How does a BTA sting feel to humans?

[dscount]

I know that the fish are not too excited about it. But I have a need to get fairly close to my smaller BTA to feed him. Not that excited about getting stung (if it's possible even).

Has anyone heard of or hand any first hand experience in this area? I don't exactly plan on shoving my hand all over the guy. Just want to know if he brushes against me if I will have any wounds.

Plus the fact I'm not sure what a human hand can do to the protective coating of the BTA.

Thanks in advance.

[DragonForce]

Light touching of your flesh to it during say a feeding or moving around something in your tank for example, will not cause any problems. The sting of the BTA is very mild and most the time I don't feel any abnormal sensation to my skin when it comes in contact with the anemone.

[loyalrogue]

While the BTA has probably the mildest sting of any anemone by comparison, each individual person may have a different level of sensitivity.
(I've never felt any noticable sting from my BTA, LTA, or Sebae anemones.)

Take my LTA for example... I can touch it and get it to fire all of it's stingers into my hand so much that it's tentacles become stuck to the point of tearing off, yet I don't feel a thing other than that it's "sticky".
When my wife accidentally brushed against it, she got an immediate burning sensation and her hand ended up with a rash.

Two different people, same anemone, two different reactions.

[roka64]

You can try using rubber gloves or spot feed it with a turkey baster....

[Devilishturtles]

One of the reasons I use gloves on my tank.

However, I agree w/ the others. It will vary for you. I've rubbed all over my sebae before and never got an adverse reaction at all. I wouldn't worry about it, and like Roka mentioned, gloves will help.

[squawkbert]

Sometimes, it just is a function of the side of your hand that touches... paml side, no problem. Back of hand - ouch.

[Lance M.]

I've touched my BTA and not noticed anything except the tentacles are sticky. I hand feed mine squid and occasionally I will blow mysis shrimp into it. I do the same to my rock anemone, which supposedly have a strong sting, but I don't notice anything except again it is very sticky.

From accidently touching corals, the only thing I've noticed is a burning sensation from when I handle mushrooms (slicing and dicing them). I guess it's their way to get back at me when I cut them in half lol.

[MT79]

each individual person may have a different level of sensitivity.

To go one step further, over time you can develope a more severe reaction to the same coral stings. It's best to stay clear of anemones/coral the best you can, and use gloves when coming in direct contact w/ them.

[Steven Pro]

Originally Posted by MT79

To go one step further, over time you can develope a more severe reaction to the same coral stings. It's best to stay clear of anemones/coral the best you can, and use gloves when coming in direct contact w/ them.

Ditto. Use gloves, feeding tongs, turkey basters, etc. to keep from touching any cnidarian.

[MyCatsDrool]

Just a word of warning:

Many people who are sensitive to insect stings (bee sting allergy, for example) will also have reaction to marine stings. The protein in insect stings that your body reacts to is similar to the proteins in marine stings. Not all are exactly the same, but most have similar structures, and cannot be broken down by the body, and therefore, histamine is released, and boom, allergic reaction.

I learned this the hard way. I have a severe sting allergy, and was unaware that marine stings fall in the same world as insect stings. I went surfing during jelly season, was stung by a small troop of man o'war and ended up in the hospital for 6 days and crutches for 6 weeks while my legs unswelled.

Take the precautions seriously, especially if you have any protein allergies.