I played with some fish??!!?

[Begonia]

The other day I went to the dentist. While I was waiting to pay, I stood by their fish tank. I don't know fish at all, but they were plump and about 6 inches long with a couple of stripes on their sides.

I stood close to the glass and three of the fish came up very close to my face and looked at me. I very gently put my finger to the glass and they put their noses to my finger. We did this many times. They seemed to be watching my face.

I was standing at the corner of the tank and so went from one side to the other (on the corner) and played peekaboo. The fish played along. Seriously. The. Fish. Played. Along.

It was so cool.

I adore fish now, yet know nothing about them.

Is this possible or am I imagining things?

I know I'm not, but I want to hear from fish people. Have I been underestimating fish all my life?

Sweet moments with animals...never forget it.

 

[momhappy]

I doubt that the fish were actually "playing" with you (although, I suppose that it's possible). The fish were probably following you simply because they wanted to be fed (in other words, they recognize that when a person approaches the glass, it often results in feeding time).

 

[Enerchi]

Sure sounds like a pretty cool event, no matter what the fish were doing!!

I always fall back to "Finding Nemo" when I see fish, thinking they are looking out at us and talking about us, in fish language in the tank..."Hey! - Sam, come here!! look at that crazy lady and her finger... I'll just play along till she goes away...You do it too" "Ok, Bob"



(I'm only teasing you Begonia! I think a lot of animals are capable of being trained by humans with enough time and patience)

 

[sonnyjane]

While the fish you met in this case were probably just following because they wanted food, you CAN train fish. There are YouTube videos of goldfish training to swim through hoops and put a basketball in a net. Anything that eats food, you can train!

 

[kenny]

I agree it's just pavlovian conditioning to food.

Still, I also love my tropical fish and interacting with them.

 

[blondie~]

There was a time I loved our gold fish. I thought they interacted with me. Unfortunately our cats loved our fish too. So, sadly, we no longer have fish. But, I found a substitute. And, I love the way her little "eggs" spin and dance alongside mama in their "fish bowl". They are fun to play with, especially when I'm bored.

Hey, this is a diamond hangout .. & I wear my "Happy Fish" Chopard often:

 

[sonnyjane]

This is what I was talking about earlier. It's a commercial for this guy's kit, but you can see all the stuff you can train them to do:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3JFmrlgWAk

 

[Trasid]

I'll bet they were cichlids. Cichlids come in many amazing colors and IMHO are the most colorful fresh water fish you can get. They are the size you mentioned. As far as fish are concerned they are more interactive than most. I have a 75 gallon tank of them and if I have guest(s) over they will hide for a while. They stay out for my daughter and I. If I am on the sofa near the tank they will swim around and watch me and yes they get very excited during feeding time. If you keep your tank nice and clean they are easy to breed.

 

[partgypsy]

We have a goldfish who is now 3 years old (daughter won it at the fair). We feed it 2 times a day, but if a person goes near the bowl it will swim to that side of the bowl and look at the person and wiggle it's body to catch our attention.

When people visit they are all surprised, saying, your goldfish is looking at me! So I know at least goldfish do this.