Koi Feeding: Hand Feeding Your Pet

The Koi lack fear when it comes to humans, and this serves as one of their best features. Once your pet sees you as the one who gives and feeds them food and the one who's not going to harm them in anyway, they are likely to eat right out of your hand (provided with the proper training). The reality is that hand feeding can be one of the most entertaining and funniest experiences that you're going to get into.

These fish, by nature, are non-aggressive ones. They don't have teeth, so you don't have to worry about getting bitten if ever you decide in attempting to feed them with the use of your hand. This activity will also attract smaller kids, as they will be delighted and entertained by the fish's gentle nature and beautiful patterns and colors. Like any other wild animal, they will have that fear of you in the start.

Their instincts are the ones that tell them to fear you, which is what keeps them alive and survive in the wild in the first place. So, what you have to do is to build up trust with your pet, and this will take a certain amount of time and patience in your part. Remember that hand feeding can't be achieved over night!

They feed on both meat and plants, as they are an omnivorous species. Being omnivorous brings versatility in their diets. They will eat almost everything that you give them, not caring whether it's good for them or not. Since they don't have the ability to judge what's good or bad for them, you, as the owner, should be the one to control their diet.

Overfeeding is another problem, as they might get overweight from eating foods that are not nutritious for them. The healthiest treats for them are the natural ones, such as tadpoles and earthworms. Also, you can feed them with bread, lettuce, veggies and fruit. Just be careful when feeding them with food such as beans, corn and grapes, as they have those outer casings. These outer casings will be harmful for your fish if these are not properly digested by them. So, just make sure that you remove the outer casings before feeding them.

Now, the trick here is to start slow in feeding your pet. Don't make any sudden movements, as this will scare away even the most trusting of your fish. What you should do is start hand training your pet right from the moment you get them (which is also applicable for those that are in your current population). You can start by placing few of the snacks or pellets in your hand and then put your hand under the water.

Then slowly allow the food to fall from your hand. Now, it may seem that your fish may not seem to pay any attention, but the reality is that they are aware of your hand (and that your hand is the ones giving them food). You can do this within a period of two days.

Doing this will help you gain the interest of your pets. Then as you have now gotten their interest, let the fish remove the food from your hand. Now, if your pet will refuse to take food from your hand, don't feed them on that day (you're not going to stare them in this process). They will have the notion that they must get the food from your hand if they want to feed. If you do this everyday, this will make them comfortable with you.

So once you have the fish feeding out of your hand, you can then start in making them feed from your fingers. And the same thing applies here: if they're not going to feed from your fingers, don't feed them on that day. Remember that food will serve as your motivator when it comes to feeding wild animals, and guaranteed, no fish will simply stare itself just because it is not sure of the situation it's in.

And once you have successfully made your fish feed from your hand, you can then alternate the routine between the regular and hand feeding. There's no reason in trying to take the time in hand feeding if you're in such a hurry. And another important thing is that once you get your Koi to feed from your hand, always be careful in allowing your visitors to feed your pets. Supervise them (both the kids and the adults) in feeding your fish properly; no sudden movements and give your fish the right foods for them.