[Armani33]

I have seen videos on Youtube of people with super friendly bettas that will swim into their hand if the put it in the water and and eagerly at from their hand and stuff like that. How do you get a betta comfortable with doing that. Armani has taken a pellet from my hand once or twice so I'm guessing he's not a very skittish betta.

 

[Glock]

Wouldn't that dmagae the fish's coat, touching it with our hands?

 

[Shadyr]

I will stick a pellet to my fingertip and put it right above the water, they will jump for it. If I put my hand in the water to do anything from water changes, decor rearranging, etc, mine will swim up and investigate/nip to see if I'm edible Probably just a familiarity thing - if they see you a lot, they probably just become comfortable with you being part of their scenery.

 

[dramaqueen]

As long as you don't pick it up and take it out of the water then I think it's fine.I don't think.letting it swim through your fingers will hurt anything.

 

[Aus]

Just wash and rise your hands very thoroughly before and after.. I don't use soap, just a bare smidge of hand cleanser and then rinse them heaps (especially under my nails) before putting my hands in my tank.. I'm a bit wary of contaminating it with cleaning product residue or fungal spores or something nasty..

 

[dbrooke1]

Was rearranging a plant and ornament in my betta's tank. At first he would avoid my hand and swim away. After a while from still rearranging, He began to swim a little bit closer. Progress perhaps......

 

[iElBeau]

Mine would eat from my fingers when I was in exams or during holidays, both times when I'm around him pretty much 24/7 and talk to him during breaks etc. it took a lot of time though. Numerous days in a row where I'd first have him come to the front of the tank before I'd feed him. Then I wouldn't feed him until he came to my hand on the outside of his tank. Then I'd hold a bloodworm half in the water and half out. Finally I could put a pellet on my finger about a half inch above the water and he'd eat from my finger. Each of these exercises took days, and a LOT of patience. Sometimes I'd sit holding a bloodworm for 15 or more minutes. It's well worth it though. However, when you stop doing these things, like I did when I got busy again, I found he'd stop doing them too. I try it occasionally recently and he won't - I may have to "retrain" him - but it will take less time the second time around.

A big part of it though is also how much time you spend with him. I would bring my laptop over and watch tv with him (Which believe it or not, betas will watch) on holidays too haha.

I also taught him to wave When I come in and wiggle my finger, or he meets someone new, he wiggles his fins super fast, and it looks like he's waving. I also do it when I leave the room. When he waves when I wiggle my finger, opposed to "constant waving" or no response, he gets a treat, which reinforces the behaviour.

I'm currently trying to get him to blow kisses back at me It OCCASIONALLY works. But I suppose mimicking a humans mouth movements is probably pretty hard, especially when he's used to talking and seeing a mouth move with that, so he has to differentiate between the two.

Anyways, I hope that helps you! It's really just like training any other pet to do tricks, and familiarity is a really big factor too Good luck!

 

[dbrooke1]

ielbeau, soo cute!! Best fish trick ideas I've heard......

One other simple trick is tapping on the glass of the tank (not near the fish so to not provoke him) and then dropping a piece of his food in the water. After several times of doing this, my little guy is starting to swim to the top once he hears the tapping on the glass.

 

[Alcemistnv]

Buddha recognizes my face, so I often play "peek a boo" with him. All I do is leave his sight for about 15 seconds, until he is distracted, and then I slowly appear in his vision again. This gets him happy. I don't go too fast because I don't want to scare him.

I can't do anything involving me putting my hand in the tank because he's extremely skittish and WILL swim away, no matter how long you keep your hand in there.

 

[ao]

Sometimes when I'm feeding kuro in his little cup I'll stuck my fingers in there and poke him as a joke. He's obviously not scared of my finger as he doesnt panic or rush around the cup. rather he sees it as a nuisence and edges away, lolol. I find this so cute for some reason. I've had my girl for a month longer than he, and she still swims away from my finger if I poke the tank walls, whilst Kuro will ignore me completely when he sees my giant finger offending his line of vision.

 

[mursey]

I know people will say not to, but I TOTALLY pet Alejandro. (After I wash my hands, use a nail brush .. . and rinse the soap off really well since they say soap is harmful.) I pet him by softly letting him swim by my finger, then I cupped him and now he will swim into my hand and rest there a second or two just like he does on his leaves or hammock or other things in the tank. He is my friendliest betta, and the one that seems to be pleased or at least curious and not angry when he sees me near the bowl.

He also comes right up to my hand when I drop his food in. I guess I sort of train him to "get it" when I am giving him food. He is on my nightstand in a 5.5 gallon and I don't know if being close to me more than my other tanks makes him friendlier.

I often think it stinks you can't ever tell before you bring them home who has the best personality. You just have to be lucky.

 

[Blue Fish]

You mentioned feeding him in a cup...do you take him out of the tank to feed and then put him back in?
I'm curious!

 

[mursey]

Oh no I don't use a cup, I mean I "cup" my hand and let him swim in.

 

[ao]

You mentioned feeding him in a cup...do you take him out of the tank to feed and then put him back in?
I'm curious!

Yup =D He swims in by himself because he knows its feeding time. I do this to train him to swim into cups for water changes.

 

[deso]

Since I got him, my boy drops whatever he's doing and comes swimming towards me at top speed if I beckon to him with my index finger. It's really cute, but I remind myself that he probably just thinks I've got food...

 

[ZackyBear]

It's fun for me to go home, collapse onto the bed, and watch portal prime dance about. When I point to his food container (Which I make sure to ALWAYS open in front of him for feeding time) He will dash back and forth until I drop a few pellets in.

He won't let me touch him, but he will follow my finger if I stick it in his tank -w- I make sure to rinse my hands in steamy hot water if I am going to stick my hand in his tank.

 

[Sena Hansler]

Spartan used to sit in my hand. Maine breached the divider and I shooed him off :lol: Spartan came to my hand and sat in it LOL

 

[ZackyBear]

Spartan used to sit in my hand. Maine breached the divider and I shooed him off :lol: Spartan came to my hand and sat in it LOL

I couldn't help but laugh at 'breached the divider' xD

 

[Sena Hansler]

:lol: He did! Hudini Maine :roll: No idea HOW, so I say he breached it.

 

[Destinystar]

Such sweet stories love them all ! Perseus who I believe is young he is just over and inch is such a happy little guy he is not afraid of me and always comes to the top of his tank when I take the lib off to feed him and when I do water changes he always stays close by watching and seems to enjoy it. He will do the wiggle dance when he sees me in the morning. I want to teach him to jump for his food as I have only seen him jump once since I have had him a month now. He had his nose to the surface of the water staring at something and all of a sudden he jumped 3 times in a row it was awesome to watch !!!! I always leave some room at the top for jumping now and yes his lid is always on my daughter who got him for me was worried when I got a new tank and wanted to make sure it had a lid. I love my Perseus !!!!