2006-12-11 15:15:36 · 13 answers · asked by ♥michele♥ 7 in Pets ➔ Fish
Hi Michelle...I hope this website will be of interest as it demonstrates how fish are taught tricks. It not only includes videos but photos of goldfish who have learned how to push a soccer ball to a goal, a football to an end zone, going through a small hoop, etc: http://www.fish-school.com/
2006-12-11 15:55:01 · answer #1 · answered by ♪ Seattle ♫ 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
You will have to keep it very simple because they are fish, but you can do it with behavioral techniques. This will take time and patience.
First, decide what you want your fish to do. Again, they are fish, so keep it simple. When the fish does what you want it to do, reward it with (fish) food. Depending on how complex the behavior is, you may need to reward half-attempts until the fish can do it right. I will give you an example.
Say I want to train my betta to flare every time I put my finger against his tank. So, I put my finger against the tank. He might swim up curiously, but not flare. I reinforce him with food. Then, I repeat this until he flares at my finger. I reinforce him with food again. I do this until the "trick" is being performed the way I want it to be.
After the trick is learned, you do not have to reinforce your fish every time, you only have to every once and a while. That additionally makes the trick less likely to be forgotten (otherwise known as "extinction").
2006-12-11 15:24:13 · answer #2 · answered by Kotori Shizukesa 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
heres a real trick, you can make a betta fish beg, what you do is every time before you feed it stick your figer inside the water then feed slowly he will learn that that means food and will come to the water when ever you do that he will hange out there till you feed him or he forgets what ever comes first!
2006-12-12 10:27:27 · answer #3 · answered by Jack Herbert 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It took a lot of time and patience to teach our fish to fetch the newspaper.
We're still trying to get him to retrieve a stick or frisbee in the back yard.
.
2006-12-11 15:19:20 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
The only fish that I was ever able to "train" were my oscars they are probably the smartest aquarium fish you can have.
2006-12-11 23:50:26 · answer #5 · answered by crczoo222 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
take a cord our of a lamp... split the ends... Plug it in.. Stick the ends in the water on each end of the fish tank...
Your fish will do all kinds of tricks.
Be sure to say Play dead when you do this so they know what to do.
hahahahahahaha
2006-12-11 15:19:15 · answer #6 · answered by USMCstingray 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
My bettas follow my fingers because I drop each piece of food one at a time, so they are ready any time I walk into the room.
2006-12-11 15:23:45 · answer #7 · answered by mysticalelixir 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You gotta bribe him with money. Everyone knows fish are greedy.
2006-12-11 16:32:05 · answer #8 · answered by kaputt_18 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
when i was 5 i tried to teach my beta fish sparky the alphabet, i think i was pretty successful! i just held up letters and pronounced words for him, and he was a good student.
2006-12-11 15:17:46 · answer #9 · answered by mighty_power7 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I taught my late goldfish to jump out of the bowl every time he saw my cat.
2006-12-11 15:22:15 · answer #10 · answered by Judith 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋