Affectionate Betta?

[mlolm]

My Betta fish seems to be affectionate and seeks attention from us. This is going to sound weird, but we started to think he actually behaves as though he wants to be touched. When we come close to the tank he always comes out to greet us and swims back and forth turning his body in tight turns almost rubbing against the side of the tank. We thought its probably just that he is conditioned when he sees us that he might get food.

When cleaning and working inside the tank he is always getting close and getting in the way at first i found it a little annoying. But the other day my girlfriend had her hand in the tank and he kept swimming up to her hand. She just let her hand sit there open, and he would swim into it and drag his body and fins over her fingers. This seems like cute, but rather strange behavior from a fish. I dont think there is anything wrong with him, but have you heard of fish being "affectionate" or seeking physical contact with humans before? I can make a video, he does it all the time now.

 

[FreshyFresh]

He knows who feeds him! I've had various fish including bettas, both male and female show this type of behavior.

 

[AmyL]

I am relatively new to this myself, and have found the bettas I've had to be very curious fish. It is, I think without any expertise, like you said- a conditioned response to feeding. We joke that our betta lies to us constantly that he's never had food in his life and is starving to death. His dance is equivalent to a dog's sitting up and begging. But I also think it goes beyond that, in that when I teach music lessons in my living room, my betta hangs out in the front of the tank, and almost seems to be listening to the music- or maybe trying to learn how to play the piano. I don't think you're wrong to imagine that it is more than just response to (what must seem completely random to the fish) feeding. Neat, huh?