# Blue Ringed Octopus?



## LEdwards (Jan 6, 2009)

Didnt know weather to post this in the DWA, or the Other Animal section, but does anyone keep them? Im not wanting to keep them, too dangerous for me. Im just wondering, how hard are they to keep? What kind of conditions do they need? etc


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## Esfa (Apr 15, 2007)

Octopuses are, as a whole, difficult to keep.
They are amazing escape artists, and also somewhat sensitive.

They are also amazingly hard to import as they get stressed easily, and are expensive.

Not really worth it for such a short life span!


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## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

Extremely deadly amazing escape artists? Should be fun :whistling2:

I dont personally know of anyone, or anywhere, that keeps them. Maybe some Australian zoo does or something? I'll have a quick gander...

EDIT: posted at the same time there young'un.

EDIT2: Ner, according to google I dont think so. Some guy said he saw one in a LFS, but that was it. I cant see of any.


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## TUBBS (Mar 16, 2009)

The only place i know definately kept them was the NMA (National Marine Aquarium in plymouth) but that was a while ago and they haven't bought more in


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## Jack the kipper (Aug 26, 2008)

I'm pretty sure the Anglesey Sea Zoo keep octopus.


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## ryanr1987 (Mar 7, 2009)

I Have never known or heard of anyone keeping one captive, I would imagine that this species would get very stressed due to them being a tide pool dweller? It might feel like its being hunted


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## The Chillinator (Jun 26, 2008)

Octopuses are extremely difficult to keep, as Esfa has said they are also excellent escape artists. They also don't have very long lifespans so it is rather upsetting when they die, as it is easy to become attached to them.

To keep one successfully you will need to quite a bit of research into the subject, marine fishkeeping requires a lot of time, patience and money. Marine organisms such as fish and invertebrates come from an environment which hardly ever changes chemically. This makes them somewhat sensitive to large or sudden changes.


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## Matt Lusty (Aug 20, 2008)

They had them for sale at my local aquarium stockist about 6 months ago. Not sure what species, but it did have a warning on the tank. It was very small aswell.


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## DaveM (Oct 18, 2006)

I wouldn't risk it even if you could get them, there are fatalities recorded with them, they are small and all octopusses (octopi?) are good escape artists, I must stress again that if you have one slip up with them, there is a high chance a bite from one will kill you


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## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

DaveM said:


> octopusses (octopi?)





> Although it is often supposed that octopi is the 'correct' plural of octopus, and it has been in use for longer than the usual Anglicized plural octopuses, it in fact originates as an error. _Octopus_ is not a simple Latin word of the second declension, but a Latinized form of the Greek word _oktopous_, and its 'correct' plural would logically be _*octopodes*_.


AskOxford: What are the plurals of 'octopus', 'hippopotamus', 'syllabus'?

Though, I always say "octopusses", and hear others saying the same


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## DaveM (Oct 18, 2006)

AshMashMash said:


> AskOxford: What are the plurals of 'octopus', 'hippopotamus', 'syllabus'?
> 
> Though, I always say "octopusses", and hear others saying the same




cheers for that dude : victory:


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## photographymatt (Mar 6, 2006)

I dont think any water dwelling creature is DWA as the dwa is there to protect the public. Most fish etc would die in a short time out of water so wouldnt pose much of a risk to the public.

I dont think great white sharks are on the dwa either, but no one on here would argue they can be dangerous. The lion fish is regularly avaible in most pet/fish shops I see, go touch that dorsal spine thou

if you have kept octopus before, and keep a no-hands approach to it, I would guess no harder than any other oct?

gorgous creatures thou, the reason Ill make sure I have underwater case/underwater camera by the time I go to that part of the world.


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## essexchondro (Apr 9, 2007)

> I dont think any water dwelling creature is DWA as the dwa is there to protect the public. Most fish etc would die in a short time out of water so wouldnt pose much of a risk to the public.
> 
> I dont think great white sharks are on the dwa either, but no one on here would argue they can be dangerous. The lion fish is regularly avaible in most pet/fish shops I see, go touch that dorsal spine thou:smile:
> 
> ...




You need a DWAL to keep (venomous) sea snakes.


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## photographymatt (Mar 6, 2006)

they can survive out of water long enough to do damage?


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## essexchondro (Apr 9, 2007)

> they can survive out of water long enough to do damage?


They breath air (don't have gills) so I assume wouldn't die as quickly as a fish but they're pretty imobile on land. I was just making the point that there _are_ water dwelling creatures covered by the DWA.


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## photographymatt (Mar 6, 2006)

essexchondro said:


> They breath air (don't have gills) so I assume wouldn't die as quickly as a fish but they're pretty imobile on land. I was just making the point that there _are_ water dwelling creatures covered by the DWA.


 
I have seen them on land, on videos and photographs I mean. I think they would dry out maybe? but would get a good distance before they did.


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## essexchondro (Apr 9, 2007)

True sea snakes are 100% aquatic. Some other species are largely aquatic but do come on land to lay eggs.


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## eco_tonto (Aug 1, 2008)

I could be wrong but i am pretty sure matt is right, when i got a list of animals on the DWA i didnt see the blue ring or any other venomous marine invert or fish, i dont think sharks even DWA! But saying that neither is a komodo dragon (to the best of my knowledge), but good luck getting one! :lol2:


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## owlbassboy (Jun 26, 2008)

mate of mine on another forum found this on an american clam site and supposedly the guy is still alive.


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## essexchondro (Apr 9, 2007)

> I could be wrong but i am pretty sure matt is right, when i got a list of animals on the DWA i didnt see the blue ring or any other venomous marine invert or fish, i dont think sharks even DWA! But saying that neither is a komodo dragon (to the best of my knowledge), but good luck getting one! :lol2:


I was simply pointing out that Matt's statement that there aren't any water dwelling animals on the DWA is not correct. Sea snakes _are_ covered by the DWA and they _are_ water dwelling animals...everything included in the family _Hydrophiidae_ is covered by the DWA, I believe.


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## jamestheball (Apr 28, 2009)

I would imagine they would be extremely difficult to import, and not only are they escape artists they are very small (No bigger than a tennis ball). They can kill within an hour so i wouldn't want to keep one.


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## owlbassboy (Jun 26, 2008)

way back in the day when live rock was imported from australia apparantly they used to appear as hitchhikers quite often.


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## eco_tonto (Aug 1, 2008)

essexchondro said:


> I was simply pointing out that Matt's statement that there aren't any water dwelling animals on the DWA is not correct. Sea snakes _are_ covered by the DWA and they _are_ water dwelling animals...everything included in the family _Hydrophiidae_ is covered by the DWA, I believe.


Oh sorry mate, i had miss read your post, yeah right you are :2thumb:


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## Joe1507 (Aug 11, 2008)

are they not classed as invertebrates?


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## Caz (May 24, 2007)

Yes they are an invertebrate - cephalopods.
Not on DWA.
Imported regularly by some of the large marine fish importers. Around £300.
Don't live long and not easy to keep.
See: TONMO.com: The Octopus News Magazine Online - very good octo/squid/cuttle web site :2thumb:
HTH


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## xyra (Apr 26, 2007)

AshMashMash said:


> AskOxford: What are the plurals of 'octopus', 'hippopotamus', 'syllabus'?
> 
> Though, I always say "octopusses", and hear others saying the same



As I understand it octopus contains sections from both latin (if all latin it would be octopuses) and greek (if all greek it would be octopi), because of this apparently the correct term is 'octopodes'. Can't remember where i read this/who told me it


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