’10/10, they need a movie’: Oklahoma family adopts an octopus but gets an ‘octoposse’ when miracle mom gives birth to 50 babies

As far as unconventional pets go, you can’t get much more out-there than an octopus; it’s no easy task, caring for a cephalopod, especially one that miraculously gives birth to fifty babies without warning.

Choosing a family pet is a big deal — and most opt either for a cat or a dog, depending on personal preference, though for some of the more peculiar families maybe a bearded dragon or even a hedgehog would do. Well, one family has thrown themselves in the deep end and gone and got themselves an octopus — and in Oklahoma, of all places! 

Luckily for us, they have decided to make the TikTok account, Doctokopus, to document their journey with Terrance the octopus (yes, they named her Terrance.) Everything from the moment the family found out that it was possible to order an octopus, to the preparation of the aquarium and Terrance’s arrival, through to now has been a wild ride. The TikTok account has accumulated quite the following, sitting at almost 400,000 followers at the time of writing.

However, the most recent development has really blown fans out of the water; you see, Terrance laid eggs, which would typically mean that an octopus is nearing the end of her life. Nobody expected the eggs to hatch; after all, they very likely weren’t even fertilized. But, miraculously, the eggs did hatch, which is great news for Terrance, but not so much for the family who were now facing the prospect of their aquarium teeming with about 50 octopuses. TikTok is frequently giving cinematic tier content all for free; for many of the fans following the account this was more entertaining than a movie.

That’s not the end of the drama though, as the octopus newborns all needed to be removed from the tank, as they would otherwise eat each other, or just straight up starve. Currently the family are looking for new homes for the 50 newborns, although they are working on a bigger tank to house as many as they can. Why does this sort of sound like 101 Dalmatians but with octopuses?

What’s really incredible about this whole story is just how rare something like this actually is. In an article published by the LA Times that looks at farm-bred octopus, it’s stated that it is next to impossible to get Octopi to breed in captivity. 

“Nobody has yet figured out how to close the octopus life cycle in a commercially desirable species — that is, getting reproductive adults to mate, lay eggs and have offspring”

Sadly, Terrance is still approaching the end of her life, according to a recent TikTok posted to the Doctoktopus. Am I really going to cry over an octopus? Yes. If this was a movie, it would probably end up being a bigger tear-jerker than Marley and Me.