Grabby Octopuses

The octopus we have at the lab are wild caught thingers. So they're supposed to be shy creatures, always hiding in their dens. But nooo. These buggers have actually gotten quite tame. The current two, named Vine and ZerCool have been members of the lab for about a mouth and they will actually come out of their dens and wander around in their tanks when I turn on the lights. They made the association between florescent overhead lights with food and they're not shy about displaying that understanding.

While I'm quite impressed by their rate of domestication, they still haven't figured out exactly when they will actually get the food. If I toss in a crab, Vine will go right after it. If I stick a net into his tank to fish out leftover crab bits, they will readily chase after the the net. When I use a siphon to clean out all the rubbish at the bottom, he will also give chase. And to keep him from getting caught in the siphon, and potentially getting injured, I have to cut off the water flow. Very annoying because setting up the suction for the siphon is messy and involves a lot of splashing. Also, when an octopus grabs something, they will not let go until they get bored of it.

OCTOPUS DEATHGRIP

Now, in contrast, cuttlefish actually have the opposite reaction to the fishnet and siphon. The cuttlefish will pretty change to a yellow camouflage colouration and plop down on a spot of gravel. It's almost like they are playing possum. They obviously hate the siphon. The behavior really makes my life easier because I can just siphon the gravel around them without risk of them running into the nozzle of the siphon.

I would love to train the octopuses to emulate that behavior. But as annoying as their antics are, I do like the fact they are being 'sociable.'

I'm feeling somewhat conflicted. I hate that they make lab-care a fair bit more tedious, but I still want them to remain sociable. The previous octopuses we had in the lab were sickly and would NEVER leave their dens. It's so much nicer to have these two lively octopuses that venture out. I know they are happy and healthy; that should be good enough for me