New betta likes being pet?

[CrankyFish84]

ALL my females nip me to no end lol Especially the blind one because she thinks I'm a giant bug...I try not
to touch them bc of the slime coat buuttt sometimes they rub on me lol
My hardest biter is DEXTER (named after a serial killer so it fits lol)...YES it definitely smarts & I try to drop his pellets as fast as I can!!!

[DazzleKitty]

I read at another forum I visit a while back that some bettas do like being petted. None of mine are brave enough to let me touch them. Only one of them is bold enough to nip my finger, but that's pretty rare too.

[vaygirl]

Tango likes to bite me and he likes to rub on me too. I pet him now and then.

I put my hands in all my tanks all the time. I rinse them really well with plain water first most of the time but not always. If you have planted tanks, or pre-filter sponges/bags, you're always having to stick your hands in your tank. Plus when vacuuming, my hand goes in then too because my vacuum is short. Of course, I don't use moisturizer or anything like that. Just organic soap.

[FuulieQ]

My fish avoids touching my hands if I have them in the water cleaning or moving things, but my frogs always swarm me and nip at my fingers. :P

[Juneii]

Neptune jumps for his food (I keep the pellet on my finger with a bit of water) and he usually jumps and eats it from my finger. Sometimes when he's really angry he bites my finger, usually when I disturb him or when he's really hungry. Neptune doesn't mind being petted either, I pretend to chase him around his bowl and he swims circles around it before getting closer so I can pet him :)
My friend's betta fishes are less jumpy and hides if a finger gets too close to them.

[scootshoot]

Slimy Coat - Fish secrete a mucoprotein protective slime coat that covers the scales and skin. This slime coat acts as a defense against invasion by bacterial, parasitic, and fungal pathogens.

The slime coating contains enzymes and antibodies to fight infection. The slime coating acts as a shield against disease causing organisms in the fish's external environment. It also acts as a barrier to prevent loss of internal electrolytes and body fluids.

When even a small portion of the slime coating is removed, the fish will bleed electrolytes from its body into the surrounding water.
http://www.arkansasstripers.com/fish-slime-coat.htm

If your mom wishes to stay interactive with your fish, just have her place her finger "still" and let the betta initiate whatever it feels like doing, nipping at her finger etc. As others have stated alongside the article above, do not "pet" the betta

[dragonfair]

I don't remove my boys from the tanks unless I'm doing a 100% water change, so they are always very curious when I put my hands in the tanks to move things around. All of them but one try to twine between my fingers. Once Bravo swam into my curled fingers when I was lifting a plant and he rode my hand to the top of the water before swimming on out of the tunnel. It was like a hang 10 - wish I could have filmed that!

[LikeDiscoSuperfly]

My betta doesnt want to be touched at all, but I had an oscar that LOVED to be pet, but only by me. He would rub all over my hand when I cleaned his tank.

[ohstephyy]

Fred liked to be petted, I'm uploading a video of me petting him..I'll link when it's done.

[JaspersANGEL]

I actually invite my Betta's to jump..I make them jump sometimes before I give them there food, cause they never jump. I sometime's leave the lid's off my tanks..the thing's are filled to the brink..and they do not jump.
My old Betta's did not jump also..I take that as a compliment cause I read somewhere that if they like where they live they will not jump.

In the wild a reason for them to jump is to go find better living conditions.

But all my Betta's past and present hate to be touched and I try not to touch them too much, except through the glass and even then some get scared.