How do I get my cichlid to hand feed?

[Matth05]

So I’ve had my Carpintis for a few months now and I think it would be really cool if I can get him to be comfortable hand feeding. He’s not scared of me at all and is surprisingly comfortable swimming around hands when I’m doing water changes. I’ve seen people hand feed their flower horns, Red Devils, and even red Texas. I’ve tried hand feeding him but he just kind of ignores what’s in my hand. Anyone have advice on how I can start doing this?

 

[tlindsey]

So I’ve had my Carpintis for a few months now and I think it would be really cool if I can get him to be comfortable hand feeding. He’s not scared of me at all and is surprisingly comfortable swimming around hands when I’m doing water changes. I’ve seen people hand feed their flower horns, Red Devils, and even red Texas. I’ve tried hand feeding him but he just kind of ignores what’s in my hand. Anyone have advice on how I can start doing this?

How old is the Carpintis?
Maybe try feeding a earthworm for training .

 

[fishguy1978]

Patience

 

[Matth05]

How old is the Carpintis?
Maybe try feeding a earthworm for training .

I’ve had him about 6 months since he’s was maybe an inch and a half or smaller. He’s at the 4-5 inch range right now. I’ve been trying with small mealworms. I don’t want to risk giving him an earthworm from my yard My father sprayed the yard with insecticide fairly recently.

 

[tlindsey]

sprayed the yard with insecticide fairly recently.

You can buy earthworms from a bait shop.

 

[Matth05]

Okay, wasn’t sure if I can trust those. I’ll have to try that. I just tried again with another mealworm and he showed some interest. I don’t want to overdo it with the mealworms though, I’ll have to keep trying.

 

[LBDave]

Petco also has worms of all kinds

 

[Randles]

Try with tweezers first using earthworms (nightcrawlers) or even crickets. I have some with rubber ends so they don't hurt the month of the fish if they are overly feisty. This is the way I've got most of my fish to handfeed over the years. When they are taking it from the tweezers close to the surface you're on a winner as they will just start to take it from your hand. Some just don't like that big scary hand at first but with tweezers you can get quite close minus the scary hand. Remember though, they are all different and where some will literally take from your hand pretty much straight away some may never, although that's few and far between.