EDMOND, Okla. (KFOR) – For years, Cal Clifford dreamed of raising a pet octopus.
“I fell in love with it when I was a kid,” said Cal, a third-grader from Edmond. “Of all the pets in the world, I was just amazed.”
According to his father, Cameron, Cal always begs for Christmas and birthdays.
“It was kind of like a run,” Cameron said. “That was always kind of funny…so we would always give him something like a stuffed octopus or an octopus toy.”
After researching it and facing peer pressure from friends, Cameron finally relented.
The Cliffords spent weeks carefully preparing the tank, and Cal gave him an octopus named Terrance for his ninth birthday. Terence was sent to the Clifford family in Edmond in a Keurig box.
“I love her so much,” Cal said. “She's so energetic that it's so much fun for her to come home from school and put your hands in her tank.”
Raising octopuses is not an easy task.
“It takes at least an hour or two a day,” Prime Minister David Cameron said. “Do some general maintenance and cleaning, make sure she's okay, make sure her parameters are good, change her water and food.”
But in December, that responsibility increased 50 times.
Terence unexpectedly lays an egg, and the Clifford family soon has their own Octo Army.
“They eat each other, so you have to separate them, and then you have to feed them individually,” Cameron said. “And you need to maintain the same sensitive water parameters in each tank as in the main tank.”
The Cliffords recently started documenting their travels on Tik Tok. Their account has over 350,000 followers.
Currently, the 24 surviving babies are living nearby with scientist Dr. Tim.
“There is no question that we will raise these,” Dr. Tim said.
Sadly, giving birth to an octopus signals the end of its life. Clifford plans to raise one or two of the babies as pets after Terrence dies.
Cal told KFOR that while he is sad to lose Terrence so soon, he is beyond grateful for the experience.
“I have a real octopus in my room. This was never supposed to happen and it's insane,” Kalu said.
Prime Minister David Cameron said the remaining babies would be handed over to aquariums that could accommodate them. If not, he and Dr. Tim plan to continue caring for the 24 octopuses.
A venmo account was set up to help care for Terrence and the baby.
