Start with a feed ring.. use freeze-dried foods after it's really hungry.. It will start to learn to eat from the feeding ring every meal. Then you can just feed it with your fingers, and eventually remove the ring..
training a BGK to eat from hand/feeding tube
- Thread starter IKeepPacu
- Start date
I have been using a pair of long handled tongs to target feed my BGK. He was so small when I first got him that he would have starved - so I started to target feed.
He eats anything I give him and always has a good appetite.
I would love to try to feed him by hand, but my fear is that he would not recognize that it was now a finger holding the bloodworms and not a set of plastic tongs. He is about 9 Inches long and when he hits the bloodworms you can certainly feel it.
I have a pair of aquarium gloves that I may use the first few times...until I become a little braver. I have seen his mouth open - and I don't want to see what would happen to the end of my finger if he thought it was food
He eats anything I give him and always has a good appetite.
I would love to try to feed him by hand, but my fear is that he would not recognize that it was now a finger holding the bloodworms and not a set of plastic tongs. He is about 9 Inches long and when he hits the bloodworms you can certainly feel it.
I have a pair of aquarium gloves that I may use the first few times...until I become a little braver. I have seen his mouth open - and I don't want to see what would happen to the end of my finger if he thought it was food
cmartin;1540172; said:I have been using a pair of long handled tongs to target feed my BGK. He was so small when I first got him that he would have starved - so I started to target feed.
He eats anything I give him and always has a good appetite.
I would love to try to feed him by hand, but my fear is that he would not recognize that it was now a finger holding the bloodworms and not a set of plastic tongs. He is about 9 Inches long and when he hits the bloodworms you can certainly feel it.
I have a pair of aquarium gloves that I may use the first few times...until I become a little braver. I have seen his mouth open - and I don't want to see what would happen to the end of my finger if he thought it was food
Stop being such a pussy
,get your hand in the tank with some food....... 
i_ganjaman;1542658; said:Stop being such a pussy
lol, i love hand feeding personally. even with the chance of a good bite from fish, its the one of the coolest experiences you can add to the aquarium obsession.
IKeepPacu;1542883; said:lol, i love hand feeding personally. even with the chance of a good bite from fish, its the one of the coolest experiences you can add to the aquarium obsession.
Amen to that..
My BGK took a few tries, but once he understood that my hand was okay, he got pretty bold. If I hold on to the pellet, he tries to shove my hand out of the way until he gets it. Sometimes I give him half a pellet...then he takes off to his cave and eats it. Then when he comes out I give him the other half and he eats it in the open. I quickly learned that if I just put the pellet in the tank, the other fish will bash away at it and he doesn't get fed enough. I have never felt his teeth, but sometimes I hear a funny clicking sound...anyone else familiar with that?
I feed my TSN Catfish (18") by hand and sometimes he gets a bit cocky and gives his head a tug and I get to feel his teeth which feel like a heavy grit sandpaper on my finger.
I feed my TSN Catfish (18") by hand and sometimes he gets a bit cocky and gives his head a tug and I get to feel his teeth which feel like a heavy grit sandpaper on my finger.
