Bunocephalus coracoideus aka Banjo... Strange Behaviour?

[ChileRelleno]

Acquired a Banjo and SA Bumblebee for my 55gal SA community a couple months ago.
A few weeks ago I remodeled the tank, new substrates (gravel with a area of sand), live plants and new lighting.

Banjo did what a Banjo should do... Immediately buried himself deeply in the sand...
But, is it normal for him to stay there for days, and not come out to feed regularly?
He was a total chowhound before this, very active at feedings, regular glutton.
I'm a night owl insomniac, I normally get to see all my cats at night, but Mr. Banjo just disappeared.

After about 4-5 days I got worried, sifted thru the sand and found Mr. Banjo down on the bottom glass (under aprox 1-1.5" of sand), seemingly dead, stiff & unresponsive.
Thought "OH Crap!"
But then I noticed he was breathing, left him alone and in a few minutes he reburied himself, deeply, no sign, no mouth, no tail, nada.

Scenario repeats itself, 4 days later I dig'em out again...
This time I move'im to gravel and feed the general population, no reaction.
10minutes later he is actively looking for food, first time I've seen him eat in close to two weeks.

Strange, some kind of dormancy?
Anyone with similar experiences?
Read every Banjo thread 16 pages back, doesn't seem normal from those postings.

[apistomaster]

There is almost nothing a banjo cat does that is not normal for them.

[Joren56]

There is almost nothing a banjo cat does that is not normal for them.

I agree with this , mine also does all sort of things .

[Chrysichthys]

seemingly dead, stiff & unresponsive

They feign death or inanimacy when disturbed to avoid predation. Note how they resemble a dead leaf.

[darkwolf29a]

Honestly, until you take it out of the water, and it doesn't wiggle...it's alive! LOL

I've seen mine do some very strange things. I thought I had a dead a few weeks ago. He was upside down. I picked him up, turned him over, and he swam away from me. After that...I've seen enough to think they're just nuts... And I love to watch mine, because I always get a chuckle. ;)

Just wait until you see a piece of skin floating across the tank. The first time I saw that, I picked every one of them up, and checked for damage. Turns out, the do shed, which kind of weird.

Honestly, banjos are my favorite cats, because they exhibit some of the more strange behaviors.

[Mike_Noren]

Banjo did what a Banjo should do... Immediately buried himself deeply in the sand...
But, is it normal for him to stay there for days, and not come out to feed regularly?

Yes, it is normal for them to stay buried for extended periods of time.

[bronzefry]

Mine usually spend a lot of time out of the substrate when they're about to shed.

When I first got them, I used to look around, under and behind the tank to make sure they didn't get out. These days, I try to remember what the substrate looked like the night before. If the mounds change shape, I know they're fine. Sometimes the mounds are really huge, like sand dunes. Other times, it looks really flat. The driftwood has even moved around a few times. I changed to smaller pieces after that happened. All in a day's work for a Bunocephalus coracoideus.
Amanda

[AU Chief]

I love to dig around in the sand in the vacinity of mine and watch him come out of the sand and then do his crazy bury-myself-in-the-sand dance. I bought 2 more today, I love these guys!