The dream of having his own pet octopus has come true for one little boy and his response is so very emotional.
9-year-old Cal has dreamed of owning an octopus since he was about two or three. "He's always been infatuated with marine biology, especially octopus," his Dad Cameron told People. "For most birthdays and holidays, he would ask for a pet octopus."
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His parents always laughed it off and gave him octopus stuffed animals and toys, but he persisted.
As any parent knows, you want your child to be happy, and in this case, Cal's parents decided it was worth looking into what it would take to make Cal's dream of a pet octopus come true.
Cameron contacted a local pet store to find out if you could buy an octopus. "They told me it's not common. You have to make sure that it's done right and that you're responsible about it, but theoretically, it can be done," Cameron said.
This was when Cameron posted the cutest TikTok video telling his son he had talked to a pet store and that you can, in fact, order a pet octopus through them.
Cal is crying happy tears at possibly owning an octopus as a pet. "That's amazing!" Cal says, "I never knew I could do that."
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You can see his excitement as he says, "I never knew that could happen." His parents do remind him that they haven't decided yet. And he seems to understand that.
But, in the very next video, we hear the voiceover say, "Surprising my son with an aquarium so he can fulfill a life-long dream of owning a pet octopus."
Cal then sees the tank in the garage and bursts into tears, with the sweetest, "You didn't have to do this."
"Go look at it," Cameron tells him. Cal then finds all the supplies that go with the tank. Cal then goes to his dad, hugs him, and says, "Thank you so much!" He hugs his mom too.
Cameron had to do a lot of research and found that preparing for an octopus was pretty involved. It is so much more than buying a saltwater tank. But they were willing to do it, and getting things ready took about two months.
To see Cal's response must have warmed their hearts. They found something they knew their son would absolutely love and made it happen for him. In future videos, we see the family assembling the tank and buying the octopus. They chose a two-spot or bimac octopus, and Cal named him Terrance.
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After they had the pet octopus for two months, it started to act unusual. That was when they discovered that Terrance was a female and that she had laid eggs. They concluded that the eggs had not been fertilized.
As a bimac octopus, her life span wasn't long, and she would die after having her offspring. So the family knew they didn't have much time with her. Bimac octopuses use their energy to care for the eggs and starve because they refuse to leave their den to watch over them.
@doctoktopus #octopus #aquarium #petoctopus #fyp #cephalopod #escape #saltwateraquarium #shrimpdaddy #aquarium ♬ original sound - Shoptopus
@doctoktopus #octopus #aquarium #fyp #saltwateraquariu #biology #marinebiology #shrimpdaddy #surprise ##cephalopod ♬ original sound - Shoptopus
Another surprise was that the family found out that the eggs were, in fact, fertilized. They then had baby octopuses on their hands, which you can see in their more recent videos. They looked for places like aquariums and research institutions to re-home them to.
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"It's extremely difficult to keep them alive. The literature states that if you can get about a 5% yield of babies from the hatched eggs, and that's in favorable conditions. We initially managed to keep about 50 of the babies alive. We lost quite a few in the first few weeks, a lot of which had to do with transporting them and feeding them. Now, at 60 days after hatching, we still have about half that are still with us, which is a pretty hallmark time," Cameron shared about the babies.
It is clear that what started as one young boy's passion for an octopus turned into not only him receiving a new pet but also learning so much more about nature and the octopus world.
h/t: People
Featured Image Credit: TikTok/doctoktopus