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SeattleVet

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56. We still use a Mr. Potato Head once in a while when we feed the octopus.

Reply to The Velveteen Ocelot (Reply #40)

Fri Dec 8, 2017, 02:43 AM

Dec 2017

OK, now that I've confused pretty much everyone...

I volunteer at the Seattle Aquarium, and every so often we will use a Mr. Potato Head (the newer one, that comes with a plastic potato body). We open the back, wire the rest of the body parts on, and put food in it, and let the Giant Pacific Octopus figure out how to get the food out. GPO's are really smart, and inquisitive, and they eventually figure out how to get the food from the inside.

A few years ago the first time we gave it to one of our octopuses it took him about an hour to figure it out. After a few repetitions over several weeks he pretty much had it down. Just before we released him to the wild (for breeding) he was able to get the food out in 45 seconds.

Not too bad for an animal with a lifespan of 3-5 years!

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