they have been very shy but are coming around a little bit more now but still a bit shy when I come around the tank. I got my husband a baby Bearded Dragon for his bday and so have crickets. So I decide to put one in to see if they would eat it--of course they did but only after I moved away from the tank. Should I keep trying this method until they realize that their food is coming from me? I tried to hold one in the tank to see if they would come and get it but no luck. Anymore ideas ? I have some calamri and shrimp in the freezer--should I try some ? should I let it thaw or give it to them frozen? I really want my babies to let me pet them. What did you all do to get yours to let you pet them ?

mine all worked out in time so they are used to u thats it dont give up just keep trying and work at it u will get a result soon
keep it up

I used to dip my fingers in bloodworms and move my finger above the water.
Mine would jump for them.
After that i just took some bloodworms between my fingers and put them in the water.
He'd come up and eat those out of my hand.
Nowaday he still takes the food out of my hand.
But when I pet him, he comes back later and bites me!!
Very gentle and docile fish, but petting is a no-go !

where do you get bloodworms ?

Frozen in the refridgerator section at your LFS.
They'll love 'em, got my fridge packed!

ok thanks !I will try them

Noddy wrote:

just be careful, you hubby might mistaken it for shrimp paste
and could mixed with the vegetables when cooking.... it happen
with my house help....

and if you never told anyone they'd enjoy it just as much!lol

i know nobody addressed this... but you want to make sure the food is throughly thawed out. frozen foods can give your O digestive tract troubles. i learned this the hard way feeding frozen mice to my snake. always allow it to thaw completly lol.

lol ! thanks ! I didnt think it would be good for them to eat frozen or even semi-frozen food as thats not whats in the wild !

Petting oscars is not a good idea as you can damage the skin slime which protects them

As for hand feeding, think about this before you train you fish to do this. a big oscar has a lot of power and can hurt. Also do you want a big oscar coming to your hand and hassling you thinking its food everytime you put your hand in the tank to do some maintainence

mines drew blood on me a few times. i dont feed by hand no more lol.