Blue ringed octopus

[Fishfanatic]

Hey has anyone ever had one of these or know where to get one? I know they are extremly venomous but I still want one, any info on where to get one would help, thanks.

[mark]

Hard animals to keep, don't live long and can kill you. I don't know...

[fencer]

I saw one once, it was the size of loonie. The wholesaler had included a liablity waiver with it. Just in case you died from it.

[justinl]

even if i did know, it would go against my morals concerning this hobby to tell you. Im sorry, but anything that can easily kill a full grown man in under twenty minutes just shouldnt be even considered in this hobby. tell me do you have kids? any curious pets or friends that come over regularly? just because you know the dangers, doesn't mean they do.

besides unless they are agitated and freaked out, they dont show the gorgeous electric blue rings... for the most part they are just a drab brown with a less than stellar rate of activity. and they have a pretty short lifespan to boot. Have you considered a bimac?

i dont usually shoot ideas down like this, but this particular animal really gets to me. dont get me wrong, i understand the alure; they really are stunning animals, but the risks FAR outweigh any benefit you might get. this is the kind of animal only experienced researchers and mama nature should be keeping.

[bassman]

Is it worth dying to have one? Seriously, one wrong move and you are dead, not sick or in pain, dead!

Many other species out there to enjoy.

[tang daddy]

well said I'm on the boat with justinl!

While you may know the dangers of keeping this animal people around you may not, and if your kids are aware they may still wanna try, I wonder how many times someone has said don't touch it it's dangerous and 10 minutes after oops I touched it. Kids are cirious about nature and hands on, often they are courages and unaware! that's where the problem lies not to mention that octopussies are escape artists and one day you may stumble into it on the kitchen floor what do you do then?

[Der_Iron_Chef]

What they said.

[atcguy]

When I lived in aussi for 6 months I say a couple diving, and 2 in shallow tide pools. Beautiful animals that are eye candy for little kids as they see the blue rings appear, Which means they are intimidated!!!! I wouldnt go as far as saying your dead in 20 minutes . Without medical help you could be in trouble though.... Not meant for a home tank, if you want something thats dangerous but accepted in this hobby try a Lion fish. prick yourself on a spine and if you love the feeling then try a cone snail, love that move to Australia and run around in your bare feet picking up blue rings... Better yet Wear a Box Jelly as a hat... lol no in all seriousness Stick to nemo!!!

[fencer]

Forgot to mention Paly's. There is no known antitoxin for blue ring

[PzReefer]

I purchased a small blue ring in the early nineties and had it for about six months. They are not large octopuses but they do grow quickly and are a huge gamble to keep as a pet. I had one when i lived alone and still had warning signs in case of some unknowing person getting close. The biggest challenge of keeping any octopus is enclosing them to the tank. They are very intelligent and good escape artists. This is how mine finally met his demise as it found its way out to the floor and i found it after work one day in my bathroom three rooms away from where he escaped. IMO just not worth it for the risk. And most likely will perish so not worth it for the octopus either. PS by the way rings are visible when they are not aggravated but glow wildly when they are.

[Neil]

Forgot to mention Paly's.


???

[dsaundry]

Leave them in the ocean and enjoy them there. Too Dangerous!! Short lived!! and not worth risk. Plenty of other things to enjoy. One question, Have you ever had any type of octopus before? I am sure there are fellow reefers as well as stories on the net that can confirm about how poor a "pet" an octopus makes. Any Octopus! From all the responses you are getting on your thread I hope you see there arent any reefers that are pro octopus. Hope all the responses are eye openers...

[justinl]

atc, i just want to be clear. 5 minutes to paralysis, 20 to death for an average full grown man. time will vary by individual but there is no antivenom. period.

Pzreefer, yes good point, some BRs show rings all the time but it's a pretty weak display given the danger imo. Other species only flash when they need to.

fishfanatic, I sincerely hope you have changed your mind on this.

[atcguy]

when I was downunder . 2 kids got bit and survived but I am sure cpr was involved....

[Fishfanatic]

Ok 1st off I know if it bites me there is no anti venom and the only way to survive is to have CPR performed until the venom wears off. And 2nd I do not have kids and would never consider getting one if I did. The main reason I want one is because it stays small as I want to get a smaller custom cube made for it not really picking it because of the rings so if anyone now of another small easy to find for sale octopus please let me know.

[bassman]

I would look for a bimac. I had one and they are pretty neat. They aren't overly active during the day however. Most prime viewing time seemed to be at 3:00 or 4:00 AM.

Here is a link to a site with tons of info.


www.tonmo.com

[midgetwaiter]

Forgot to mention Paly's.

You know I think the biggest issue with Blue Rings is that everyone knows how dangerous they are and you'll never hear the end of it.

I say this because as Fencer pointed out there are several Paylotha species out that that have the potential to be just as deadly. Having recently experienced palytoxin exposure let me assure you it is not something to be taken lightly. I'm not sure I was in danger of death but I really thought I was at one point. How many people would have given the same response to the OP if he was showing off his new fancy disco light paly rather than asking about an octopus?

Same frag that almost got me is still in my tank btw.

Fishfanactic I have a couple of sources for small octos, several different species. PM me if you like.

[Delphinus]

I thought you had to more or less eat the paly's or ingest the slime after touching them for the neurotoxin to be bad???? Glad you're OK dude, BTW... :eek:

[dsaundry]

Ok if you are going to give him a web site to get one maybe you should also give him a web site about why not to get one. http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/bluering5.php

read it/learn it and make an informed decision, not an impulse decision.

[bassman]

Ok if you are going to give him a web site to get one maybe you should also give him a web site about why not to get one. http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/bluering5.php

read it/learn it and make an informed decision, not an impulse decision.

The link I provided was to help educate him on bimacs and other types of acceptable species.

[fishmaster]

You know I think the biggest issue with Blue Rings is that everyone knows how dangerous they are and you'll never hear the end of it.

I say this because as Fencer pointed out there are several Paylotha species out that that have the potential to be just as deadly. Having recently experienced palytoxin exposure let me assure you it is not something to be taken lightly. I'm not sure I was in danger of death but I really thought I was at one point. How many people would have given the same response to the OP if he was showing off his new fancy disco light paly rather than asking about an octopus?

Same frag that almost got me is still in my tank btw.

Fishfanactic I have a couple of sources for small octos, several different species. PM me if you like.

I would be very interested in you starting another thread on your palytoxin experience. I've read that some palytoxin's are up there with the most toxic substances known to man! Not common, but who knows which ones are the most toxic? Does anyone know where to find that kind of info? I usually wear gloves & eye protection when fragging zoa's/pally's. I'm sure I could take more precautions as well. Your experience could be valuable to the rest of us to learn from. Sorry for changing the topic a little...
Shaun.

[midgetwaiter]

I would be very interested in you starting another thread on your palytoxin experience. I've read that some palytoxin's are up there with the most toxic substances known to man! Not common, but who knows which ones are the most toxic? Does anyone know where to find that kind of info? I usually wear gloves & eye protection when fragging zoa's/pally's. I'm sure I could take more precautions as well. Your experience could be valuable to the rest of us to learn from. Sorry for changing the topic a little...
Shaun.

I thought about this but decided against it. The possibility exists that it was something else that triggered my reaction, I handled a lot of different things that day. I'm pretty certain it was the palys that did it given my reaction and the fact that I handle the other things involved regularly but I can't say 100%. I don't want to spread false info and get someone else in trouble.

I won't go into the details of the symptoms but it was unique in my experience and kept me in bed for 3 days.

As for finding out which are the dangerous ones it's tough. Palyotha Grandis is easy to id and has a bad rep in this regard but given that colour and shape of most plays seems to vary by environment I doubt you could ever identify what is dangerous and what isn't easily.

I thought you had to more or less eat the paly's or ingest the slime after touching them for the neurotoxin to be bad???? Glad you're OK dude, BTW... :eek:

Small cut on my finger. Yes I'm an idiot. :)

[NateL]

When I lived in aussi for 6 months I say a couple diving, and 2 in shallow tide pools. Beautiful animals that are eye candy for little kids as they see the blue rings appear, Which means they are intimidated!!!! I wouldnt go as far as saying your dead in 20 minutes . Without medical help you could be in trouble though.... Not meant for a home tank, if you want something thats dangerous but accepted in this hobby try a Lion fish. prick yourself on a spine and if you love the feeling then try a cone snail, love that move to Australia and run around in your bare feet picking up blue rings... Better yet Wear a Box Jelly as a hat... lol no in all seriousness Stick to nemo!!!

Haha that made me think of the Scared Weird Little Guys song-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WlW_tYEW7o