i know this is probly a weird question but somtimes i get a little hesitant to put my hand in my tank with my oscars when they havnt been fed yet but is it likely for a gar to attack ur hand while its in the tank?
Noob question
- Thread starter Mosdefenate
- Start date
if they havent been fed in a while it is very likely that they may take a swipe at your fingers. with small gars this is not really an issue as their teeth are unlikely to break the skin, but with medium-large gars (about 7" and up...also depends on species as gators and Cubans will do more damage than longnoses of the same size) they can easily draw blood with their teeth.
they won't amputate any fingers or anything, but they can definitely cut you up a bit. your best bet is to not mess with the tank when they havent been fed in a long time, or if you do, just put your whole hand in and once they see that it's bigger than just a finger, they will usually stay away. just start off working in the tank on the opposite end from the gar, and don't dangle your fingers in front of its face. i often work in my biggest tank which has gars ranging from 16-20+" and have never been bitten...they will eventually learn what is going on with you too. hope that helps!--
--solomon
they won't amputate any fingers or anything, but they can definitely cut you up a bit. your best bet is to not mess with the tank when they havent been fed in a long time, or if you do, just put your whole hand in and once they see that it's bigger than just a finger, they will usually stay away. just start off working in the tank on the opposite end from the gar, and don't dangle your fingers in front of its face. i often work in my biggest tank which has gars ranging from 16-20+" and have never been bitten...they will eventually learn what is going on with you too. hope that helps!--
--solomon
They may or may not, it all depends on how often they are fed, what you do when you do have your hand in there, and more often then not, what mood they are in LOL. I have been around a few that were always pissy and would try to attack anything that came too close. If you are really worried about this, and it is keeping you from maintaining your tank, then I would suggest you invest in some steel mesh gloves. Here is a link that I have ordered from. These are not "Top of the line" (you wouldnt want to pay that much, just for dealing with your home tanks), but they are good, and I still use them. No it's not weird for you to be nervous about this, we've all been there. Some of us purposly got bit just so the fear of "what if I get bitten" was over and done with ya know. Ok maybe that's just me, LOL, who knows I am a little crazy.
http://www.saftgard.com/mesh.htm
--Emi
http://www.saftgard.com/mesh.htm
--Emi
heh thanks i was just wondering if ever a plant was floating or i was using the gravel cleaner if theyd just keep coming after my hand constantly oh yea for the people that read my other post about the spotteds my friend said hes gonna try to work somthing out at the lfs to take some of my cichlids for 2 spotted babys