Is my clown going to attack me?

[Gatorfreak]

I have some xenia that needs pruning near my BTA which my clown lives in. Whenever I start messing around near there he starts looking pretty menacing. Am I gonna get bit? Are there any warning signs that a clown might show that I'm pushing my luck?

 

[Phyl]

You're going to get bumped at the very least, scared out of your gord at least 10 times. All else fails, bite him back!

 

[Hara]

It is a little fish, you can handle it. It can only swallow up to your first knuckle.

 

[Brenden]

If you do not get bite you will be the exception. How large is the clown? It does not hurt. Just be glad it is not a lion fish.

 

[ellisz]

I have a damsel that gets me everytime I put my hand in. Ususally catches me off guard and makes me jump but it does not hurt

 

[Gatorfreak]

He's about 1.5 inches. If it doesn't hurt then I won't worry about it. For some reason I was under the impression they could actually draw blood. My cleaner wrasse pecks at me all the time already.

 

[DeathWarp]

Everytime I put my hand in my tank, my clowns will bite my arm. They seem like they're trying to pull out hairs on my arm. Doesn't hurt, but sort of startles you if you're not paying attention. Bite the bullet and stick ur arm in.

 

[i have crabs]

i have a large domino damsil that bit me real good a few time and it did hurt like heck,my grouper got me once but just made me scream like a little girl

 

[CMD26]

My yellow tang tries to stab me with his butt spine everytime I get anywhere near his area. He's never actually sealed the deal but after seeing what he did to the poor guy at the fish store when he was taking him out of the tank I've always been wary. I figure it's inevitable though...one of these days he's gonna get me.

 

[weekf]

Oh heck, my 2 ocellaris clowns bite me ALL the time whenever I put my hands in the tank. It doesn't hurt but sort of irritating. I think they are trying to taste how human smells like.

It is nice to know that they are not scare of you as well. That bring the relationship closer.

 

[Gatorfreak]

Bite the bullet and stick ur arm in.

This coming from someone with a pic of a tarantula crawling up his chest? I don't think so!

Thanks for all the responses. I don't know where I got that in my head that they could actually harm me. I'll brave it and prune away.

Oh, and I didn't know that about the Yellow Tang spines. Mine never really messes with me... so far.