Blue ring = scary

[MacTiGGER]

I was in a LFS here in SoCal called Tongs checking out their livestock. At the very end the had octos. Two of them to be exact.

Anyway the first one was very visible in the clear cup and quite big. I couldn'
t make out the species but I know it wasn't a bimac. The second one was pressed up against his cup so all I could see was its mouth.

I decided to reach in and turn the cup around but it was held with a rubber band (I just wanted to see if it was a baby bimac). I was surprised at how agressive it was as soon and the cup started moving he stretched his legs out the holes but I still couldn't see him. After I asked the clerk to move the cup for me I looked in and it was a BLUE RING!!! I couldn't beleive they had them just sitting out there for anyone to stick their hand in! Needless to say I was more than a little freaked out. Nothing on the tank said "Danger" or "Blue Ring" just "Octopus $29.99" ...

The girl didn't seem too distraught by it, she said "It has to touch you in order to hurt you"...

Anyway that was my adrenalin rush for today. Won't be putting my hands in another tank other than mine anytime soon.

[Malofish]

Curiousity killed the cat, but not labeling a blue ring as poisonous is just plain stupid!! It also sounds that the help there's not to great?

[MacTiGGER]

Considering the tank said nothing about "blue ring" or "poisonous" etc...

yeah, stupid....

[OctoMonkey]

its the actions of LFSs like that which will get someone killed one day and THEN the hobby will get hammered!

[axlerod]

not to cause trouble but if you don't work at the lfs you should not be putting you hands into there tanks just my .02

[MacTiGGER]

axelrod I agree with you. Its very rude when people stick their hands in tanks but I just wanted to spin the cup around to see the octo, hardly making contact with the water. I wasn't able to quickly and hence I got a salesperson. and Lucky I did.

[Rich the Newb]

A kid I know, about 15, stuck his hand in a large tank at his LFS and got a nice little bit on his finger by a large trigger......don't think he will be doing that again. Lucky you didn't get nipped.

[VaderWS6]

Man that is wild! Wish my lfs's had octopus for $30 :(

[thaoctopus]

Was this the Tong's in Whittier? I know the employees over there arent the nicest of people.

[XxDutchxX]

even if its 30.00 that is not a great addition to a tank. They only last from 6-7 monthes and are deadly. Im always moving stuff in my tank and the last thing i need is to worry about is the lethal venom if a small octopus. The venom starts to work in the matter of min making it hard to breathe and swallow..also your body starts numbing..nausea and vomiting.....no thank you!

[XxDutchxX]

that post was about the BR...not all obviously.

[JKramer0706]

Yeh and don't forget the whole blindness and inevitable death.

[J.A]

30 bucks would be a ripoff down here, I get them for $5 ( i'm talking about normal octos)

[Paradox009]

a local fishstore in my area is self serve..and in they have blue rings once in a while. No signs were there stating how dangerous these creatures are.

D.

[Gonodactylus]

It was this store that prompted me to write an article about the dangers of blue-rings for FAMA. I've seen as many as 5 or 6 Hapalochlaena in an open tank. Usually they only have H. lunulata that are pretty timid, but I have seen other species of blue-ring there that are unknown and that could be more aggressive.

[Bandito]

WHOA! I can't believe the ignorance of some of these LFS's. A blue ring in an open tank? That's nuts!

FYI: vulgaris species sell here in central Florida for ~25 bucks. Don't get ripped off!

[OctoRock]

Yeah, it sucks that they would sell them like that. My LFS had one for 25.98

[alien for fish]

yeah they had 2 blue rings over at fish haven in escondido are you ready for this???..............................50 bucks:eek: :eek2: :eek: :eek2: however they did say "venomous blue ring do not touch"i went the the bimac from OCTOPETS.COM 25 bucks and i drove over there and(in carlsbad) and picked him right out of the hatchery he's 12 weeks old :D

[OctoMonkey]

way to go!

[OctoMonkey]

way to go!

[Crevalle]

"It has to touch you in order to hurt you"...

That's what I would have told you too......Nancy.

[alien for fish]

i guess a blue ring would be ok to have if you NEVER had to put your hand in the tank, and never had to p/u the dead carcasses of crabs and fish..............................its just to risky for me specialy with small kids in the house

[OctoRock]

Imagine this:

Your tank is next to you bed.
You say goodnight to your Bluering.
You fall asleep and are lost in a peaceful slumber.
You bought your BR on impulse and know nothing about them (so you dont make sure he cant escape)
He gets out.
lands on the floor.
crawls up your bed.
gets on top of you.
delivers his nearly painless bite......

p.s- I just saw on Discover channel that an octopus got out of his tank crawl up another one and take a crab. Im sure this would never really happen, but i was really bored.

[OctoRock]

Imagine this:

Your tank is next to you bed.
You say goodnight to your Bluering.
You fall asleep and are lost in a peaceful slumber.
You bought your BR on impulse and know nothing about them (so you dont make sure he cant escape)
He gets out.
lands on the floor.
crawls up your bed.
gets on top of you.
delivers his nearly painless bite......

p.s- I just saw on Discover channel that an octopus got out of his tank crawl up another one and take a crab. Im sure this would never really happen, but i was really bored.

[OctoRock]

sorry for the double post

[alien for fish]

it's ok, and WELCOME TO THE CONVERSATION:D at least you made your point twice twice :D

[fish @ chips 29]

mac you must live really close to me i go to that crummy place i hate the service ther and also over priced tongs tropical fish whitter blv.

[MacTiGGER]

Hey fish,

Yeah I hear ya about the service. Its like if you ask them a question then they kinda don't want to deal with you...

I just don't like being looked up and down. Crappy thing is that I bought my system from them, you'd think that would account for something.

Guess the crappy service is doing well for the owner and his new H2 Hummer though :rolleye1:

Just my 2c

[TheEvilbug]

I'm not sure where you guys are getting all this blindness and hard to breath crud on blue rings. If you get bit, not touched, it has a nerotoxin in it's saliva that targets the nervious system. It will send you into repratory ARREST (not hard to breath, IMPOSSIBLE) and paralysis with-in 3 minutes. From there you will slowly fade away and suffocate. You will reamain perfectly consious with your eys open and your mouth agape for about 3 to 5 minutes untill you die. The only way to twart this demise is about 12 to 24 hours of artificial resporation, and heart massage untill the toxin is worked out of the system. Oh and the BLue Ring has enough of this to kill 26 human adults. Cool huh!

[Crevalle]

From BarrierReefAustralia.com on blue-rings:

Carries enough poison to kill 26 adults within minutes.

The victim might be saved if artificial respiration starts before marked cyanosis and hypotension develops.

The only treatment is hours of heart massage and artificial respiration until the poison has worked its way out of your system.

Mouth to mouth resuscitation can keep the victim alive and the poison gradually wears off after 24 hrs, apparently leaving no side effects.

Within 3 minutes, paralysis sets in and your body goes into respiratory arrest.

Though with fixed dilated pupils, the senses of the patients are often intact. The victims are aware but unable to respond.


I smell plagiarism! ;)

[TheEvilbug]

BINGO! but i did mine from memory. Oh and I have a dead one inf the freezer, i plan to do an autopsy soon and find the venom sack. I wonder how much that would fetch on the black market?

[damick11]

Lots if the molecular structure is not damaged by the freezing method. Studies are currently being done to develop an antidote (one is currently not available), and the venom is highly sought after, and is very difficult to extract.

[JENnKerry]

Why the hell is a LFS selling something as dangerous as a blue ring? I saw a thread here on RC about someone who wanted a cone shell. What are some people coming to?

[DrChristianTroy]

TTX and sweet dreams

[DrChristianTroy]

TTX and sweet dreams

[donta42]

no joke