Hand Feeding Skittish Goldfish.

I have a carnival rescue. He is a comet goldfish. Very small, probably 3-4 inches in length. He is incredibly skittish.

I saw a lot of videos of people hand feeding their gold fish, and I think that is very cool. I would like my goldfish to get to a point where he is comfortable enough with me to eat food from my hand. I have had him for 5 days now. He lives in a 50 gallon , but I am moving him into a 100 gallon kitty pool very shortly (after it has cycled)


Is the first thing to do just kind of spend time near him? I do a water change daily, so he probably sees me lots! He hides when I walk near his tank. Though, I can watch him from a distance, and if he doesn’t see me, he usually is sifting through the sand, and exploring a little. When I walk near him, he darts in a flower pot.

During feeding I put a sinking pellet right outside where he is hiding. It sinks right next to him, and he swims out just enough to eat it, and then slowly goes back into the flower pot. He usually sticks his head out of the pot to watch me though.

After he is comfortable enough to explore the tank with me near it, do I just kind of put my hand in the tank, to get him used to that?

Then try to get him to associate food with me?

I really want him to not live in fear whenever I’m around. Thanks.
(Sorry for the longish post)

 

How long ago did you get him?

 

5 days. I know he needs time to adjust, though I just want a plan!

 

Ok, pretty soon he'll start to recognize your face and voice. Try quietly singing to him.

 

My family might think I have gone insane, but I will give it a try

 

Yes, you’ll need to serenade the fish.

 

I have a carnival rescue. He is a comet goldfish. Very small, probably 3-4 inches in length. He is incredibly skittish.

I saw a lot of videos of people hand feeding their gold fish, and I think that is very cool. I would like my goldfish to get to a point where he is comfortable enough with me to eat food from my hand. I have had him for 5 days now. He lives in a 50 gallon , but I am moving him into a 100 gallon kitty pool very shortly (after it has cycled)


Is the first thing to do just kind of spend time near him? I do a water change daily, so he probably sees me lots! He hides when I walk near his tank. Though, I can watch him from a distance, and if he doesn’t see me, he usually is sifting through the sand, and exploring a little. When I walk near him, he darts in a flower pot.

During feeding I put a sinking pellet right outside where he is hiding. It sinks right next to him, and he swims out just enough to eat it, and then slowly goes back into the flower pot. He usually sticks his head out of the pot to watch me though.

After he is comfortable enough to explore the tank with me near it, do I just kind of put my hand in the tank, to get him used to that?

Then try to get him to associate food with me?

I really want him to not live in fear whenever I’m around. Thanks.
(Sorry for the longish post)

Hey! I have had my fish since May, and I hand feed them every day! I have a few tips.

First of all, your fish has an eye like a fixed focus camera lens. It's got clear, polarized vision for about 15 feet, with a blind spot in front of its face (because of the side facing eyes) with even more color range than we see!

All those reflections we see from the outside are not seen by the fish. It's like a giant bay window to them! Just being near the tank and doing something quiet like reading (or browsing fish forums, hehe) helps him see you as a normal presence.

Goldfish have EARS! well sort of. They're called otoliths... but yes your fish can hear you. Talk to him so he gets used to how you sound.

This video got me started hand feeding:

Tip: Goldfish have a great sense of smell, too! They will know when there's something tasty to eat, and generally where, by smell alone. You don't have to "show" them the food in your fingers, just hold still and they'll find it.

Admittedly my fish were pretty outgoing, I hand fed right from the start. Now I've graduated to "chase the hand with the food in it"

 

I’ll try that!

 

Sometimes a buddy can help him come out a bit more, and make things a bit easier on you... they social fish, and in the wild a single fish basically is a dead fish. So getting a buddy can help draw him out a little and make things a little easier and give him the best possible time to adjust.

 

Sara was a little more skittish than Maybelle in the beginning. Five days isn't very long. Patience will be rewarded. I feed them the first bite of each meal by hand. My desk is about four feet from their tank so they see me all day. If they think it has been too long since finding anything to eat, say five minutes or so, they will protest and demand attention by coming to the corner of their tank closest to my chair and rapidly shake their heads at me while they seem to be silently shouting something.

 

Okay. Your fish are SO cute!

After he moves into his kitty pool I will get him a buddy. Is a Shubunkin goldfish good, or should get another comet?

Can comets be white and orange?

 

To cut to the chase; both questions, yes.

 

He has really warmed up to me! I spend loads of time sitting next to the tank. And I might have sang to him during water changes.

Now is is always begging for food. I just have to get him used to my hand, and I think he will be eating out of it in no time.

Thanks for all the help!

 

the thing I'm finding with my 2 fish, is that yes, they do get excited when I'm around because I have the "magic food hand" but, I think they're also genuinely curious about me and think I'm interesting. They're really quite bright and get bored really fast... when you're around it's "interesting." If I put my face on one side of the tank, my one fish RUNS OVER to see it. If I move to the other end of the tank, she RUNS OVER to the other side. One of the reasons I throw big leaves of greens in there (like celery tops) is to give them something to do. You might end up with quite a little buddy. ^_^

 

While I sit at my desk and watch them "out of the corner of my eye," they are aware and keeping track of me in a way, but when I turn my head and look directly at them they seem to recognize we are making eye contact and their antics to get my full attention shift into a higher gear. That's a lot more social intelligence than I expected.

Agree that a big reason for giving them vegetables is to keep the tank interesting for them. I limit it to green leafy and cruciferous vegetables though because I'm afraid if I gave them fruit and higher calorie veggies they would quickly get as fat as I am. Have mentioned in a couple threads here that I'd like to establish a self-sustaining prey population in their tank so they might occasionally manage their own shrimp lunch. I think that would give Sara and Maybelle something to think about if the prey had enough protective structure to make themselves only an occasional treat.

Just gave them their first taste of Bok Choy leaf. They finished all but the thick veins in about half an hour. You can't see it but while I was attaching the suction cup to the glass Sara, the white one, was chewing on my knuckles the whole time.