Do your puffers let you pet them?

A place to discuss general puffer care or news.
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bigpuff
Figure 8 Puffer
Posts: 122
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2015 6:07 pm
Location (country): United States

Do your puffers let you pet them?

Post by bigpuff »

Just curious if anyone's been brave enough to try it..my GSP's just try to eat my fingers!
grup
Dwarf Puffer
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Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2015 11:04 pm
Location (country): USA, Florida

Re: Do your puffers let you pet them?

Post by grup »

Not my fish, but this is why tongs exist.

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pufferjw
Green Spotted Puffer
Posts: 379
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2015 9:16 pm
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Red Congo Puffer
Striped Redeye Puffer
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Location: Boston/Chicago

Re: Do your puffers let you pet them?

Post by pufferjw »

Until about a week ago I had two Amazon Puffers, and they both let me pet them, but one of them did bite. It hurt a little, but the bites never broke the skin.
220 Gallon - 1 Super White Leopoldi Stingray
55 Gallon Planted - No Fish
29 Gallon Planted - 1 Duboisi Puffer
29 Gallon - 1 Red Congo Puffer
bigpuff
Figure 8 Puffer
Posts: 122
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2015 6:07 pm
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Re: Do your puffers let you pet them?

Post by bigpuff »

grup wrote:Not my fish, but this is why tongs exist.

Where's the excitement in tongs! Gotta get the heart rate up!
pufferjw wrote:Until about a week ago I had two Amazon Puffers, and they both let me pet them, but one of them did bite. It hurt a little, but the bites never broke the skin.
How did you move your hand so they would let them pet you? Did you let them swim into your palm or just put your fingers into the top of the tank or something else?
Hillehaus
Figure 8 Puffer
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Location: Maryland

Re: Do your puffers let you pet them?

Post by Hillehaus »

My GSP has acquired a taste for human flesh. There is no petting.
bigpuff
Figure 8 Puffer
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Re: Do your puffers let you pet them?

Post by bigpuff »

Update: They let me pet them! Well, kind of. So at the top of the tank, if I put my finger in front of their face then they just try to bite me, but if I come in behind their head they tolerate me petting them briefly. Key word here is tolerate! I'm sure they're thinking "what is this idiot doing".
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pufferjw
Green Spotted Puffer
Posts: 379
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2015 9:16 pm
Gender: Male
My Puffers: Duboisi Puffer
Red Congo Puffer
Striped Redeye Puffer
Dwarf Puffer

Have Owned:
Amazon Puffers
Location (country): USA
Location: Boston/Chicago

Re: Do your puffers let you pet them?

Post by pufferjw »

To Bigpuff

I would just pick up a snail and hold it at the top of the water, then while my puffers ate it I could pet them. But my one puffer, Balloon, couldn't differentiate the snail from my finger.
220 Gallon - 1 Super White Leopoldi Stingray
55 Gallon Planted - No Fish
29 Gallon Planted - 1 Duboisi Puffer
29 Gallon - 1 Red Congo Puffer
TheStig
Figure 8 Puffer
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Location: CA

Re: Do your puffers let you pet them?

Post by TheStig »

Lol @ Hillehaus. What happens when it's time for tank maintenance?

I haven't tried petting my DP, altho she eats out of my finger. I did have a betta as a child, and he was very tactile. I cld stroke him all the way down to his tail, and during weekly tank cleaning, all I had to do was cup my palm, and he'll swim onto it, and lay there while I manually scooped him up into his holding bowl. I wld also put him in his holding bowl sometimes just so I cld carry him around. We watched TV together, mostly.
10 gallon: 1 dwarf puffer, 3 Otos, 1 amano shrimp

Don't let your wet friend suffer - PufferPunk
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Welch4
Fahaka Puffer
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Re: Do your puffers let you pet them?

Post by Welch4 »

None of my puffers do. My beta does though.
Forget other advice about puffers you don't hear here - Pufferpunk
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pufferjw
Green Spotted Puffer
Posts: 379
Joined: Sat Sep 05, 2015 9:16 pm
Gender: Male
My Puffers: Duboisi Puffer
Red Congo Puffer
Striped Redeye Puffer
Dwarf Puffer

Have Owned:
Amazon Puffers
Location (country): USA
Location: Boston/Chicago

Re: Do your puffers let you pet them?

Post by pufferjw »

When I do tank maintenance, my dwarf and amazon puffers will all observe the gravel pump but keep a fair distance. However, my red congo puffer absolutely freaks out until he sees a red cherry shrimp and tries to catch it for 10 minutes straight, now ignoring the pump.
220 Gallon - 1 Super White Leopoldi Stingray
55 Gallon Planted - No Fish
29 Gallon Planted - 1 Duboisi Puffer
29 Gallon - 1 Red Congo Puffer
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TOPuffers
Dwarf Puffer
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My Puffers: 3 pea puffers/dwarf puffers in a 20 G freshwater planted tank
29 G community tank with plecos, bamboo shrimp, khuli loaches, swordtails, neon tetras and apple snails
Location (country): Toronto, Canada
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Re: Do your puffers let you pet them?

Post by TOPuffers »

My husband feeds our dwarf puffers by hand (while I take blurry pictures ;) ).

Not sure if that counts, but they do play 'Tug-of-war' with the bloodworms...
If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water - Loren Eiseley
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