Aquarium pics...(DUW)

While we were in Gaitlinburg, we went to the aquarium there. Pretty nice place. Here are some pics:

http://www.danielhillreptiles.com/trip/turtle.jpg

http://www.danielhillreptiles.com/trip/starfish.jpg

http://www.danielhillreptiles.com/trip/cuddlefish.jpg

http://www.danielhillreptiles.com/trip/jellyfish.jpg

http://www.danielhillreptiles.com/trip/octopus.jpg

Awesome pictures!~!

there is an octopus at our aquarium and he's never out whenever I go. Shy little guy.

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Originally Posted by adizziedoll

Awesome pictures!~!

there is an octopus at our aquarium and he's never out whenever I go. Shy little guy.

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Octopi are so freaking cool. I remember standing and staring at the octopi at Shed's Aquarium in Chicago for like 20 minutes once, totally tranced, glued to the spot. Amazing creatures.

Those are STUNNING photographs!! Man, I wish I could take pictures like that! LOL


And I totally agree about octopi! If I ever went to the trouble of setting up a salt-water environment, I would only do so because I want a pet octopus! (Not even sure if that's possible, but I would try hard! LOL)

Octopi are sneaky little boogers. My brother in law did an internship at the Baltimore Aquarium, and they used let the octopus hose down the new interns. Plus they couldn't figure out why some fish were disappearing. It happened the booger was exiting his tank, eating the fish and returning. Smart little animals!! :D

I love going to the aquarium. Nice pics, Daniel.

JLC.. yes, it is possible to keep octopi in the home environment, however they need a tank dedicated to them because they have the tendancy to eat tank-mates.. AND the species found in the pet trade are EXTREMELY venomous. I believe they are lethal.

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Originally Posted by Shelby

... AND the species found in the pet trade are EXTREMELY venomous. I believe they are lethal.

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Really??? I never heard of a venomous octopus...ever! Fascinating! (and disappointing as well!) Why would they have venomous ones in the pet trade if there are other non-venomous kinds out there? I wonder what makes some more suitable....???? ~wanders off musing and puzzling and googling~

PS - Sorry to hijack your thread, Daniel! Those pictures really are amazing and deserve to be in the spotlight!

The turtle-in-flight picture is awesome...aaaand counts as a herp for the HOTM picture! Get it in tonight!

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Originally Posted by cassandra

The turtle-in-flight picture is awesome...aaaand counts as a herp for the HOTM picture! Get it in tonight!

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Hehe...not quite. It has to be an animal that you actually own. Now if we had a contest strictly for photography skills.......... I'd never have a ghost of a chance! LOL

I believe the non-venomous ones are the monster sized ones that wouldn't really work in a home aquarium.

The blue ring octopus is indeed lethal to humans.. the bite is painless as well.

This octopus was all over the place....very very cool to see......the other one that they had was gigantic and motionless. The cuddlefish in the 3rd pic was pretty cool too.

I can't wait until I can go back to the aquarium in New Orleans....

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Originally Posted by JLC

Hehe...not quite. It has to be an animal that you actually own. Now if we had a contest strictly for photography skills.......... I'd never have a ghost of a chance! LOL

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Doh! Sorry Daniel! =D

Cuddlefish? LOL can I squish it?

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Originally Posted by Shelby

Cuddlefish? LOL can I squish it?

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If you can find it...those little guys have some wicked camo.

Yes, they do. Cuttlefish bones are tasty too if you ask my birdies.

Jellyfish scare the buh-g-sis out of me. I don't even wanna talk about it.

heh.. I think jellies are facinating critters, but I don't care to be stung by one again. That wasn't pleasant.

If your ever up here again you need to check out the Tennessee Aquarium. They just recently added a huge new building. They also has TONS of herps, I think Ripleys only has one or two.

Ha, my daughter ate a jellyfish. She was just a toddler, and found a moon jelly (minus any tentacles) on the beach. I let her see it and touch it, then looked away and dangit if she didn't take a nibble. ACK!! She was fine, but man did it freak me out. :bleh:

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Originally Posted by worldcupkeeper

If your ever up here again you need to check out the Tennessee Aquarium. They just recently added a huge new building. They also has TONS of herps, I think Ripleys only has one or two.

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Is that the one in Chattanooga? We took a little weekend trip there, and saw that. It was pretty cool. I've even got some pics too. ;) Of course I think they were the ones housing three different species of snakes together. ACK! My husband made me walk away.. :oops:

Most zoos or aquariums with snakes tend to keep more than one species together. I always wonder why! They're the ones that are supposed to know best after all!

Yeah its in Chattanooga, Some of the snakes were housed together, I really loved the turtles and the other reptiles they had on display. Did you get to see the huge encloser with turtles, gators, and timbers in it? I think I have some pics of the aquarium, I might post them if I find them.

I loved the otters personally. Too cute. The bird area, and stingray's and shark petting tank were cool. Took a bit to coax my son into touching one.

I just don't get that about zoos!! WHY!!! It just sets such a bad example. Our reptile house at the Memphis zoo doesn't house any multiple species together. The do house a tree python and a huge tortoise together, but that's not quite as bad since they don't use the same space.

Stingrays are so squishy! I love them. :)

They are cool. That's why I wanted my son to feel them. He wanted to, but just had a hard time since his arms aren't as long as mine. They're tank was bit deep for little kids, but still pretty awesome. I had to touch the sharks too. Very neat. :nerd:

I love to look at jellyfish myself. They're just so pretty. Hey Daniel, how big is that one in the pic. That's an awesome pic. :D

Oh wow! Fantastic pics!! Jellyfish are so hypnotic.

Octopi are at least as smart as cats, I've read, they learn all kinds of stuff. I heard of a pair of them handing debris from their cage to help the workers clean it, eventually just piling it all in one easy to reach corner. "Oh, just stop, WE'll do it! Yeash." lol

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Originally Posted by Shelby

Yes, they do. Cuttlefish bones are tasty too if you ask my birdies.

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Cuttlefish are highly edible for humans also. Though I have eaten my share while serving in Korea I'd rather just admire thier beauty.

Very nice pic's!

Very nice pics Daniel! :D

Sheree, that's awesome. Octopi are just facinating.. amazing how a critter that would seem so 'simple' is in fact an intelligent creature.

I have cooked squid a few times, I'm sure cuttlefish are pretty similar. I think they're tasty too. :P

i think that i saw a video on google about a shark eating octopus i was very cool. also wasnt it a cuddlefish in 2000 leagues under the sea?

Giant squid in 2000 Leagues Under the Sea

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Originally Posted by alexrls

i think that i saw a video on google about a shark eating octopus i was very cool. also wasnt it a cuddlefish in 2000 leagues under the sea?

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Apparently it's a common mistake. LOL!! Or there are some very huggable creatures on the loose. Cuttlefish are cool, and so are Nautilus. (very prehistoric looking)

I simply love chambered nautilus. Always have.. something just so cool about them.

Nautilus and Cuddlefish are *very* cool, there's just something fascinating about that whole family of critters. I've been obsessed with this new "mystery squid" for some time now, they're hypnotic! The ocean is full of fun strange creatures I'd love to know a lot more about.

Squids and Octopi are really cool. (they taste good too)


I wasn't aware though that there were any other venemous species of octopus besides the blue ringed variety. I seem to recall reading that in general octopi don't live long though (around 5 years, I think?)

After this thread, I started reading up on octopi and keeping them in captivity. The blue ring ones were the only ones where venom was ever mentioned. And if they get'cha...boy can it be bad!!


As for life-span...everything I read says that they live on average 1-2 years, depending on the species. That's it. It's unfortunate, because that's not very much time for a creature that is so difficult to aquire and to maintain.

The article I read was that all octopi have some venom, but most is very mild. The blue ring is the one that is most noteworthy.

That squid thing is awesome, Sheree!

If you ever get a chance go to Corpus Christi Tx and see the Texas State Aquarium. Its very beautifull and they have so much wonderful aquatic life there. plus its near the beach so fun in the sun.

Awesome pics! I was going to be a marine biologist until I found out how little there was to be made and umm yeah..all that school.

I also wanted to be a marine biologist at one time. Always loved creatures of the sea..

Ive always been obsessed with water. But I think it was more about animals. I also wanted to be a zoologist.

Yeah me too. I was always messing around ponds and lakes looking for animals.

Yet somehow I ended up in technology. I guess it was a go with what I know approach since I had no patience for schooling.