DEATH BY FIRE SHRIMP???

[PicassoClown04]

Okay so I have a fire shrimp. Love the little guy he’s about 1 1/2 inches long and I’ve had him for a couple months. So my clownfish are greedy and eat all the food so I was worried that the shrimp wasn’t getting enough to eat. So I started to smear thawed frozen food (LRS Nano Reef Frenzy) onto my finger and just this week I’ve been able to get him to crawl onto my finger to eat it which is just an amazing feeling. But I have noticed some pain/numbness after I pull my hand out. Are they venomous or something? Could I be allergic to them? I’m not allergic to anything as far as I know.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Not venomous. If anything I would guess some sort of seafood allergy from something in the LRS.

 

[PicassoClown04]

Not venomous. If anything I would guess some sort of seafood allergy from something in the LRS.

I’ve been feeding the stuff for about 5 months now for the clowns, no issues with that.

 

[Romeo Kilo]

maybe wear a glove?

 

[PicassoClown04]

maybe wear a glove?

I’ll try that, was mostly just wondering why it hurt in the first place, a couple hours worth of googling and nothing mentioned anything like this happening.... but it also said that it’s pretty rare for them to eat from your hand at all so I don’t want to stop that behavior

 

[Crabs McJones]

When you feed the clowns though, does your hands come into extended contact with the food like it does when hand feeding the shrimp?
Put some on your hand for about the same amount of time you would feeding the shrimp, but don't actually feed the shrimp. see if you experience the same symptoms. Can at least rule out she shrimp as the cause then

 

[PicassoClown04]

Yes, I break a chunk off directly from the freezer and use my bare hands to thaw, using the same smear technique to feed the clowns as I do the fire shrimp. They’re still little enough to where it doesn’t hurt and it minimizes wasted food since they’re the only two fish I have. Been feeding with this method for five months and only started working with the shrimp a month ago, getting him to feed directly from me this week. The first time he did it (Tuesday) my finger went numb too but I chalked it up to it taking so long to get him on my hand. So I know I’m not reacting to the food.

 

[JohnGP]

Shellfish allergy? Can't think of any reason you'd be having a reaction to him, maybe something in the food??

 

[Greg P]

Could possibly be the position of your body in relation to nerve irritation ... something in your shoulder perhaps.
Try the same move outside the tank with no food.

 

[PicassoClown04]

Maybe... thanks y’all!