Why does he bite the hand that feeds him?

**ReefSilly** · #1 (**permalink**) 05-01-2007, 09:10 PM

My baby maroon clown always bites me!!!
Why does he bite the hand that feeds him?
No matter what I do; any time I put my hand in the tank
he has to come charging from behind his heater home to bite me.
I have resulted to casing him just to keep him from biting me.
Now keep in mind i'm no where near his home and this is the 125gal tank.
I had to pick up some LR that fell the other day and I think he
bit me 5 or 6 times in between me running him off. Now I have
had clowns before and still have a set at my moms house and they
just bite at feeding time or if they felt threaten.
I know they can be mean and all but sh*t; I feel like thumping
him but he is still so tiny. I'm just ill right now;

**DaveK** · #2 (**permalink**) 05-01-2007, 10:26 PM

It's because maroon clowns are among the most aggressive of all clowns, and he's telling you to "keep your hands out of MY tank".

If it's really a problem, you can get rid of the maroon clown or wear rubber gloves when working on the tank.

olsaltybastard · #3 (**permalink**) 05-02-2007, 03:39 AM

Funny part, is that if you go scuba diving, clownfish tend to be the only fish that hold their ground. I'm about 50,000 times their size and yet they weren't bashful about drawing first blood.

**L.Baldrey** · #4 (**permalink**) 05-02-2007, 06:25 AM

some clowns n damsels are mean in the wild..theyll look you right in the mask

goldenmean · #5 (**permalink**) 05-02-2007, 02:02 PM

Sounds like he has a napolean complex.

HayesAveLive · #6 (**permalink**) 05-31-2007, 07:06 AM

My maroon clown does that too, but I dont think he's being mean, I think he actually thinks I'm a big peice of food and he wants to eat me. I feed him right out of my fingers, so anytime I put my fingers in the tank, he thinks there's food involved and tries to take a bite, repeatedly.

There could be a difference between hungry finger biting and aggressive finger biting, however. Only the clown's owner could truly tell the difference. I can only speculate. I know my clown isnt trying to hurt me, I know he's trying to eat me...
Can you really tell the clown's goal is to "hurt" you and not eat you? Only you can tell. I guess given the terrritorial reputation of maroon clowns, it is quite possible he really is trying to scare you away by biting you.

Kind of cute if you ask me.

Good luck!

**ReefSilly** · #7 (**permalink**) 06-01-2007, 04:28 PM

Quote:

it is quite possible he really is trying to scare you away by biting you.

Kind of cute if you ask me.

I have had clowns over the years and even have a pair at my moms;
but this little buger is a mess.

He is trying to scare me off he bobs up and down (kinda like a dog scratching out) then charges me. Right now he is only about an inch and 1/2 (his a baby) but very very bold. Most of the day he is content by his heater till he see's me then charge; even when I walk by the tank. I love my fish and yes even him but I am starting to get a complex ( my husband says he dosn't like me ). I really need to film him so you can get the jest of it. All I have to do is walk down the hall and soon as he see's me he comes from one side of the tank charging " cute now". By the way he only does that to me!

When he gets bigger I might not be able to put my hand in the tank!

davidh202 · #8 (**permalink**) 06-01-2007, 08:44 PM

bite him back!

klc317 · #9 (**permalink**) 06-05-2007, 07:42 PM

I've had one of clarkiis actually jumped up and out of the tank after me once when the had eggs laid. One of them will occassionaly run up and bite me when I am in the cleaning and no matter how much I am prepared for it, it still scares the crap out of me...lol! They are just protecting their ground. Maybe thats why they have survived for millions of years.