Octopuses are truly fascinating creatures, but keeping them as pets is easier said than done. Cameron Clifford came to learn this first-hand after he decided to fulfill his son’s life-long dream of owning an octopus on his ninth birthday.
Clifford’s son Cal has been infatuated with octopuses since he was three years old, and his family eventually reached the point where buying him octopus toys and clothes wasn’t enough. His dad decided to buy a California two-spot octopus named Terrance for Cal’s ninth birthday, but things took a pretty wild turn after that.
@doctoktopus #octopus #aquarium #fyp #saltwateraquariu #biology #marinebiology #shrimpdaddy #surprise ##cephalopod ♬ original sound – Shoptopus
Taking care of an octopus requires a lot of time, energy, and special equipment, but that wasn’t even the biggest challenge that the Cliffords faced. They realized that Terrance was a female when she released countless puffy little eggs last winter, and things took an even wilder turn when Cameron realized they were actually fertilized.
@doctoktopus Terrance signals the end of her life-cyxle, but we have no idea how mich time we have left wirh her. #octopus #marinebiology #shrimpdaddy #saltwateraquarium #fyp #cephalopod #petoctopus #aquarium #octomom #biology #mom ♬ Heartbeats – Remastered 2023 – José González
Around 50 babies eventually hatched from the eggs, and Cameron and Cal did everything in their power to keep them alive. They’re now trying to take good care of them and find them appropriate homes.
“Our plan is to re-home them to professional and suitable homes, to get them to people who can obviously take care of them. We have had great traction with bigger aquariums and research institutions. Some universities have expressed interest in them,” Cameron told People.
@doctoktopus 😳 #octopus #marinebiology #shrimpdaddy #saltwateraquarium #fyp #cephalopod #petoctopus #octomom #biology #saltwatertank #mom ♬ original sound – Shoptopus
