Earthworms?

[rudyistaken]

Would I be o.k. to feed my octo earthwoms. Since he has been in the tank he has taken pieces of shrimp from me but I don't think it is favorite meal as I alwaysfind the pieces with not much eaten off them.

I have seen on a couple of occasions him eating a flatworm which got me wondering.

Would this be a bad idea?

[Paul B]

It would be a very good Idea if he eats them. Earthworms are supposed to be very healthy to eat, not that I have ever eaten any. I have always fed them to my anemones and fish. Just hold them under some running water with the "head" end up to clean out the dirt.
Have fun.
Paul

[rowland75]

Id give them a milking type squeeze to shift any soil in them first.

[C-Water]

Keep your worms in a clean, fresh container of worm bedding (to avoid the worms eating unwanted materials that may come into your tank). Then before feeding, strip them under running water as described above.

[rudyistaken]

Dumb question but by stripping them do you mean squeeze them>?

[Gonodactylus]

I have seen octopus eat marine annelids, but I'm a bit concerned about a steady diet of earthworms. This is somewhat akin to the problem of feeding freshwater fish like goldfish.

At the very least I would make sure that the gut of the worm is completely cleared since otherwise you don't know what heavy metals or toxins you might be introducing in to the system.

Roy

[Energy]

Octo's can't tolerate copper of any kind. Wouldn't the earthworm potentially be full of this from the minerals in the soil they consume?

[rudyistaken]

How about Superworms or something like that then??

[ChasingPuck]

Ghost shrimp or crayfish would be a better choice--they like live foods best. Crays are a better choice, of the two.

Worms won't have the same problems as goldfish--and goldfish aren't as big a problem for octopuses as they are for other marine predators. Octo's have very efficient metabolisms.

[rudyistaken]

He was not a fan of the earthworms. Superworms however he was all over!