Do you ever "hold" your bettas?

[Phaydra]

Yes Red actually depends on my hand for feeding. Fluffy well he just spends most his time trying to figure out how to fit a finger in his mouth. It may startle you at first but a Betta bite doesn't hurt. I find it quiet entertaining myself.

[babystarz]

I stick my hands in my tanks to move around/prune plants almost every day, so my fish are used to it. They come say hi and rub up against my fingers sometimes. The only time anyone has ever bit me was by accident when I was holding a bloodworm. It doesn't hurt, bettas have a pretty wimpy bite :P

[Chard56]

During water changes or photo sessions I always use my hand when taking them out of the old water to move to the clean water. In the past I have damaged their finnage when using a net.

[BettaQi]

My girls would like to come into my hand. The boy wasn't socialized much (he came from Thailand at 3.5 months) so he is kind of afraid.

I am worried about introducing bacteria to them, so I don't touch them. I "pet" them by stroking along the outside of the tank while they curl around and wiggle. They're so cute!

[ktbrew]

When doing water changes ill place my hand in the water of my sorority and hold it still slightly cupped. All 6 girls take turns swimming into the center of my palm and investigate, swim out then come around to do it again. I do it so they dont see my hand as a threat if i need to move anything around while cleaning. Anything to make it a peaceful process.

[DoctorWhoLuver]

I wish my girls do that :) It would be nice to have them peacefully weaving through my fingers but... they just go on full out attack mode and try to eat my hand. And their little nips kinda hurt for me XD One of them once, I think it was Avalon (S.I.P), gave me a cut :O

[Kytkattin]

Nope. Once you have been seriously bit by one of these fish you never look at them the same. By serious I mean having the fish latch on to the soft skin where your elbow bends in and hold on even after being pulled from the water. And she was just a tiny thing. The female I have now is so big I can see her teeth. If she bit me I imagine that she might actually make me bleed. Thankfully she leaves me alone while I garden.

[Kevron56]

Originally Posted by Kytkattin

Nope. Once you have been seriously bit by one of these fish you never look at them the same. By serious I mean having the fish latch on to the soft skin where your elbow bends in and hold on even after being pulled from the water. And she was just a tiny thing. The female I have now is so big I can see her teeth. If she bit me I imagine that she might actually make me bleed. Thankfully she leaves me alone while I garden.

Do bettas have teeth?! I've only seen mine yawn so I haven't been able to see... lol!

[Butterfly]

I stuck a q tip in fred's tank once to try and skim out a piece of dog hair. He ATTACKED it like nobody's business xD scared the poo out of me :( When he's in the holding cup for a water change, he'll let me sort of pet him(swim past my fingers and his top fin(sorry don't know betta anatomy yet D:) skim across. When I stuck a pipette in to get some water, he tried to take a chomp out of it and that startled me too. I squeezed and bubbles came out and he swam away, looking at it strangely from afar. But then came back and bit the tip of it again. He's pretty sweet though, enjoys music and someone to talk to him and feed him. I tap the rim of the bowl before he gets fed and he comes swimming up, really excited.

[ktbrew]

One bit my wrist when I was moving a rock & it hurt! It surprised me how it stung for a while. If i feel one is getting closer for the wrong reason i GENTLY move my hand and push her away. It usually does the trick. I figure theyre testing their authority in the tank or they see food come from my hand twice a day maybe they can get some more from my wrist!