Worried!

[FH Fan]

Was petting my FH tonight as I always do. He loves it but only for about 1-2 min., then he’s done. I pushed the limit tonight and he turned and bit me. I wasn’t expecting it so it shocks me and I pulled my hand out of the tank but he was still attached! He dropped about 3 ft to the floor. I immediately scooped him up to put him back in tank and just as I got to the tank he flipped and flopped back down another 3 ft to the floor Scooped him again and got him back in. Has this ever happened to any of you? Did your FH survive? He immediately went to the back corner of the tank and postured Verticaly with his head pointed up and gills where pumping hard. Fast forward 1 hour and he is postured correctly and doesn’t seem to be injured but Gill function is still very rapid. Any thing I should do or look for in this situation?

 

[skjl47]

Hello; At least two areas of concern. One is the physical trauma of hitting the floor as there might be impact damage. I have picked fish off the floor and put them back with mixed results in the past.
The other thing is the slime coat being disturbed with the possibility of opportunistic infections resulting. When I fish and catch fish such as brim I try to get my hands wet before handling the fish for example. Being on a dry floor can also damage the slime coat. keep at eye out for sore spots and for fuzzy spots on the fish's body or fins.

Petting a fish? Never thought it was a very good practice and fortunately most fish do not allow such. Let me guess, it started with hand feeding perhaps?

 

[hesjustincredible]

Never do this again. Add some API stress coat. This will help him relax and will replenish his slime coat. Do not feed him for a day or two.

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Never ever jerk back when something bites you.
He may recover if he doesn't have any damage from his skydiving attempt

 

[aria]

People pet their flowerhorns all the time.. it's nothing unusual, I've been doing it with my little kamfa to get him used to me and my hands during water chsnges so that when hes larger he hopefully doesn't damage me. Not really sure on the dropping aspect as it's never happened to me but you should put api stress coat as mentioned. He's probably ok but keep an eye on him might need to move him to a qt or use a bucket with a small layer of tank water with an airstone if things get worse. Maybe try lowering the tank water in case it happens again. I know I did this with a bearded dragon I had years ago that bit my finger while I looked away and I jerked my arm and flung him across his cage into the wall.

 

[FH Fan]

Hello; At least two areas of concern. One is the physical trauma of hitting the floor as there might be impact damage. I have picked fish off the floor and put them back with mixed results in the past.
The other thing is the slime coat being disturbed with the possibility of opportunistic infections resulting. When I fish and catch fish such as brim I try to get my hands wet before handling the fish for example. Being on a dry floor can also damage the slime coat. keep at eye out for sore spots and for fuzzy spots on the fish's body or fins.

Petting a fish? Never thought it was a very good practice and fortunately most fish do not allow such. Let me guess, it started with hand feeding perhaps?

Thanks for the response. I added stress coat as suggested and he seems to be doing fine. He’s still active and not showing any signs of stress or injury.

 

[islandguy11]

People pet their flowerhorns all the time.. it's nothing unusual,

That doesn't make it a good practice, in fact, as this post demonstrates it's simply not a smart thing to be doing. Lot's of FH nowadays don't make it past a year or two, why increase the chances of disease (from removing their slime coats) or crazy mishaps??

Also sorry, but FH's don't 'love' being petted, at most they tolerate it (until they snap If you want something to pet better to get a dog or a cat

 

[aria]

that's a pretty broad statement to be making.. this post demonstrates that you shouldn't play with your flower horn because a few people have had very peculiar mishaps such as this one? while petting a flower horn can affect its slime coat you are making it sound way worse. It's his fish and he wanted advice on what to do after the fact, not that he should get a dog or cat if he wants something to pet. Like I said, it's nothing unusual. In fact if you were a part of the facebook groups, which i'm sure you are, you'd see for yourself there are plenty of breeders that do it as well, nothing unusual. But you are right, it doesn't make it ideal.

 

[skjl47]

it's nothing unusual. In fact if you were a part of the facebook groups you'd see for yourself there are plenty of breeders that do it as well, nothing unusual.

hello; While I do not keep FH and never have, I have been keeping fish for over five decades and this is a new bit of information to me. That in itself means little I guess. I have had some big cichlids and have had a few investigate my hands and arms when I stuck them in a tank. I always figured hey associated my hands with food.
Had some fish pick at the hairs on my arms and such. Never occurred to me to use the situation to "pet" the fish.
I have "trained" fish so to speak in the past. I use to lightly tap on my tanks right before adding food. The fish did associate this with feeding. They would begin mouthing the waters surface even before I had added food. I was very young and eventually stopped.
All that said we each get to run our tanks any way we wish, at least so far.

 

[aria]

Exactly honestly I don't really pet my fish to pet him and have a good time. Islandguy is spot on, it is not ideal at all and I hardly handle my fish, max 1 to 2 times a week do I put my hand in there, he comes up curious and bumps me, initially he would bite. I just want him to be familiar with my hand so that it is not only seen has the thing that feeds him. I'm just trying to condition him so that when he is larger and is able to do more damage he will hopefully refrain from doing so during water changes. Especially because the show tank is built in to the bar cabinet and it is very hard to see what I'm doing during water changes/where the fish is.