The family who accidentally ended up with 50 octopus babies after not realizing the pet they bought for their son was loaded with eggs have said the animal has died.
Terrance the octopus went viral earlier this year after dad Cameron Clifford revealed the chaos that ensued after buying his son Cal an octopus for his birthday.
Clifford said that his son had obsessed over wanting an octopus and after years of pleading for one, he finally managed to acquire a female California two-spot.
Much to the families dismay, Terrance was loaded with fertile eggs which soon started to hatch and left them with a further 50 baby octopuses.
In a post to their TikTok page dedicated to Terrence, which has over 450,000 followers, the family has revealed that she had passed away on April 22.
Terrance the octopus, seen here, went viral earlier this year after dad Cameron Clifford revealed the chaos that ensued after buying his son Cal an octopus for his birthday
In a post to their TikTok page dedicated to Terrence, which has over 450,000 followers, the family has revealed that she had passed away on April 22
The poignant post explained how they placed her in a box alongside objects that reminded them of her, before burying it beneath a group of trees.
‘It was, understandably, a very sad day. After laying eggs, Terrance lived another astounding 135 days.
‘Cal chose the name Terrance after a rebellious character in a book he had recently read. For many reasons, I always thought it was an odd name for an octopus.
‘I assumed it to be irony, stemming from the Latin word Terra, meaning earth and land. But the name Terrance in Latin actually means soft and smooth.
‘Life can be sad but still full of meaning and even though this tank now sits empty, this sleeping boy [Cal] just three feet from it, now feels his soul a little more full. So much joy from a not so tiny octopus.’
The family had originally thought that Terrence was actually a male, before she started releasing ‘a chandelier’ of little eggs two months after having her.
Clifford was told by experts that the eggs were unfertilized, and the release of eggs only signals the end of the life span of the female octopus.
One night in February however, Clifford picked up one of the eggs and was left absolutely shocked.
Cameron Clifford and his wife bought Terrance the octopus for their nine-year-old son Cal
When the Clifford family first brought Terrance home, they set up their home to accommodate just one octopus
The family was stunned when the eggs started to hatch. They rose to the occasion, buying more tanks and supplies to care for them, and documented the journey
He told USA Today: ‘I accidentally popped it, and this droplet comes out and spreads out these tiny tentacles and does three swim strokes across my viewpoint.’
Terrance the octopus ended up hatching a total of 50 babies, and ‘all bets went off,’ he said.
The family had to arrange 50 separated homes for the unexpected offspring, spend thousands of dollars on clams, crabs, and snails, not to mention the costs to repair the damage to the house from spilled water and a small electrical fire.
‘Do not get a pet octopus unless you’re ready to lose sleep and your kids’ college fund simultaneously,’ he told added , jokingly.
Speaking of one messy incident, Clifford said: ‘I wish I wouldn’t have opened that valve that way and dumped all that dirty seawater onto my kids’ white carpet.’
Meanwhile, the desperate father started calling aquariums and research facilities and begging them to take the babies off his hands.
‘It’s a lot of work,’ he said. ‘A lot of work and emotion and money and time.’
‘I don’t know that we’ve been fully prepared for any of these challenges, but the hope is to re-home as many as we can.
‘And those that we can’t, we will figure out a way to keep them alive and be responsible. It’s not a real concrete plan, but we’re doing pretty good so far.’
The experience is overall joyful and rewarding as he said: ‘It’s been an absolutely fun experience, not just for me, but also for my kids.’
This undated photo taken by Cameron Clifford, shows Terrance, the pet octopus his son Cal adopted at their home in Edmond, Oklahoma
They were stunned to find out that Terrance was in fact female, and the fifty eggs she laid earlier this year started to hatch
The family had to arrange 50 separated homes for the unexpected offspring, spend thousands of dollars on clams, crabs, and snails, not to mention the costs to repair the damage to the house from spilled water and a small electrical fire
When Clifford told his son that they could order an octopus from a local aquarium store, the nine-year-old immediately burst into tears.
He said: ‘His ultimate dream, his cloud nine, the greatest thing that could ever possibly happen in one’s life had just become a possibility, and he just broke down.’
Social media users have expressed their sadness over the news of Terrance’s passing.
One person posted: ‘I’m so sorry Terrance has passed. Your family did a wonderful job caring for this unique creature.
‘Thank you for sharing her with us. This has been my favorite story on TikTok. Hugs to your son.’
Another commented: ‘I never thought I’d be crying over an octopus on the internet but here I am. Thank you for sharing her journey.’