But look at the blue dots! It has to be harmless.
I know this is a joke but the blue dots are literally the universal language for “don’t fuck with me”
For those who don’t know: Blue-Ringed Octopus 🐙
“The blue-ringed octopus, despite its small size, carries enough venom to kill 26 adult humans within minutes. Their bites are tiny and often painless, with many victims not realizing they have been envenomated until respiratory depression and paralysis begins.[11] No blue-ringed octopus antivenom is available.[12]”
Ok. Then I’d rather have a dog.
Pretty sure no dog antivenom is available either. I’m just going to get a venomous snake to be safe.
This is why you start with small bites and build up an immunity. Then work your way up to larger breeds. You think people have chihuahuas because they actually want one?
This is correct. Tetrodotoxin. Like in pufferfish. It blocks nerve signals to muscles causing paralysis. There is no antivenom.
If you got it from eating pufferfish, best you can do is administer activated charcoal to absorb as much as possible that hasn’t already made it into the bloodstream. After that, all you can do is manually run the heart and lungs until it wears off.
So you basically need to be really close to a hospital or clinic, somehow convey what’s happened (while possibly unable to talk or move) and be lucky enough that said hospital has the resources to maybe keep you alive until it is out of your system.
Some more hopeful information about this little bugger:
It’s not ACTUALLY venomous. As in it doesn’t inject you with a lethal substance, rather, it injects you with a nerve-toxin which disables your ability to open/close your lungs, which kills you. This sounds just as bad, but it means if you can get to a hospital, and make it to a ventilator, you’ll be back to normal by the next day.
The scary part is that it looks like you won’t even feel that you have been bitten, and will know that when you start having problems breathing, and when that happens every second counts.
Looking at the colors, it looks like it was in fight mode. The person holding it could already be dead.
Venom doesn’t need to be lethal to be venom.
Venom is a toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action.
Blue Ringed octopuses are venomous.
I can’t believe I’m seeing this. Sure hope it’s fake.
It seems to happen quite a bit: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9395535/American-tourist-TikTok-star-nearly-dies-blue-ringed-octopus-Bali-Indonesia.html
https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/lucky-to-be-alive-woman-picks-up-deadly-blueringed-octopus/news-story/71f69db000d3673ee9ff2363b862e28d (might be the same as the first? Hard to tell)
Although that last one they didn’t see it because it was hiding in a shell.
Wow. This is like a commandment for aussie kids. Do not. Ever. Fuck around with things you don’t recognise at the beach. I didn’t pay much heed to many rules but this one seemed like a good idea - even to dipshit child me.
I read in another thread on a other website that the original poster of this picture had some sort of liver disease and was dying from it, and sorta went YOLO at the chance to pick up a blue ringed octopus. They knew how dangerous it was, but for once the phrase “it will hurt the whole time you’re dying” was met with “it already is”
Besides, how likely is it for that tiny octopus to bite you, unless you are literally trying to get bit?
I know someone who gave CPR on someone bitten by one of these.
They lived because of the CPR. They came out of hospital fine, except they were now blind because their eyes were open staring up at the hot summer Aussie sun for the entire time they were getting CPR etc.
What’s going on with the person’s skin?