When Cameron Clifford bought his son an octopus as a pet, he had no idea what adventures they were in for.
Sharing their exciting journey on TikTok, the family now has greater than 380,000 followers invested in every plot twist this adventure has seen to date.
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One Family Pet Turned Into Many In The Blink Of An Eye!
Just a few weeks ago, Clifford shared a video titled, “The right way to Buy an Octopus 101” that shared details about how his family got here to amass their latest exotic pet.
“We selected a California Two-Spot octopus,” the video explained. “AKA, the bimac.”
They explained that the tank have to be “escape-proof” and that they need “a lot of live food” for his or her latest friend.
A follow-up video explained that their latest buddy, Terrance, had arrived.
“When bimacs enter a brand new tank, they’re shy and typically hide for just a few days,” they explained. “Not Terrance! He moved across the tank for hours, watching and doubtless judging us.”
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A Few Videos Later, Terrance Began To Act Strange
Not long after introducing Terrance to TikTok, the family noticed that their latest buddy was beginning to act strange.
“Terrance had been acting strange. She hadn’t left her cave in just a few days,” they explained within the video. “So we got her some latest friends to brighten her up. After which we noticed…Terrance laid her eggs.”
That is when a tragic realization set in for the family.
“She’s going to die soon,” the video concludes.
One viewer commented, “It’s like Charlotte’s Web, but with Terrance.” One other person added, “Noooooo this will’t be the way it ends. It’s been so awesome watching your journey!”
But this is not the way it ends…
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One other Video Explains Just What’s Going On
One other video shares more of the story of what is going on on with Terrance.
“We had been with Terrance roughly two months prior to her laying eggs. This signals the top of the feminine bimac’s lifespan,” the video explained. “Whether or not the feminine mates, she is going to lay roughly 40 to 70 eggs. Fertilized or not, she is going to continually protect them, ignoring the necessity to eat, and deal with herself.”
While Terrance remains to be interacting with the family, she’s not leaving the eggs alone for a minute. Nothing can get her out of the cave.
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“After analyzing the timeline of her laying, in addition to observing that the eggs remain clear, we got here to the conclusion that they might not be fertilized, which our expert contacts confirmed,” they said. “Terrance is basically going to spend the remainder of her life protecting empty eggs.”
They explained that “one silver lining” is that she is accepting to be hand-fed. But even while hand-feeding her, the family was told that she would likely die inside 4 to eight weeks.
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A Plot Twist!
One other follow-up video shares that two months after Terrance laid her eggs, the family was preparing for the day they might should say their final goodbyes.
Then, something miraculous happened. One night while cleansing the tank, one in every of the eggs became detached from the den. Two microscopic black dots were seen while examining the egg under the sunshine.
“Before I could internalize what I used to be seeing, the egg deflated, and a big, clear droplet burst from the highest,” the video shared. “The droplet then opened up eight tiny tentacles.”
“TERRANCE’S LEGACY LIVESSS!” one follower wrote within the comment section. One other said, “THIS IS A FREAKING MIRACLE.”
And There Are Many Other Latest Babies Now!
There’s not just one baby now. Many other eggs have hatched.
The family is getting assistance from a friend to take care of all the brand new babies. And to date, Terrance can be doing well, although the family knows that bimacs don’t live too long after laying eggs.
A recently shared video explains more about baby bimacs.
“Baby bimacs are exponentially more sensitive to water parameters than adults, especially temperature. For this reason, transporting them this size is amazingly dangerous, mainly a death sentence,” they explained. “So it’s as much as us to deal with them.”
Each of the babies is currently in its own “tiny octopus home,” and the family has an enormous job ahead of them.
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“Between catching the escapees, changing the water, adding more shrimp, and returning all of the babies to the tank and caring for the mom, it might require two to 3 hours day by day,” they said. “After one full week since Pearl [the first baby] hatched, we had by some means managed to catch, house, and feed a complete of exactly 50 hatchlings.”
You possibly can sustain with the adventures of Terrance and her many babies on TikTok.
