Help my emperor angelfish just got bitten by my snowflake eel

[Ben11vick]

I was feeding my fish and all the fish come up to the glass including my eel. My emp was on top of the eel and the eel thought it was food so he bit the bottom part of my emp down from the mouth. The eel let him go right away. He has 2 marks no blood and he was eating afterward. After he got bit he twitched a little then was fine. Please if you can tell me that he will be ok.

 

[marrone]

As long as he's eating he should be fine. Any cuts should most likely heal, though it may leave a mark.

 

[Ben11vick]

He is eating.

 

[marrone]

It's very common for Eels to grab onto fish, especially when food is in the water. Most of the time the fish are fine, basically just a mark fro the bite and they're somewhat stressed out. What you should do is to feed the Eel with a feeding stick, so when you do put food into the tank the Eel wouldn't go crazy and grab anything in it's path.

 

[Ben11vick]

I usually feed the eel with my hand. So whenever my hand goes in the tank he thinks there is food

 

[marrone]

This is not really a good idea, as you're putting yourself at risk. Eels carry bacteria in their mouths, which if you're bitten, can cause an infection and that may require medical attention. Couple with the fact that Eels move very quick, and can be unpredictable, is the reason you should use some type of feeding stick. This is also not a good thing to train your Eel into doing, as a young child may put their hand into tank and the Eel may bite it.

 

[KathyC]

This is not really a good idea, as you're putting yourself at risk. Eels carry bacteria in their mouths, which if you're bitten, can cause an infection and that may require medical attention. Couple with the fact that Eels move very quick, and can be unpredictable, is the reason you should use some type of feeding stick. This is also not a good thing to train your Eel into doing, as a young child may put their hand into tank and the Eel may bite it.

Excellent points Mike!
To the OP - please do use a feeding stick when feeding the eel

 

[Decalf]

I had two rare eels and can say they have poor eye sight and just grab at anything in the water during feeding time. It is very inportant to keep your hands out of the tank and feed the eel first before the other fish so this wont happen.

 

[Ben11vick]

Thanks everyone after a couple hours the blotch where he got bit healed up and now there is just a couple of scuffs. He is eating and picking at my sponges.