Do Oscar fish generally jump out of their tank?

Question

At first our Oscar fish would splash a little when you dropped the food in. Then the one started to jump at your fingers when you were dropping in the food. Today, he jumped out onto the floor. He seems okay, a little scarred, but is this normal?? I never saw anything on the websites about them jumping out of the water.

Answer 1

Oscars are very active, strong, energetic fish and are great jumpers!  You should always keep any tank with an oscar in it covered.  They have a tendency to take a carpet dive otherwise.  They can also rearrange their tanks and may break fragile glass ornaments or decorations, so don't keep any of those in an oscar tank!  Make sure any plants in the tank are securely rooted and any decorations are heavy or you don't mind them getting moved around if your oscar decides he wants to redecorate!  

A friend of mine had an oscar tank right beside her guppy fry tank.  She left the lid on his tank open one time while she went to get some water for a water change (the guppy tank had no lid) and when she came back she found that her oscar had jumped from his tank into the guppy fry tank and was swimming around in there having a free lunch!

Answer 2

All of what GSF said is pretty much true.  I happen to think based just on your input alone, it sounds like he's quite happy, however, if he's reacting that strongly to getting fed, it might be you are not offering enough food, OR your tank is too small for him.  Keep in mind, solo Oscars should be in at least a 55 gallon tank or bigger.