Why can't some people just leave animals in their natural environment..

hollydolly

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London England
..instead of trying to make pets out of them in a domestic setting ?

Drives me nuts to see people keeping animals like snakes for example in a 6 foot tank .... and monkeys on chains , and parrots in cages.. these animals are meant to cover many miles in a day as part of their natural existence...

It grieves me to know people are locking up animals that are in no danger from their natural habitat.. and especially animals who are particularly intelligent such as Chimps, parrots.. and yes Octopi...

Today I think takes the biscuit.. as I read another family bemoaning the fact that the ''adopted'' octopus has destroyed their family life..

yep you read it right... an Octopus !


An Oklahoma family had no idea that a birthday gift for their nine-year-old son would lead to the birth of 50 octopus babies, numerous water tanks that took over half of a bathroom, and thousands of dollars on food supplies and water damage repairs.

Cameron Clifford, a 36-year-old dentist, said his son Cal had been obsessed with octopuses since the age of three.

'Every birthday, every Christmas, every holiday, he would always say: 'All I want is an octopus,'' Clifford told the New York Times.

In October, Clifford made a call to a local aquarium store and acquired a female California two-spot octopus for Cal's ninth birthday. They named her Terrance.
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Terrance turned out to be larger than expected and soon began laying eggs. Clifford documented the journey on TikTok, where his videos amassed millions of views from 400,000 followers.
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But what the family didn't realize at first was that Terrence was actually a female, who started releasing 'a chandelier' of little eggs two months after it arrived.

He 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.

Until one night in February, Clifford picked up an egg and was absolutely shocked.

'I accidentally popped it, and this droplet comes out and spreads out these tiny tentacles and does three swim strokes across my viewpoint,' he said.

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.

Speaking of one particularly 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.
An octopus destroyed a family's home after giving birth to 50 babies
 

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I agree. Exotic pets are rarely if ever properly cared for and probably live in constant stress from not being able express natural behaviors. Though I confess as a kid I wanted as many as possible. I think it is the unworkability of keeping exotic animals which has pushed me toward the plant kingdom instead. Much easier to make them happy.
 
I think the man and his kid are doing the best they can. Salt water aquariums are fairly common place, and while octopus are not a typical occupant they've gone to great effort and expense to take care of them properly. I'm sure that the father/son experience, the kid's learning about the science and putting out the consistent effort to care for them is a character builder and will benefit them both the rest of their lives. The next Steve Irwin in the making!

NYT- "Many scientists discourage people from keeping octopuses as pets, noting that most require live food, carefully calibrated aquatic conditions and frequent stimulation. They also try to escape from their tanks and generally live for less than two years.

Paul Clarkson, director of husbandry operations at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, Calif., said that when he first heard about the Clifford family, he thought they had “no business caring for an octopus.”
But after watching Dr. Clifford’s TikTok videos, he was “pleasantly surprised.”

“It’s a delightful story and it seems like they have done a pretty remarkable job as home aquarium keepers, caring for that animal,” Mr. Clarkson said. “They obviously went to great lengths and expense."

Still, he cautioned that most pet owners are not equipped to care for an octopus.

Cal Clifford, 9, tested the water temperature in Terrance’s tank.Credit...Michael Noble Jr. for The New York Times
“They don’t make good pets and, as that family documents in their story, the effort, the time, the money involved in caring for that animal is tremendous and is, at times, kind of a 24/7 job,” Mr. Clarkson said. “My recommendation is: Don’t try this at home.”

Jordan Baker, senior aquarist at the New England Aquarium in Boston, said the California two-spot octopus, known as a bimac, can lay up to 800 eggs, “so this family lucked out by having 50 or so by the end of their experience.”

“Managing water quality, husbandry and a short life span for sensitive animals like octopuses can turn into a full-time job, especially with hatchlings involved,” she said. “It can be done, but for an average octopus enthusiast, the cost involved in both dollars and labor would be high.”"
 
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I, too, don't think it's "cute" to make a feral animal a pet. Some people have started making racoons into pets. Racoons are nocturnal and extremely active, not litter trainable, with little hands that can open anything, and they destroy their environment, and will chew on any exposed wiring. Yeah, they are cute critters, but evolution made them feral forest animals- not human pet material. Those that own them tend to downplay the destructiveness, and the real problems of ownership.
 
I don't like to see animals or birds in cages sea creatures in ponds.
Some zoos have enough land for animals to run free but still not their natural habitat.
I have a bad memory of seeing a large tiger in a cage on a visit to a zoo.
He just walked up and down the cage for hours and I will never forget the look on his face when he came up close to the cage.
I was about ten years old then We locked eyes and I started to cry.
I wlll never forget that look.
 
I don't like to see animals or birds in cages sea creatures in ponds.
Some zoos have enough land for animals to run free but still not their natural habitat.
I have a bad memory of seeing a large tiger in a cage on a visit to a zoo.
He just walked up and down the cage for hours and I will never forget the look on his face when he came up close to the cage.
I was about ten years old then We locked eyes and I started to cry.
I wlll never forget that look.
I was taken to a Zoo by my auntie, when I was about the same age as you were Mizmo... I was horrified at it... I've never been able to visit a zoo ever since.

I've been to a Safari park, ... but Zoo's..much as their intentions are often good.. just appal me. There's a zoo very close to where I live... it's a huge and greatly popular tourist attraction..I've never been there, never will..
 

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