Koi Food Guide

Archive for the ‘Feeding From Hand’ Category

Owning a Koi pond is no doubt a source of entertainment and relaxation. You can further enhance that by spending time with the Koi in your pond.

Koi are incredibly social and like to be surrounded by those they are familiar with. The larger the group of Koi the more outgoing the fish will be. Koi will be glad to eat from your hand if you take the time to build a trustful friendship with them.

When training your Koi to eat from your hand there are a few things to keep in mind. One important key is to feed them from the same place each day. Slowly drop a little bit of food into the water and then watch and wait. The fish that are the most bold, or the hungriest, are likely to approach first, with the rest following.

You want the fish to be able to see you while they are eating, so be sure to stay at the side of the pond until they are finished. Skip feeding for one day if the fish will not eat in front of you. It should take approximately three to five days for the Koi to begin to recognize that your presence means they get to eat. You can encourage the fish to swim closer to you by sprinkling small amounts of food.

Your next step will be to place your hand in the water while the fish are eating. The fish will begin to recognize that it is your hand that delivers the food. Begin the process with just a couple of food pellets in your hand. The bold and the hungry fish will begin to nudge your hand to get fed. It won’t take long before your presence by the pond causes all the fish to come swimming rapidly toward you.

One of the most rewarding feelings you will get from owning a Koi pond is the first time your fish begin to eat from your hand.

Hand feeding your Koi is an excellent way to learn the unique personality of each of your fish. Training your Koi to eat from your hand won’t come easy, and will take loads of patience and conditioning. In order to be successful you will have to overcome the Koi’s natural distrust of any animal that could do them harm.

While you may be very nurturing and really care about your fish, from their vantage point you are capable of doing tremendous damage. You should start working toward hand feeding your Koi from the very beginning of your relationship with them.

While it is possible to train fish that you have had for a while, training fish from the beginning is the easiest way to go. One thing you don’t want to do is just toss food on top of the water to feed your fish.

To begin conditioning your fish bring the bag of food to the water’s edge and squat or sit down. Take a couple of the food pellets into your hand and then place your hand under the water, allowing the pellets to slowly float away. Don’t be concerned if your fish are not very interested in this action. Your fish will most definitely notice both your hand in the water and the appearance of the pellets.

After a while one or two brave fish will come and eat the pellets, and other fish are sure to follow when they see that it is safe. Use the method described above until you have distributed the same amount of pellets that you usually use for a feeding. Continue this process for approximately one week. The following week slightly cup your hand when you place it in the water so that the pellets stay in place.

Make sure that your hand stays absolutely still. If you are patient you will eventually get at least one fish who will come over and take a food pellet from your hand. Be sure not to move your hand at all while this fish is eating. When this fish finishes all the pellets slowly remove your hand, fill it with more pellets, and place it back into the water.

If your fish will not come to your hand to feed, skip the feeding for that day. Missing one meal will not cause your fish to starve. It will make them hungry, however, and more likely to eat from your hand the next time it is presented. Once your fish are comfortable eating from your hand you can start training them to eat from your fingertips. Place one pellet between two fingers and then submerge your hand underwater. At least one brave fish is bound to approach.

Just as in the beginning, other fish will follow the example of that bold leader. Do not be alarmed if some fish do not come to eat from your fingertips that first time. Allow them to skip this one meal and they are sure to come and eat the next day. Hunger is an excellent motivator for Koi.

You are sure to enjoy the process of hand feeding your fish once they are trained. There will, of course, be some days when you are just too busy to sit and hand feed. On these days it is fine to go back to normal feeding practices.