Dwarf cuttlefish hatchlings reaching two months milestone!

[zzyz]

a few decades ago I tried to keep a small octopus, lasted about 2 months then it stopped eating. Would really like to try another one or a cuttlefish.

Hi lefkonj, did you keep feeding it every day? I found that some juveniles did lose interest in food if I missed a day or two. It seems that they have to keep eating like us humans to survive.

 

[zzyz]

Here are some recent photos I took and find their hunting skills continue to improve.

 

[lefkonj]

Is that kept in a tank with other fish or is it a box just for the cuttlefish? Very cool creatures

 

[zzyz]

Is that kept in a tank with other fish or is it a box just for the cuttlefish? Very cool creatures

I put them in a breeder box for easier feeding. The problem of feeding in the main tank is that about 1/3 of the shore shrimps thrown in the tank will get into the overflow. So it's less efficient to feed this way given the difficulty and cost in sourcing shore shrimps.

 

[zzyz]

These dwarf cuttlefish are almost three-month-old now and really showing signs of maturity. Their predation on blue crab / shore crab / hermit crab was most impressive. I've shot a video on this. Any comments are welcome. Thanks!

 

[Cell]

Welcome to the forum! Quite the entrance!

 

[EMeyer]

Great videos!

It was around this age when my cuttles reached reproductive maturity. Which added some real drama to the tank, as one male killed the other male, then the remaining male and female mated and laid several clutches of eggs.

Cuttlefish mating is quite entertaining... clasp your hands together and wiggle all your fingers... thats what it looked like

 

[zzyz]

Welcome to the forum! Quite the entrance!

Thank you Cell. Really hope I can raise them to the mating stage!

 

[zzyz]

Great videos!

It was around this age when my cuttles reached reproductive maturity. Which added some real drama to the tank, as one male killed the other male, then the remaining male and female mated and laid several clutches of eggs.

Cuttlefish mating is quite entertaining... clasp your hands together and wiggle all your fingers... thats what it looked like

Thank you EMeyer. So nice! You must have been putting lots of time and efforts on your cuttles! Do you think the two cuttles at 1:20-1:55 were engaged in puppy love thing or something else?

Killing the other male sounds a bit tragic. As I have three, is there any way to prevent it from happening?

 

[EMeyer]

Thank you EMeyer. So nice! You must have been putting lots of time and efforts on your cuttles! Do you think the two cuttles at 1:20-1:55 were engaged in puppy love thing or something else?

Killing the other male sounds a bit tragic. As I have three, is there any way to prevent it from happening?

That part of the video certainly looks like communication. I recognize the head bobbing behavior, that was a common thing I saw in my cuttles too. The tentacle play behaviors of the one on the right look like some of the courtship behaviors, but in this case it looks like maybe unrequited love.

I wish I knew how to prevent male male aggression or to sex the animal prior to that point.

By this stage, I had my cuttles occupying the full volume of a 29 gal tank. So the death wasnt instant, they chased each other and fought for a day or two before I decided it was going too far. By that point it was too late, the weaker had been injured and died of his injuries after I removed him.

So my only thought is next time, to remove any cuttlefish that start getting picked on at the first sign of aggression. Which means setting up yet another cuttlefish tank, as if the first one wasnt enough work

 

[zzyz]

That part of the video certainly looks like communication. I recognize the head bobbing behavior, that was a common thing I saw in my cuttles too. The tentacle play behaviors of the one on the right look like some of the courtship behaviors, but in this case it looks like maybe unrequited love.

I wish I knew how to prevent male male aggression or to sex the animal prior to that point.

By this stage, I had my cuttles occupying the full volume of a 29 gal tank. So the death wasnt instant, they chased each other and fought for a day or two before I decided it was going too far. By that point it was too late, the weaker had been injured and died of his injuries after I removed him.

So my only thought is next time, to remove any cuttlefish that start getting picked on at the first sign of aggression. Which means setting up yet another cuttlefish tank, as if the first one wasnt enough work

"Unrequited love", so hilarious!

Even though cuttlefish can tell each other's sex on sight, it is very difficult for us to accurately sex them if they aren't actually seen mating. I doubt that they tell sex by look. Maybe by smell or other traits.

Thank you for providing the information that they spent a long time chasing before the tragedy occurred. I could be somehow reassured as I watch them all day long. As you advised, I shall remove any cuttlefish being bullied to another breeder box at the sight of male aggression. Again, thank you for all your help!

 

[AC1211]

Are dwarf cuttlefish small enough to keep with some fish like bangaii cardinals? Or am I just hopeful that I found a cuttlefish I would not have to remove all my fish to keep.

 

[zzyz]

Are dwarf cuttlefish small enough to keep with some fish like bangaii cardinals? Or am I just hopeful that I found a cuttlefish I would not have to remove all my fish to keep.

From my experience, dwarf cuttlefish are less interested in fish than in crustaceans. And an adult dwarf cuttlefish impose no risk on any adult fish, but may be a threat to some juveniles. I have a bangai cardinal with a dwarf cuttlefish in my sea horse tank and they quite get along. Make sure that you have sufficient live shrimps in the tank. They can easily starve to deaths.