Hand Feeding Your Koi Fish

Koi fish are beautiful to behold, they are brightly colored and swim through the water with such grace and confidence. They are also quite entertaining. Unlike that little goldfish in your aquarium, Koi are very social animals. They love to be in large groups and will really put on a show at your next party.

One of the best things about Koi is their ability to eat out of your hand. In fact, that is one of the first things that draw many Koi owners into the hobby in the first place. They see another pond owner hand feeding their fish, and think that it is a really neat thing. With a little bit of practice, you can have a great time interacting with your Koi fish and have them hand feeding in no time.

Here are some tips to teaching your Koi how to eat out of your hand:

Feed them in the same place every time - choose an area away from the waterfall. If you mix up the location, you are likely to delay their understanding of the hand feeding process.

Drop a small handful of pellets and stay there to observe their reaction. Continue to do this until they begin to start or show disinterest.

The bravest or hungriest will start to eat and the rest will follow suit.

The fish must be able to see you while they are eating. So don't walk away from the pond before they start to eat the pellets.

Gradually put your hand nearer to the Koi fish as you feed them over a period of days until they get used to hand feeding.

If at first it doesn't work try, try again.

Eventually over the course of a week or so, the Koi fish will begin to equate you with mealtime. You can begin to test them by sprinkling a bit of food and drawing them closer to you. Next, you can place your hands in the water while they are eating the pellets. If they don't startle, then you are doing good. Some may even come closer to your hands, as they have figured out that you are associated with the food.

You may even notice that the bold Koi will try to nudge your hand trying to get your attention. With a little bit of luck, and some patience, in a few weeks all your Koi will start jumping and splashing when they see you headed towards the pond.

Once you have the skill mastered, don't hesitate to show your new skill off to all your friends! Enjoy!