hey i just brought my first oscar n the petshop told me by puttin my hand in the tank a few times a day n touchin him he will get use to me.but it really freaks him out. he is only about 10cm long so just a baby hopefully someone can teach me how to train him correctly. ps.he is fantastic

personaly i dont agree with it as they have a slime coat which protects them from alsorts or infections ect and excessive 'petting' will remove it.
they can be trained to swim through hoops and jump. alot will jump automaticly. also if your freaking him out i wouldnt continue as stress can kill. alot of lfs will tell you absolutly anything to get a sale.
however he is sort of right oscars are very brainy fish once youve had him for a while hel reconise you and come to greet you, watch you always when he can and come for food.
if you wish to train him somthing try jumping which is very easy.
you will get nipped but it rarely hurts although they can at times break the skin.
when i learnt mine to jump i simply held the food above water level and he will eventualy jump for it. i stopped as he once jumped out.
instead of jumping i have on of mine comeing to the top and opening his mouth out of the water for food. or he will pop his head out then wait .theres pictures of him doing it in the pictures section

also welcome to opscarfishlover and congrats and good luck with your new O

thanx drew i really want to do the right thing by our little oscar we adore the pets we have so thanx for your advice

Welcome,

Drew is right they will get used to you after a while. I trained one of mine to jump (not hard to do) and he fell out of the tank one day about 3 weeks ago. He has not jumped since, I believe after that traumatic experience he retired his jumping fins and just waits for the food to come to him now. They definately have a memory. Cause this one remembers the long fall to the hardwood floor and never wants to go through it again. pretty funny

haha you can imagine what they think"right ill jump to get that ooooo s**t now that hurt lets not do that again" after a while see if yours dances for food i know a few that do including mine. theyl come the the tank as i enter the room and face me they shake there heads and tails swim a circle then come back and do it again. abit like a dog once you come back from being out a while
have fun with the fish and spend time with them and they soon enough be charming there way for more food

i have my oscar for 1.5 months now and i didn't even try to tame my Tiger! he was 3.5" when i bought him but he has crossed 5" now and growing fast.
i know people feed them with their own hand but i didn't try it yet, i want to give him more time to adjust.