Finger Biting Oscars

[Ryan]

I have two Oscars about 6 inches long each and they love to try and bite my
fingers when I feed them. I'm curious how hard they can bite once they are
full grown. I have a two year old that likes to feed them. Should I be
worried that they could hurt his fingers or even mine eventually?

Thanks,
Ryan

[Jayne Narvesen]

> I have two Oscars about 6 inches long each and they love to try and bite
my
> fingers when I feed them. I'm curious how hard they can bite once they
are
> full grown. I have a two year old that likes to feed them. Should I be
> worried that they could hurt his fingers or even mine eventually?

I once reached into my oscar tank to remove a thermometer he had broken and
he bit me hard enough to draw blood. Another time he went after the sparlkle
of my ring and bit down on my wedding ring. Reaching into the tank is
different than feeding though. maybe others have more experiences to share.
Jayne

[NetMax]

"Ryan" > wrote in message
...
> I have two Oscars about 6 inches long each and they love to try and
bite my
> fingers when I feed them. I'm curious how hard they can bite once they
are
> full grown. I have a two year old that likes to feed them. Should I
be
> worried that they could hurt his fingers or even mine eventually?
>
> Thanks,
> Ryan

Yes. I would not trust a 6" biting Oscar with a 2 year old's fingers.
Their grip is reasonable, their grinding teeth are in the back (which a
finger could reach), they can twist effectively when the finger is locked
down. It's far better (IMHO) to teach your Oscar (or any pet) not to
bite. A flick of your finger should teach respect, and then teach them
to gentle pry your fingers open to get at food in your closed fist. Even
then, this respect will sometimes not carry over past the regular feeder
to the occasional feeder, so ymmv for your son.

NetMax

[saminorc]

>I once reached into my oscar tank to remove a thermometer he had broken and
>he bit me hard enough to draw blood. Another time he went after the sparlkle
>of my ring and bit down on my wedding ring. Reaching into the tank is
>different than feeding though. maybe others have more experiences to share.
>Jayne

same thing happened to me with my red devil, i reached into tank to move a clay
pot and he swam from one side of tank to other and bit my finger and drew
blood, it didn't hurt that much but it was funny to me but not to my girlfriend
she screamed
and jumped up off the sofa and started to slap the tank where the RD was, it
was hilarious!
He is a funny fish, he jumps out of the tank
when i dangle a pellet over the surface of the water and he takes it right from
between my fingers (and man can he jump fast and high, sometimes if i'm not
paying attention close enough he will bite my fingers along with the pellet and
you can feel his teeth scraping along your skin as he's taking it) he likes to
play too, I take a long wooden spoon and put it in front of his mouth and he
likes to attack it and from time to time he bites on the spoon and holds on and
i can pull him around the tank or pull him out of the water as he locks his
mouth on the spoon or i can twist the spoon and spin him around upside down and
back, but after a
few minutes he gets tired and is not enthusiastic as he is at the start and
then you can see him swim around breathing heavy (maybe i should put him on a
diet and get him to work out more he needs to be in better shape)

[Dee Dee Russell]

Not only did my oscar bite hard enough to draw blood, but once, when I let
someone else feed the fish, it jumped out of the tank and gave him a fat
lip! Nasty fish...

"NetMax" > wrote in message
.. .
>
> "Ryan" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I have two Oscars about 6 inches long each and they love to try and
> bite my
> > fingers when I feed them. I'm curious how hard they can bite once they
> are
> > full grown. I have a two year old that likes to feed them. Should I
> be
> > worried that they could hurt his fingers or even mine eventually?
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Ryan
>
> Yes. I would not trust a 6" biting Oscar with a 2 year old's fingers.
> Their grip is reasonable, their grinding teeth are in the back (which a
> finger could reach), they can twist effectively when the finger is locked
> down. It's far better (IMHO) to teach your Oscar (or any pet) not to
> bite. A flick of your finger should teach respect, and then teach them
> to gentle pry your fingers open to get at food in your closed fist. Even
> then, this respect will sometimes not carry over past the regular feeder
> to the occasional feeder, so ymmv for your son.
>
> NetMax
>
>

[Ryan]

I appreciate everyone's feedback. I have reconsidered my respect for these
fish.

"Ryan" > wrote in message
...
> I have two Oscars about 6 inches long each and they love to try and bite
my
> fingers when I feed them. I'm curious how hard they can bite once they
are
> full grown. I have a two year old that likes to feed them. Should I be
> worried that they could hurt his fingers or even mine eventually?
>
> Thanks,
> Ryan
>
>