A family documented their pet octopus' pregnancy journey on TikTok.
According to the Clifford family's TikTok account @doctoktupus, the adult female octopus bimaculoids (called “bimacs” for short) from California, named Terrance, laid 50 eggs in December and began hatching in February. Patriarch Cameron Clifford, affectionately called “octodad” by his 362,200 followers, bought an octopus for his son last October and has been documenting the family's octopus-filled hijinks ever since.
Last March, Clifford began sharing his journey to becoming a proud octopus owner when he shared a video of his son's tearful reaction to his father gifting him an aquarium. “I gave my son an aquarium as a gift so he could fulfill his lifelong dream of owning a pet octopus,” he wrote.
Later that year, Terrence arrived safely on his family's doorstep in a clear plastic bag inside a Styrofoam box. Clifford set up Terrance's new aquarium and began chronicling the family's care for her habitat.
“Despite serious planning, consulting, and forethought, we were still faced with a surprise when we received Terrance (including her size!),” Clifford wrote last month. “We do not take this responsibility lightly. They are very complex and intelligent creatures. We love Terry.”
But the Clifford family was very surprised when Terrance started laying eggs just two months after welcoming her home. Researchers have found that once a mother octopus lays eggs, it stops caring for its young and feeding itself, causing them to become emaciated and possibly die before the young hatch. The life expectancy of Bimacs like the Terrance is typically 12 to 18 months.
On March 26, the family announced that they expected Terrence's death the following week. But Terrance is said to still be thriving, much to everyone's surprise.
“We have always kept in constant contact with bimac experts, one of whom has looked after dozens of bimacs over the years and none of them have ever laid fertile eggs,” the family explains to viewers in a recent video. I did. “Even educational and research facilities have a hard time hatching them, but this happened 3 feet away from my son’s bed in central Oklahoma.”
Over the next few weeks, as their aquarium was filled with tiny octopuses, the family worked hard to document in a video diary what it was like to care for a huge colony of octopuses. After a week, none of the hatched chicks survived. But those that survived were lovingly named by their owners. Funky names include Pearl, Melinda, Jay-Sea, Sea-yonceeé, and Rocket Larry.
While continuing to care for Terrance, the Clifford family has reportedly handed over the remaining babies to a local herpetologist as they continue to search for appropriate professional care for their octopus colony. To help care for the octopuses, they've set up a Venmo where fans can donate.