Nine-year-old Cal Clifford had always wanted a pet octopus. His dream recently came true when his father Cameron Clifford helped him adopt Terrance the octopus and set it up in a saltwater aquarium at their home in rural Oklahoma.
  • @crawancon@lemm.eeEnglish
    5•9 months ago

    I mean, sure, they’re great animals. I looked into domestication, and I dunno, they’re just better in the wild, …occasionally getting eaten by humans.

    their lifespans are too short for their capabilities as a life form(IMO). if they could get 10-20 years they’d be accomplished.

  • AutoTL;DRBEnglish
    2•9 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    The boy’s family in rural Edmond, Oklahoma, humored him with toy versions of an eight-legged mollusk, but as Cal got older it became clear that only the real thing would do.

    The child’s father, 36-year-old dentist Cameron Clifford, researched the possibility with a local aquarium store and before long Terrance the California two-spot octopus, also known as a bimac, was living in a watery enclosure at the family home southwest of Oklahoma City.

    A popular TikTok saga was launched with the father narrating the tale of Terrance the cephalopod, using a faux British accent generated by the social media app.

    Several weeks after that, teeny near-transparent octopus babies began hatching and were given names like Rocket Larry, Squid Cudi, Swim Shady, Jay-Sea and Sea-Yoncé

    Father and son together researched what was needed, deciding on a saltwater tank and water cycling system and ensuring they would be able to source food for the soft-bodied sea creature.

    “Aside from the physical, financial and emotional requirements of owning a species such as a bimac, you will learn a lot about yourself in the process,” the Arizona-born Clifford told TikTok followers in his app-generated accent.

    The original article contains 441 words, the summary contains 191 words. Saved 57%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!