blue ring

[bulldragon]

i have delt with venomous snakes for years now and i have had saltwater tanks with octopus lionfish sharks and such so now im lookign for a blue ring for a small show piece so would anyone know where i might find one to be shiped to canada? please do email me if you know of somwhere
black_angelic_dragon@hotmail.com

[05Xrunner]

http://www.pets-warehouse.com/marine...tm#Cephalopods
http://www.thepetstop.com/fish_shop/...s.html#Octopus
dont know where they ship to though

[matter1331]

Not sure if you've gotten one yet, but this is a bad idea. I'm sure you've had a good deal of experience with venomous snakes, but this is completely different. With snakes there's an antivenin, but there is no antivenin for blue-rings, one bite and you're dead.

[rabidcrab]

id be worried about keeping it alive
not you alive
how many times have you seen sum1 get bitten by an octopus?
excactly.
they are afraid of you.
octopusses are not easy to keep alive bulldragon

[barbra]

Originally posted by rabidcrab
id be worried about keeping it alive
not you alive
how many times have you seen sum1 get bitten by an octopus?
excactly.
they are afraid of you.
octopusses are not easy to keep alive bulldragon

Please don't add another species to your list! Especially not the Octopus!

[rabidcrab]

Ive had a pet octopus for over a year now thank you.

[team2jndd]

and that means what? Have you had a blue ring? The general rule of nature is function fits purpose. Venom is not just a defensive benefit but an offensive one as well. I know people whos octopuss will actually let them pet the area right above their eyes. They actually seem to enjoy this so to say that all octopi are afraid of you is deffinatley not true. The way octopi are commonly caught is by lifting a rock and wiggling your fingers underneath it. They will latch to your hand thinking you are a snack and you simply pull them out of the water. Just out of curiousity, what species do you own? Buying a bluering isn't dangerous if you know what you are doing. Its like buying a handgun. Its not the bullet that kills you its stupidity.

[rabidcrab]

Originally posted by team2jndd
I know people whos octopuss will actually let them pet the area right above their eyes.

the octopuss lets them, therefor they choose to pet it. ive never seen anyone who owns an octopuss put their hand in a tank and it comes out of no were and attacks them. OBVIOUSLY if your gonna spend the money to get a blue ring SOMEONE will tell you they are dangerous, so like you said its stupidity that will hurt you. therefor i say, id be more worried about keeping your investment alive, than yourself, because im sure by the time u buy it you will be advised.

BTW thats how i caught my octopuss, i picked up a rock, no snorkel , no gear at all, and he tried to swim and i grabbed him. I got him from the keys, hes an awsome pet, and by far one of the most hardiest octopuss's ive seen.

[darkmuncan]

its great for you accept your own risk,

but they are great at getting out of the tank, do you have kids/pets in the house?

The octo gets out and a child sees it and goes to pick it up = very very bad situation.

Things you need to consider.

However if you do get one, I wish you the best of luck with it, as they are amazing animals to watch.

[Gonodactylus]

There have been four confirmed deaths from Hapalochlaena bites in the wild. I know of none by blue-rings kept in captivity - unless you count the Vietnamese who cooked some up in a fish stew, ate them and died. Only one of the confirmed deaths was possibly due to H. lunulata, the only species available commercially. I think that case was probably from an undescribed species in northern Australia. In fact, there are no hard data as to whether H. lunulata sold in the US even have lethal amounts of TTX by they time they get to the home aquarium. We assume they do and I am certainly not going to let one bite me to find out, but at this point it is only an assumption.

However, I still would not recommend anyone keeping one as a pet. Generally they are timid and don't move around much, but I have had them lung at a feeding stick and crawl up it almost reaching my hand before I dropped. I have also had them escape. My concern is not that an experience aquarium keeper is going to be bitten, but that someone who does not know about them will get into a dangerous situation. It is pretty easy for an 8 year old to reach into a tank when no one is around and try to touch it. Of course you would keep a poisonous snake in a locked cage, but would the aquarium also be locked. What if one gets out and a child finds it and tries to put it back? These are all scenarios that are very unlikely, but they could happen and have to be guarded against.

As for keeping one for a long period of time, it won't happen. Almost all of the blue-rings sold are fully adult and will scenesce in a month or two. I have keep literally hundreds of blue-rings and the longest I have had an adult last in the lab is about 4 months. If you could find a juvenile, that could be stretched to 6 months, maybe a bit more depending on temperature and diet.

I enjoy working with blue-rings. Their aggressive and reproductive behavior is interesting and they are great to photograph, but there is a down side. I have to keep the lab locked and only allow pairs of people to work with them. We haven't had janitorial service for years. The paperwork brought on because we keep a "toxin" on the Patriot Act list is a pain. Building and maintaining individual secure aquaria is time consuming. Etc. I study them because the evolution of the acquisition and use of the toxin is biological interesting. Would I have one at home in an aquarium - no.

Roy

[dawnskaybug]

Kinda suck if you had one as a hitchhiker didnt know it then got bit rearranging the rocks
I didnt know I had an octo for a month.. .

[dawnskaybug]

DP

[matter1331]

Originally posted by rabidcrab
id be worried about keeping it alive
not you alive
how many times have you seen sum1 get bitten by an octopus?
excactly.
they are afraid of you.
octopusses are not easy to keep alive bulldragon

There was a lady that posted on here not too long ago about getting bit by her octo. Exactly. Your logic is terribly flawed, just because something doesn't happen that often doesn't mean we should accept it as a safe venture. The chance is always there, and with something like a blue ring it's just plain ignorant to think you're invincible. As responsible aquarists it should be our responsibility to keep these types of accidents to a minimum, that's why the person's safety is paramount to the possible outcome of the octopus.

[Saddler]

Hmm, I have some Great Barrier Reef live rock in my new tank. Is there a possibility that a blue ring could be a hitchhiker?

[Gonodactylus]

Live rock from the GBR is rare. I'm surprised you have some.

There is only one species of blue-ring (undescribed) that is generally found on the GBR. It is fairly rare and not very hardy. I would say the odds of having a blue-ring hitchhiker that originated on the GBR are just about zero.

Roy

[Str8baller]

I really don't understand why you would risk it, i mean is it worth it? looking at something pretty at the possible price of your life? And if your dont care about yourself, what about your wife, girlfriend, Children? its clear that very few people will agree with your choice to buy the Blue-ring. Me telling you, most likely wont stop you, but i would not feel right, watching you do something so risky and (i feel) just plain stupid. rethink it, is the risk worth the reward? just something to ponder.

[KingAngel]

OBVIOUSLY if your gonna spend the money to get a blue ring SOMEONE will tell you they are dangerous, so like you said its stupidity that will hurt you.-Rabidcrab

My wife and I have run a reptile rescue for many many years now. I cannot even tell you how many times someone has brought me a Burmese Python, or a Reticulated Python and told me that noone ever told them it would get that big. Just because something is potentially dangerous (or large in this case) it doesnt mean that someone is going to tell you that. It's all about getting the sale, but thats ok, that means I get my scaly friends for free! lol
Sean

[justinl]

hehehe the funny thing is that everyone is arguing about how a blue ring is just a pretty thing to look at. What I find funny is that blue rings aren't pretty. Only when they're stressed or freakin out do they show the blue rings. Other than that, they sit still and show only a drab brown... boring.

dangerous and boring. lol, what's the point?

[Gonodactylus]

Not true. While some species of Hapalochlaena such as H. maculosa and H. fasciatus can completely conceal their blue rings or lines, others such as H. lunulata usually cannot. The normal resting posture shows some blue and whenever they move or feed, they exhibit a far greater range of displays. Of all the species of octopus I've observed, I actually find blue-ring color displays some of the most interesting and far more varied than usually thought.

Roy

[justinl]

oh my bad then

[Young Frankenstein]

I have a small octo that I pickup snorkling in Key Biscayne in Florida, theres no blue rings and the 1" little creature is hiding for 3 weeks now. Theres no fish in the tank I have him. I have 2 questions. First, and most important can he be a blue ring in Florida?, how can i find out? and second what can i do to have him come out of hiding?

[Gonodactylus]

Blue-rings only occur in the Indo-Pacific.

It sounds like an Octopus mercatoris.

Roy

[Young Frankenstein]

Gonadactylus how come in Greece they are very large ? and some people are saying they live for a very long time ? In Turkey theres caves with giant octopus that are 100 lb and up. This is no fiction because all the fisherman are saying the same thing. From what i read so far, and I read a site thats dedicated for cephalopods, they are saying they live only for 2 years, 6 months etc, and very small in size. Have you ever heard of giant octopus in Mediterranean?

[Gonodactylus]

I have heard of nothing larger than about 5 kg.

You might ask this question on Tomno.com.

Roy

[Opcn]

Originally posted by rabidcrab
id be worried about keeping it alive
not you alive
how many times have you seen sum1 get bitten by an octopus?
excactly.
they are afraid of you.
octopusses are not easy to keep alive bulldragon

The thing is that most people do not keep blue rings. While most octos only have camoflage as a defense and a small bite buried in soft flesh the blue ring has a powerful toxin. If you look at Poison Dart frogs you fins that they have a toxin and that they advertise to that effect (a lot like showing off blue rings) and that while frogs are generally scared animals PDF's have lost their fear, because almost nothing eats them.