, either go to the VanAquarium or getting your dive ticket and do a night dive to see some of the local octopus. My friend did that last week and loved it.
BTW, my octopus loved the small shore crabs I collected from local beaches and kept in a clean container of filtered saltwater.
The giant Pacific octopus live longer (perhaps longest of the family), but who is set up to keep one of these. Most will come from tropical seas (the LFS ones), NOT local waters.
If you're really interested in seeing the giants, either go to the VanAquarium or getting your dive ticket and do a night dive to see some of the local octopus. My friend did that last week and loved it.
BTW, my octopus loved the small shore crabs I collected from local beaches and kept in a clean container of filtered saltwater.
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