Not a shark - but a unique critter - and the forum's been slow!

[Jabba954]

So, this is my other aquatic critter besides the sharks and rays - Augustus - a young octopus vulgaris. Full size he should reach 6-8' arm span! Right now he's about 1' across, and very interactive - he pops out to grab crabs from my hand, and to watch him change color/texture is UNREAL.

And to make this thread shark relevant, I just picked up a whitetip reef from turbo - hopefully he'll be on his way in the next 2 weeks.

 

[GhostShrimpMan]

Awesome! How long have you had him, sadly most octopi in captivity don't live longer than a couple of years.

 

[Salt Life]

nice!

 

[Jabba954]

He's about 5 months old - thankfully this is a "long-lived" species, which means he should live ~24 months. I've kept a few before - unfortunately they've been adults when I've received them, meaning I only got to enjoy them for a few months before dying (the sad part about keeping octos).

The real downside to octo keeping is that when you order an octopus online, you NEVER know what you're getting - it's like ordering a shark and not knowing if you're getting a fully grown bamboo shark, or a juvie bull shark. This time I got lucky!

 

[sikoko]

where do you order from

 

[Jabba954]

This guy came from Tom's Caribbean - which is a highly respected place for Octopi. It was actually supposed to be O. Briareus, but I got lucky, so to speak.

 

[jayfb]

what is he in a tank with.

 

[Jabba954]

what is he in a tank with.

Rock, sand, and saltwater...

And some hermits that he has zero interest in.

The bigger shells are empty.

 

[fish keeper]

Nice vulgaris.I have a small mercatoris now.Octopusus are awsome!

 

[Deano1956]

cool critter!