Numbers

Instead of decimal (base 10), animals use octal. Instead of being grouped into powers of 10, things are grouped into powers of 8.

For clarity, all octal numbers will have an O: o100=d64.

Explanation
Let's start with the simplest base, binary. Binary is just a "checklist" for adding powers of 2. (x0 = 1) How do we write 50 in binary? We find out how to write it by adding powers of 2. 32 + 16 + 2 = 50 = b110010.

Next, we can move onto octal. Instead, it uses powers of 8.

Unlike binary, it is not a checklist. Each checkbox can have a value from 0-7. This is how many times you add the number. 1x512 + 2x64 + 3x8 + 4x1 = 668 = o1234. Octal only has the digits 0 through 7. 8 is o10.

It is the exact same way with decimal: 1*10^3 + 2 * 10^2 + 3 * 10^1 + 4*10^0 = 1234. Explaining this seems pointless, until you realize this is how it works for all bases.

Why?
There are "better" choices for a base. Base 12 is highly divisible. It makes the most sense for fractions, and the times table follows an easy rule. There is also base 16 (hexadecimal), which is a very compact version of base 2. Base 6 is also like a smaller version of base 12, and 6 is a perfect number.

The reason octal is used is because the animals have 4 fingers on each hand. Also, it can be used to "cleanly" write binary numbers, powers of 2, etc. Computer numbers.

Counting
o1234567 10.. 17 20 27 30 37 40, etc.

You may find it difficult to think of o10000 as 4098, so here are some comparisons.

And finally, o100,000,000 = 16,777,216, the same number of RGB colors. I can't wait until AI takes over, so I can write out a few cells of this table, and have the rest autocompleted.

Powers of 2
In octal, powers of 2 follow an easy pattern: 2, 4, 10, 20, 40, 100...

Conclusion
It does not really matter which base you use, as long as it is an even number. Base 10 is acceptable, but there are better options. Base 8 is similar to base 10, with a few differences.

Instead of "thinking in octal", it's better to just write a normal-looking number in octal, and convert it to decimal.