Koi Feeding: How To Hand Feed Your Fish Successfully

The great thing about Koi is that they lack fear when it comes to humans. Once they recognize you as the one who feeds and takes care of them, they are likely to eat through your hand (with you given the proper training). Hand feeding your fish can be one of the most funniest and entertaining experiences you're going to get into!

The Koi are non-aggressive fish. They do not have teeth, making it safe for you to feed them with your hand. This kind of activity will attract smaller children, as they will be 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 natural instincts 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 is not acheivable overnight!

They feed on both meat and plants, as they're omnivorous. 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 know what's good or bad for them, you should control their diet.

Overfeeding can be another problem for your fish, because they could get overweight from eating non-nutritious food. The best for your fish are the natural treats, like the tadpoles and earthworms. Also, you can feed them with veggies, bread, lettuce and fruit. Be very careful when feeding them with treats like corn, beans and grapes as they come with outer casings. These outer casings will impose danger to your Koi if these are not properly digested by them. Make it a point that you remove the outer casings before feeding them.

Now, the trick here is to start slow in feeding your fish. Don't make any sudden movements, as this will scare away even the most trusting of your fish. Start hand training your fish from the moment you get them (also applicable for the fish 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 what you do is you slowly allow the food to fall from your hand. Now, it may seem that your fish may not seem to pay any attention, but they are really aware of your hand giving them food. This can be done within 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 (and do not stare at them during this process). Then they will feel that they must get the food from your hand if they want to eat it. Doing this everyday 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 are not feeding from your fingers, then 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’re successful in making your Koi feed from your hand, you can then have an alternate routine between regular feeding and hand feeding. There is no reason in trying to take the time in hand feeding if your hurrying. And after you get your Koi to feed from your hand, be careful always in allowing your visitors to feed them. Supervise both the kids and adults in feeding your pets properly; no sudden movements and giving the right treats for your pets.