# Do you ever "hold" your bettas?



## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

This is more of just a curious question. I have never stuck my hand into my bettas tank before while he was in there until today. The tongs I used to move stuff around in his old tank were long enough to reach the bottom, but in his larger tank it is a bit too deep to reach the bottom without my hand being sort of in the water.

I was putting a new ornament in there a few minutes ago and he kept swimming up to my hand and around the handle of the tongs. My hand was clean, I just didn't want to stick my whole arm in there  He seems to love following my hand around, especially when it is IN the water.

I also saw a video yesterday on youtube of someone holding out their hand at the surface of the water and their betta swam into their hand and used it like a hammock. So, I was just wondering, do you guys ever do that?

Also, I'm a bit scared of him biting me  even though I've been told that it doesn't hurt. This is just a curiosity more than actually wanting to hold my fish, by the way, but he really did seem to love my hand!


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## sainthogan (Sep 27, 2012)

I have, but it was because she had jumped out of her tank and I had to pick her up to put her back in, and then when she sank to the bottom, I picked her up again and took her out to rinse her off. Now, she's scared of my hand.


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## DoctorWhoLuver (Feb 23, 2012)

Lol, my sorority girls attack my hands XD they try to eat it... :O


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## FishFriend9292 (Oct 14, 2012)

I had to stick my hand in the tank, and my betta rubbed up against it like a cat, LOL


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## stareyes (Oct 18, 2012)

My betta freaks out if anything besides my hand goes into the tank lol!! He loves chasing,nipping and rubbing against my fingers.  Don't worry if he nips you, it doesn't hurt although it may make you jump!


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Very neat lol, the cat betta xD I am just a little skeptical of him getting so close to my hand! I think I'm more scared than he is! Which, admittedly, is very cute. I don't like putting my hand in his tank because I don't want the oils or anything to harm him. But I know sometimes I'll have to, and was also scared of him nipping at my fingers lol


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## DragonFish (Mar 31, 2009)

Well of course its not the best idea to, you know, reach in and pet or grab your fish regularly since it could damage its slime coat....but if your betta comes over to swim around your fingers and hand and nibble at you a little, it can't really hurt so long as your hand is rinsed and clean. xD Bettas are very curious and friendly little fish and if you stick your hand in the tank, IME, most will eventually come over to investigate. xD 

I've found that females tend to be a little bolder then males in general....they tend to be a little extra curious about the strange thing wiggling around in their tank. 
Also, a while back when I bred, my hands were in the spawning/growout tank quite a bit with all the water changes I had to do, and I hand-fed my fry when they were large enough to eat food I could pick up so the babies all grew up very familiar with my hand. All I had to do was stick my hand in there and I had a SWARM of little bettas on me. xD


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

I wasn't really talking about petting or grabbing them.. just letting them swim into your palm if they wish to do so. And that's very cute! I actually fed him while doing that because my hands were clean and in his water anyways. I notice that he usually follows my entire body instead of just my hand or fingers outside the tank.


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## aemaki09 (Oct 23, 2012)

My HM chunks in the sorority tank loves to try! I don't normally let her but she always tries to come up and either rubs against me or gets in my actual hand. I don't put my hand in often, but a lot of my plants arent rooted down completely yet so I have to reach in and put some back in place once in a while, which is when she does it. I think it's to gain my favor so I'll feed her more bloodworms than anyone else haha


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## shellieca (Jul 12, 2012)

I do it pretty much every day. Most of them will swim into my hand & when one does I cup my hand around them then gently let them swim away.


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## Phaydra (Nov 20, 2012)

Yes Red actually depends on my hand for feeding. Fluffy well he just spends most his time trying to figure out how to fit a finger in his mouth. It may startle you at first but a Betta bite doesn't hurt. I find it quiet entertaining myself.


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## babystarz (Aug 3, 2012)

I stick my hands in my tanks to move around/prune plants almost every day, so my fish are used to it. They come say hi and rub up against my fingers sometimes. The only time anyone has ever bit me was by accident when I was holding a bloodworm. It doesn't hurt, bettas have a pretty wimpy bite


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## Chard56 (Jan 22, 2011)

During water changes or photo sessions I always use my hand when taking them out of the old water to move to the clean water. In the past I have damaged their finnage when using a net.


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## BettaQi (Jul 26, 2012)

My girls would like to come into my hand. The boy wasn't socialized much (he came from Thailand at 3.5 months) so he is kind of afraid.

I am worried about introducing bacteria to them, so I don't touch them. I "pet" them by stroking along the outside of the tank while they curl around and wiggle. They're so cute!


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## ktbrew (Sep 18, 2012)

When doing water changes ill place my hand in the water of my sorority and hold it still slightly cupped. All 6 girls take turns swimming into the center of my palm and investigate, swim out then come around to do it again. I do it so they dont see my hand as a threat if i need to move anything around while cleaning. Anything to make it a peaceful process.


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## DoctorWhoLuver (Feb 23, 2012)

I wish my girls do that  It would be nice to have them peacefully weaving through my fingers but... they just go on full out attack mode and try to eat my hand. And their little nips kinda hurt for me XD One of them once, I think it was Avalon (S.I.P), gave me a cut :O


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## Kytkattin (May 15, 2011)

Nope. Once you have been seriously bit by one of these fish you never look at them the same. By serious I mean having the fish latch on to the soft skin where your elbow bends in and hold on even after being pulled from the water. And she was just a tiny thing. The female I have now is so big I can see her teeth. If she bit me I imagine that she might actually make me bleed. Thankfully she leaves me alone while I garden.


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## Kevron56 (Oct 11, 2012)

Kytkattin said:


> Nope. Once you have been seriously bit by one of these fish you never look at them the same. By serious I mean having the fish latch on to the soft skin where your elbow bends in and hold on even after being pulled from the water. And she was just a tiny thing. The female I have now is so big I can see her teeth. If she bit me I imagine that she might actually make me bleed. Thankfully she leaves me alone while I garden.


Do bettas have teeth?! I've only seen mine yawn so I haven't been able to see... :shock: lol!


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## Butterfly (Nov 13, 2012)

I stuck a q tip in fred's tank once to try and skim out a piece of dog hair. He ATTACKED it like nobody's business xD scared the poo out of me  When he's in the holding cup for a water change, he'll let me sort of pet him(swim past my fingers and his top fin(sorry don't know betta anatomy yet D skim across. When I stuck a pipette in to get some water, he tried to take a chomp out of it and that startled me too. I squeezed and bubbles came out and he swam away, looking at it strangely from afar. But then came back and bit the tip of it again. He's pretty sweet though, enjoys music and someone to talk to him and feed him. I tap the rim of the bowl before he gets fed and he comes swimming up, really excited.


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## ktbrew (Sep 18, 2012)

One bit my wrist when I was moving a rock & it hurt! It surprised me how it stung for a while. If i feel one is getting closer for the wrong reason i GENTLY move my hand and push her away. It usually does the trick. I figure theyre testing their authority in the tank or they see food come from my hand twice a day maybe they can get some more from my wrist!


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## polukoff (Nov 23, 2011)

Everyday, I love when all the little babies swim into your hand and wiggle around.


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## Kytkattin (May 15, 2011)

Kevron56 said:


> Do bettas have teeth?! I've only seen mine yawn so I haven't been able to see... :shock: lol!


Yes they do. Except normally the fish is not monstrously huge like my female (unless they are giants, which she is not), and you would have trouble seeing them without some sort of magnification. Remember, these are carnivorous, predatory fish and teeth can mean the difference between dinner and a mouth full of water. ;-)


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## LunaStars004 (Nov 26, 2012)

Once I have stuck my hand in my betta's tank to re-arrange something, and my betta went crazy! He only settled down when I took my hand out


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## Kitty Whiskers (Sep 28, 2009)

DoctorWhoLuver said:


> Lol, my sorority girls attack my hands XD they try to eat it... :O


 LOL My sorority girls do that too! One time when I was putting in a new decoration, one of the females bit me and it actually hurt like getting a shot with a needle! But any other time their nibbles never hurt.


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## bryzy (Nov 3, 2012)

My betas follow me around from outside but that's my entire body.


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## Perry the platypus (Aug 20, 2012)

I love to play tag with Perry! I always start out as "it" so then I touch Perry softly and she turns around and puts her mouth on my finger; she never bites me. We do that until Perry looks tired and worn-out. :-D


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## bryzy (Nov 3, 2012)

Wow that's so cute. I just put my hand in Neptunes tank. He freaked


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## Hershey (Sep 28, 2012)

I read betta's teeth are stronger than a great white shark's.


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## Hershey (Sep 28, 2012)

Claire (the leader of the girls,) will jump for food (I guess she was telling me to hurry up, I wasn't even training). Anyhoo, she bit me and I jerked back.. it didn't hurt though.


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## Perry the platypus (Aug 20, 2012)

Hershey said:


> I read betta's teeth are stronger than a great white shark's.


:O really??!!


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## Hershey (Sep 28, 2012)

Yeah, forgot where I saw it though.


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## callistra (Jun 29, 2010)

I had one boy who became pretty accustomed to my hand, but if I wiggled my finger he would try to eat it. I had another boy who tried to eat me anytime I even kind of got close to him, so I never dared put my hand in the tank.. he was a jumper too :| I've never tried with my current three. I think it's cute but I don't want to risk passing something onto them that may be on my hands, be it bacteria or possible residue of some kind.

Betta bites do not hurt. It feels funny though.. I doubt their bite is all that strong, considering it's painless.


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## Myates (Aug 2, 2011)

One of my females will jump into my hand if I hold it just above the water.. not from affection, but rather she just wants food lol


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

Haha, the general consensus here seems to be that the females are the craziest


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## ImStillLearning (Nov 23, 2012)

We have all males. And generally after I shower, I will spend some quality time with the fish. I don't stick my full hand in the tank. But what I do, is stick a finger half way in. Smurf, Buddha, Jaws, Sunny, Caesar, Stefan and Damon will all nip at my finger. However all ten of them will rub against my finger showing affection, dragging their fins against my finger. It's really nice and cute. However a few of them it's all based on their mood for that day, sometimes they will look at my finger and cautiously go close then swim away.


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## AyalaCookiejar (Nov 20, 2012)

So many! Lol. Mine are always super curious about any new things I put in the tank


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## Jessa24 (Dec 1, 2012)

I have never tried. Splash lets me put ny hand or finger in his tank and he won't freak on me but I am scared of being biten or somehow hurting him.


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## ImStillLearning (Nov 23, 2012)

We tried the leaf hammock things and none of the fish used them. So we took it out. It's kind of like when we feed them either the frozen bloodworms, or the frozen brine shrimp, what we do is, cut a little hole in the packaging, and allow them all to swim up and take their first bite from the package. And then just squish some into the tank. 

But what is even more interesting, is they get fed just before I go to bed, however all of our ghost shrimp (around six per tank) have clued into this feeding time frenzy, and they all try to steal the boys food. They swim right up to the top waiting for any chance that one of the boys miss a bite. 

And here I thought all of my boys were pigs.... The shrimp might have them beat in that category


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## asukabetta (Oct 2, 2012)

Perry the platypus said:


> :O really??!!


it can be, what kills a person from a shark bite is not the bite itself, it is said that their bite is as powerful as human one. However, what does kill you and is lethal in a shark bite is bleeding out, which is the whole point of their rows of regrowing teeth.


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## speeddemonbk (Sep 30, 2012)

I don't use a net when I clean the tanks, just my hand. I've been bit by one of my bettas before...unless they are as big as piranhas it doesn't feel like anything but a brush of fish lips. He mistook my finger for food in the little food hole in his tank.


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## OrangeAugust (Jul 23, 2012)

FishFriend9292 said:


> I had to stick my hand in the tank, and my betta rubbed up against it like a cat, LOL


That's so cute!!!

At first I was the same way as the OP, like- "Eww, I can't touch the fish water!" But I got desensitized to it and now I have a 10 gallon divided tank, and it's pretty deep. I had my arm in there up to my elbow trying to get the plants to stay a few nights ago.

My female bites me whenever I put my hand in the tank. I think it's so cute, and it just feels like she's bumping up against me because she's so small she can't get any of my flesh.


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## fishy314 (Nov 8, 2012)

once my betta nipped my hand now he stays away from it lol


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I've had to pick two off the floor.


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