Is this another Myth??

mykidsmylife

mykidsmylife

Princess of Peons
Aug 26, 2005
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Indiana, U.S.A.
A friend who keeps an aquarium was telling me to NEVER touch my fish or pick them up in my hands. She said that since our body temp is 98.6 on average, and a fish is only as warm as it's water at around 78 (if they are tropical I suppose) that by us touching them or holding them it's painful for the fish...our body heat will "burn" them. She aquired this information from a LFS.
While in theory, I guess it could make sense, but I find it hard to believe.
Honestly, I have never considered holding one of my fish and have a net so I never thought to do so.
Hmmmmmmm.....Myth or Fact????? In one way it seems silly, in another I suppose it could be true.
 
You do want to minimize holding fish...not because of the temperature differential (although I did find that amusing...thats a new one) but because of the loss of protective slime which coats the fish...sometimes its unavoidable, like when eggs or fry need to be stripped....but nonetheless, try to minimize contact...except when you pet your oscar...some like that.... ;)
 
That is funny since it is your core body temp that is 98.6... Your hands are usualy much cooler, but as stated it is the slime coat that is in danger... But as a general rule you only need to hold a fish if they have a problem that you need to help them with.
 
Just a note to confirm--trout hatcheries handle fish frequently. The brood stock must be spawned manually in order to collect the eggs for incubation. These are coldwater fish (meaning a much greater difference in temperature), and I've yet to see one get burned. Handling the fish too much can indeed remove the slime coating and increase the odds of an infection, but simple, gentle contact with clean hands won't hurt the fish at all.

Fish can be burned, though. Fish that spend lots of time hiding around or near the heater in your tank should be checked for burns--happens more than we'd like.
 
as long as your hands are wet when you touch the fish (not netting it and then grabbing out of the net with dry hands) affecting the slime coat won't be a big deal. you can probably find out a lot about safely handling fish from some catch and release sport fishing sources if you want to know more.

what your friend said just goes against common sense. if it was true, we'd never be able to handle other coldblooded creatures like snakes or frogs, and i think if a snake was burned by being picked up it would let you know real quick.
 
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I have a snake, they actually like being held because it warms them up. I don't know why a pet store would tell your freind that, but pet stores aren't the best place to get advice. I called once wanting to know how old an angel fish had to be before you could sex them and I was told that you could never tell what sex they were! Well they just lost my buisness!
 
I would worry more about the lenth of time the fish is out if the water and, as the others said, the slime coat. Watch the outdoor channel sometime in the mornings when there are fishing shows on and see how much they are handled by anglers, then swim off unharmed. Survival rates are very high for catch and release fish, the majority of mortality is a result of keeping them out of water too long, inadequate aeration in live wells, and foul hooking.

The point of all that is that the temperature of my hand would be the least of my worries if I'm holding a fish out of the water.
 
This is copy & pasted from Texas Parks & Wildlife website:

Handling Your Catch

* Leave the fish in the water if you can and use a tool to remove the hook.
* Keep the fish from thrashing without using a net if there is anyway you can.
* IF you must handle a fish:
Use a wet rag or glove.
Turn it on its back and cover its eyes to calm it.
Don't put your fingers in the eyes or gills of the fish.
Avoid removing mucous or scales.
Get the fish back in the water as quickly as possible.
* Handle each fish carefully to avoid person injury.
 
yeah.....with catch and release, I think the wound from the hook would be more of an issue..possible infection, shock etc.
 
I was nearly certain that it was indeed a myth..but I wanted to gather more facts before I told her that. I really didn't think it made much sense and I also thought about the catch and release when we fish. I love to fish and would hate to think that there is lasting damage to the fish. We are really careful to net them and keep them in the water...gently remove the hook and let them on their way. I figure it gives them one heck of a story to tell their buddies :p:
As for petting the Oscars, I think that would be very cool. They are beautiful fish, but alas...my largest tank is only 75 gallon and the planned inhabitants would not co-exist peacefully with an oscar. :) Oscar Chow :eek:

I guess we can say another aquarium myth is busted. I just thought it was a strange and unusual thing.
 
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