Training to Hand Feed: How to?

[Yassmeena]

Can anyone give me instructions for training my dicus to eat from my hand?

I've always enjoyed seeing it on youtube.

Thanks! :)

Yasmin

[underwaterforest]

Didn't your discus come from Kenny, I'm surprised your discus don't like hand feedings? I just put a blood worm chunk in my hand and place it in the top of the aquarium and they come to me. Actually its a little unnerving at night when I can't see them and place my hand it the aquarium and they start chewing on me. The more you feed by hand the more they associate you with food so they will be more likely to eat out of your hand.

[MGKelly]

Yea if your fish came from Kenny, watch out!
I've been horribly bitten a couple times from those blood thirsty monsters.

Well not really, I have been bitten but not horribly.
if they came from Kenny/Forrest they'll be eating out of your hand in no time.
You can bank on it!!!!!

Joe

[joanr]

My guys went from hand feeding to actually letting me "pet" them. They go crazy when I walk into the room, it's amazing how much like little pups these fish are. +1 on the Bloodworm tip, that's how I started mine hand feeding. Just don't wash your hands with antibacterial soap first, just use regular and rinse very well before handling the food.

[Darrell Ward]

Put food between your thumb and finger. Place fingers holding food in water. As long as you don't make sudden movements, fish will eat. :D If the fish are use to you feeding them, it's easy. I have discus that pick at my hands and arms when tank cleaning. It kinda tickles.

[Jhhnn]

My blue scorps from Kenny ate out of my hand from the start. The RSxAF were more skittish at first, but it only took a few days... It helped to have 'em hungry, and to hold real still.

I have to nudge the scorps out of the way with the siphon tube to clean their tank, and my confirmed female will attack it when she has eggs, but the RSxAF aren't quite as bold...

[Yassmeena]

Awesome! Sounds exciting! Can't wait to try it!!!!

Yasmin

[diamond_discus]

HaHa .. I got bitten so many times by my breeding pairs... I am scared to put my hands into the tank water now .. And it's true .. if you got your fishes from Kenny .. you probably need to wear a glove ..;)

[tcyiu]

Along with a few ppl here, we're lucky to actually have visited with Kenny. It's hilarious to see him walk around the fish room, the fish follow his every movement.

LOL !!!

Tim

[Yassmeena]

Along with a few ppl here, we're lucky to actually have visited with Kenny. It's hilarious to see him walk around the fish room, the fish follow his every movement.

LOL !!!

Tim

lol that must be quite a sight!!!

So yesterday I tried it for the first time. no luck yet. They hiver near my hand, some look like they are about to go for it, but they end up grabbing the stray BWs that melt and fall out of the block.

I'll keep at it!

:D

Yasmin

[joanr]

Don't wear a white or light shirt when you approach the tank. Try something black or navy blue. That may sound weird but white/light T's will scare them when they are newbies.

[Wahter]

Don't wear a white or light shirt when you approach the tank. Try something black or navy blue. That may sound weird but white/light T's will scare them when they are newbies.


I've found in my experience that wearing black will freak out the discus that I have.



Walter

[joanr]

That's funny, guess Yasmin will have to experiment. I've heard a lot of people say white will scare them, never black though....lol. I think it probably doesn't really matter much....

[tcmemphisbbq]

Put food between your thumb and finger. Place fingers holding food in water. As long as you don't make sudden movements, fish will eat. :D If the fish are use to you feeding them, it's easy. I have discus that pick at my hands and arms when tank cleaning. It kinda tickles.

Ditto -

[waters10]

Not exactly hand feeding, but my discus bite me all the time when I feed them freeze dried blackworms! They were always afraid of hands in the tank, but ever since I started using a worm cone upside down to avoid FDBW floating, they really come to me, go through my fingers and everything while I'm still holding the cone.

This food really changed my discus behavior! I use suction cups to hold the cone to the glass. The suction cup holds it really well and it requires some effort to break the suction, so one time I was doing that and kinda slapped the side of one of my discus. Before this food, he'd freak out, I'm sure. But he didn't even flinch! :D

[Eddie]

Not exactly hand feeding, but my discus bite me all the time when I feed them freeze dried blackworms! They were always afraid of hands in the tank, but ever since I started using a worm cone upside down to avoid FDBW floating, they really come to me, go through my fingers and everything while I'm still holding the cone.

This food really changed my discus behavior! I use suction cups to hold the cone to the glass. The suction cup holds it really well and it requires some effort to break the suction, so one time I was doing that and kinda slapped the side of one of my discus. Before this food, he'd freak out, I'm sure. But he didn't even flinch! :D

LOL, mine do the same! They attack the hell out of my hands when I've got the cone in my hand. Those FDBW are like crack! LOL

Eddie

[GlennR]

I used to cut thin strips of beef heart and wiggle it between my fingers. They loved it and soon would swim between my fingers to let me rub their sides.

[Dutch dude]

I hand feed my breeding pair by hand becouse they are in a communety tank right now. This way I'm sure they get enough food. I just keep some beefheart between my thumb and finger and they come to the surface to pick it and eat it.

Learning them to hand feed was easy and took me a couple of day's. First they were scared to pick it and came close but backed of. When a fish came close I let go some of the food. After a few feeds they started to trust me and just picked it from my hands.

I'm now in the process of selling fry and I told one of the costomers I hand feed my pair. I never tried hand feeding my fry but I tried and they feed from my hand right away without any doubt.

There is nothing special to domesticated discus follow you around and great you or come and beg for food. If one spends enough time in the tanks (fry daily water changes) this will happen without doing any effort. In fact,....when I clean the tank with the pair I have to push them away time after time becouse they go were my hand goes. This was also the case before the hand feeding. Wilds might be something diferent dough. My F1 curipera youngsters are still to shy but that will change over time. I wear what I wear, white black, red, blue, I never wash my hands before I hit the tank and only wash my hands afterwards. The only thing that may spook them is a reflection of light from my glasses (light reflected from tubelight) flashing in the tank.

[vss]

I think there are two factors that will matter: 1. habit 2. condition.

my experience: when I just received fish from Kenny, most of them have already been trained for hand feeding, and in the first couple of weeks they were all eating happily from my hand. Later on some of them became sort of reluctant and shy when I dig my hand in, and I found there was some minor sign of external issue with them. Then after I'm done with several external treatments with PP or formalin, they came back to the top condition again, and became very bold to bite from my hands. :D

So what I would suggest: 1. deal with the health issue first if any 2. clean water and warmer water temp 3. put your hands in the tank more often and try to be close to them as long as that won't scare them to dash.

just my 2 cents:p good luck.

-Xiaofei :)

[Yassmeena]

Hey all,

Ok they are eating from my hand now! :D

Love it!
:)

Yasmin

[underwaterforest]

Glad to hear it worked out for you Yasmin.:D
Have fun.

[fishorama]

My juvies prefer hand feeding to DIY, flakes frozen, pellets, it's all better with some mama finger. A couple seem to always go for the air bubbles stuck to my hand first :crazy:

[gwrace]

Can anyone give me instructions for training my dicus to eat from my hand?

I've always enjoyed seeing it on youtube.

Thanks! :)

Yasmin

My latest order came from Hans. All I have to do is approach the tank and they look llike a pack of wolves. Each time someone walks by they think they need to be fed. You risk losing fingers when you stick a cube of Mals FD blackworms on the side of the tank.

[April]

i agree its all in the condition and happiness of your tank. healthy strong happy discus will come up.
and yes..black they dont like. i keep telling my customers..stop wearing black...when they come to pick fish.lol.

[keno]

i agree its all in the condition and happiness of your tank. healthy strong happy discus will come up.
and yes..black they dont like. i keep telling my customers..stop wearing black...when they come to pick fish.lol.

WOW April. years ago my discus would go into a panic sometimes. It was totally random and I went nutz testing water, light conditions, voltage, all the basics. Finally after weeks perhaps months, i finally copped it that it was a black golf shirt I wore somtimes. I was amazed when I tested my theory, sure enough they freaked out when I showed up in this shirt, never wore black again with that group of fish! :)

[srusso]

Crap! thats all my wife has is black clothes! I hope mine dont do that!