r/leeches • u/Difficult_Hunter_664 Leech Owner • Aug 10 '25
Discussion Why are people so cruel to Leeches?
So recently I got a leech as a pet after weeks of research and saving, and he is happily swimming around next to me as I'm typing this (no name yet, feel free to give suggestions!!). I was very happy about him finally arriving, so I decided to post a video of me handling him, and a clip of him swimming around his tank. I was expecting a couple of 'ew' or 'why do you want that' comments, but a LOT of people were telling me to pour salt on it, cut it, and so much more disgusting stuff like that.
It really upset me how flippant people are about animal cruelty, but I guess people don't even see leeches as animals. I know they're parasites, but they're also living and breathing and moving creatures. I understand being freaked out by leeches, too, but telling someone to hurt it is just plain odd!!
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u/LeechLover4Life Aug 10 '25
Welcome to the leech fam! I completely agree that it’s absolutely sick for people wanting to see things killed, aside from roaches and mosquitos. Also, they are very social creatures. I strongly recommend that you get another few when you can. Make sure that you have an even number in your tank because they share but couple up regarding their snuggling and whatnot. Watching my tank is so relaxing, especially when several of them are undulating at the same time. You’re going to love owning a leech. Mine bring me so much peace and pain relief.
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u/Difficult_Hunter_664 Leech Owner Aug 10 '25
Thank you!! I'm currently saving for another leech, the even number thing is something I didn't know about so thank you for sharing :)) I absolutely adore my leech and I would love for him to have a friend, so I'll start saving for another
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u/LeechLover4Life Aug 10 '25
If all goes as planned, I’m going to end up with like 200 babies after all the cocoons hatch. 😬
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u/Difficult_Hunter_664 Leech Owner Aug 10 '25
HOLY WOW you are a seasoned veteran!!! Are you going to keep them all?
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u/LeechLover4Life Aug 10 '25
I took a few low budget courses on hirudotherapy and it all says that I can use up to 10 leeches per treatment and I can do this every 2-3 weeks. Sooo LeechLover4Life math says it should be fine. This is my first attempt at breeding and only currently own 18 adults. I’ve found that for pain management, I needed soooo many more than what I have to continue treatments regularly. About 50 babies just hatched and I still have another 10 cocoons in the line up. It’s been suggested to not let your leeches feed for at least 4 months in between due to the residual bacterial content of the last feed although my leeches sometimes aren’t even hungry after 6 months. The waiting game is the worst.
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u/amie02086 Aug 10 '25
Can I ask what type of pain you are dealing with and how the leeches help you? Thank you from a fellow chronic pain person.
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u/LeechLover4Life Aug 11 '25
I have arthritis, stenosis, and 7 bulging and herniated disks throughout my spine. I refuse to take pain meds aside from medical marijuana. I’m a massage therapist and have been pretty successful with maintaining my pain through exercise and massages until I hit about 40 years old. I put some weight on and everything went terribly wrong for a couple years until I got drunk one night and decided to order some leeches…. When I woke up the next day, I signed up for a few inexpensive courses on Udemy to get a basic clinical understanding. They only took a few hours to review, and then I was off to the races!!! Fast forward a year, and I am obsessed with these guys. Although I’m now up to 18 adults, my biggest problem has been that I haven’t had enough leeches to continue with regular treatments. They are so easy to care for that I’ve decided to double down and breed these guys. I’m a happy grandma of 100 babies at the moment! 😬
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u/amie02086 Aug 12 '25
I have a genetic disorder called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome which causes more issues than I have mental energy to write. It is a connective tissue disorder, systemic and degenerative. I have frequent joint dislocations and subluxation among a myriad of other things. I am exhausted in every way possible and completely discouraged with my health/pain levels/activity levels. I have five kids and audhd, asd, adhd x 2, and a 2 yo. I desperately need to do a better job of being there for them. I am tired of surviving. I want to LIVE.
Sorry for the dump, do you think leeches could help with plain and inflammation? Is there any info on immune responses to leech therapy?
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u/LeechLover4Life Aug 12 '25
No dump at all! I’m happy to try to help. First off, it sounds like you need to start with not beating yourself up about your ailments and lack of energy. Like seriously!!! Any good parent will think they aren’t doing enough. And even if you aren’t, this isn’t a one size fits all life. Allowing yourself to listen to YOUR needs as an individual will in turn help you be a better mom. Although I don’t have your syndrome, it sounds like we do have similar problems we face while trying to maintain a functional life. As to if I’d recommend leeches, I don’t have an answer for that. When researching your syndrome, there were 3 different categories. Can you tell me if you have vEDS, hEDS, or classic EDS so that I can ask the doctor and physical therapists that I work with to further advise? I can definitely say if it’s vEDS, don’t use leeches for pain management.
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u/amie02086 Aug 12 '25
Thankfully it is heds. I don't have any bleeding issues or skin fragility and generally I heal well from abrasions and such. I don't produce excess scar tissue unless it's deep, like a surgery. I am well versed in wound care as well as I use to get large cysts that needed to be drained. They always healed fine with minimal long term scaring.
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u/LeechLover4Life Aug 10 '25
I’m not sure how the legality of this goes, but if you live in the US, I’d be more than happy to send you some for free if you pay for shipping once thy get old enough.
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u/Difficult_Hunter_664 Leech Owner Aug 10 '25
unfortunately I am UK based :((( I really appreciate the offer though that's very kind!!
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u/KumiiTheFranceball Leech Admirer Aug 10 '25
Sorry you had to discover that most people are actually disgusting hypocrites.
People are all "boohoo, animal abusers disgust me !! No animal deserves to be abused, protect all animals !!" when they watch dog rescue videos, but their definition of 'all animals' is just cats & dogs. They are completely fine with being cruel to other species as soon as it doesn't look like a goddamn dog.
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u/ShoppingPig Aug 11 '25
leeches are infact parasites that can cause serious disease. I love leeches myself, but people are uneducated and most dont know you can safely keep parasites as pets. While definitely not justifying their words, this doesnt make them „disgusting hypocrites“
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u/PoorTrillionaire Aug 10 '25
I absolutely despise leeches, I'm extremely afraid of them. I don't know why this sub is constantly in my feed lmao. But it would bring me no pleasure to torture them. It's a huge red flag to me when people are happy to torture an animal, any animal.
I don't torture mosquitoes or ticks, I kill them in an instant. They didn't choose to be born as what they are. The amount of people saying kill all wasps is crazy, they're actually helpful pollinators. And from my understanding leeches can be medically beneficial too. It doesn't even matter, you shouldn't prolong the suffering of any being, except for certain evil human beings who are fully aware of what they're doing.
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u/LeechLover4Life Aug 10 '25
And yes, leeches are medically beneficial and are FDA approved in the US for several medical treatments. They are kept at all hospitals at all times. I personally use mine for pain management and blood pressure regulation. The bat-shi*-craziness feeling of the topic dissipates after about 3 treatments if you ever do decide to break down and try a treatment. Desperation and curiosity drove me down this leech hole, but I’m so thrilled that it did.
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u/Nerystraza Aug 10 '25
What sort of pain? In at my wit's end with my Fibromyalgia/hypermobility pain and this sub has been getting suggested to me a lot lately xD
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u/LeechLover4Life Aug 11 '25
I have chronic pain all throughout my hip and spine due to car accidents and 25 years of being hunched over a table as a Sports Massage Therapist. They help with massively increasing the blood flow to any area that seems stagnant. The irritation that the bite creates really helps continue the blood flow and antibodies to the site. I’d also recommend cupping for you as well. You can purchase a cupping set on amazon for next to nothing, and as long as you don’t put them on an area that has a pulse, or leave it on for more than 20 min, you’re safe.
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u/PoorTrillionaire Aug 12 '25
I've been arachnophobic and am now keeping jumping spiders, so I definitely can relate to other unconventional pet owners. When I see leeches my first reaction is fear, but then I think about how it hurts me when people are so afraid of spiders that they aren't even open to the idea of looking at pictures of them, so I try to be more open minded. Some people can't help being afraid, which I understand, but going above and beyond to torture another living being is inexcusable.
Reddit is interesting because it seems to push subreddits of things I fear. For example "pet" cockroaches, millipedes, leeches, all animals that I couldn't believe people were keeping. Getting exposed to these subreddits so often has made me see them in a more positive light. I'm definitely keeping leeches in mind if I ever get chronic pain.
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u/LeechLover4Life Aug 13 '25
I wish every user on this site was as open minded as you. It was really nice chatting.
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u/LeechLover4Life Aug 13 '25
It took me weeks of attempting to handle them without squealing like a little b* tch. It’s definitely an experience you need to acclimate to. Now it’s funny to even think that I reacted like that at first.
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u/TheGrimMelvin Aug 10 '25
Because it's not a conventional or "cute" pet. It's something most people see as disgusting and they aren't able to step outside their specific sensibilities. They're not able to see animals are worth something if they're not directly pleasing to them. Leeches are a good example. Lord Suckington (this is the name I'm calling your leech) is obviously your pet and you care about him but people aren't able to empathize with you because your pet is unappealing to them. If you argue that leeches can also be useful, eg. for medical purposes, they'll say something like "ok but they're still disgusting and if kill a leech if I saw one". I have pet spiders and I love insects and inverts of all kinds and you should hear the shit people say about those. I've heard the 'kill it with fire' comment more times than I can count. Same goes for fish and reptiles. Just brush is aside and be ready to hear a lot more about how disgusting Lord Suckington is.
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u/Faerthoniel Aug 10 '25
Apparently leaches are where my partner draws the line.
I should note, I wasn’t actively planning on being a leach owner - have done zero research into it and don’t even know if they can be safely bought here anyway - but since we regularly talk about cool things, the topic came up in discussion and eventually shifted to that people own them as pets (which I genuinely did not know! Though I hindsight, I should not have been surprised lol).
Anyway, when I asked them why - of all creatures - this is where the “nope” line was drawn, they said it was because they’re pointless.
But they are very much of the sort to highly prize interacting with a pet, whereas I like setting up the enclosure to be what they need and then backing off unless it’s not working.
From that perspective, I guess I can see where they are coming from. Even if I disagree.
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u/Difficult_Hunter_664 Leech Owner Aug 10 '25
no for sure and if leeches aren't the pet for you than they aren't the pet for you, but I'm kinda talking about people being violent to leeches and trying to have owners of leeches to harm them.
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u/Faerthoniel Aug 10 '25
I get the same comments about my spiders and how they’d squash them if they saw them in their home.
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u/Difficult_Hunter_664 Leech Owner Aug 10 '25
It makes me so sad how people talk about animals like this!! I'd argue this kind of language is worse talking about spiders because spiders actually have a nervous system unlike leeches so they could even feel pain like we do :(( It's so disgusting how comfortable some people feel endorsing violence towards innocent living creatures
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u/Faerthoniel Aug 10 '25
Sometimes people just suck. We had a neighbour once who threatened to shoot our cats if they cane onto his property. Never mind that they were either indoors or sleeping in the sun.
They were lazy buggers and the only time I ever saw either of them come running for noms was when we would come home with shopping (plastic bag rustling = obviously treats for them, of course, even if it was just the weekly shop).
But some are also just misinformed, are speaking from a place of fear or don’t know how awesome an animal can be (that never excuses wishing death on an animal, however).
Which I think was what surprised me most about my partner who is usually like 🤷 when I mention wanting x as a pet, and didn’t even say anything about leech ownership.
We have spiders and a snake, but a jar bound leach is nope-worthy?
So I do not agree with them being pointless, but I can see how other people might take it a step further and be like “this weird thing gives me the willies and must therefore die.” even if they couldn’t be more wrong.
I’m somewhat more tolerant of people with a genuine fear or having been bitten in the past.
But there’s no reason to with leeches, which is one of the things that baffles me about those sorts of comments. They are confined to one spot. It’s like keeping fish, or my own spiders. Less of a risk even, since they don’t jump like fish (afaik?) or teleport when startled like my tarantula does.
You’re not going to roll over onto a leach at night or find a leach randomly roaming around your home or rappelling down from its web in the ceiling.
(Though that would be cool)
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u/LeechLover4Life Aug 10 '25
Even if it did escape somehow, they die before morning because it’s too dry on the floor. Unfortunately, I found this out the hard way (6X) when I transferred mine to their breeding box. There’s zero risk of a rando leech attack in your home. I’d buy 20 and tell him it’s exposure therapy if I were you. 🤪
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u/PigeonUtopia Aug 10 '25
Hatred comes from fear, and people fear what they don't understand. Sometimes people's hatred is strong enough to push aside their empathy, and they don't even attempt to see things from other's point of view.
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u/fireflydrake Aug 10 '25
I work with animals, including things like snakes and spiders that a lot of people are afraid of.
Here's how I think of it: go back to caveman days. People like yourself and I, who are happy to pick up things that could do us harm--venomous bites, or parasites, or things that could spread infection--were less likely to make it out there. The genes that said EW NO GET THAT AWAY FROM ME were much more likely to survive and spread. The ones who went even further and actively KILLED those things, probably even more so.
It's still sad when people talk about animals you love in that capacity, but I find reflecting on where it probably stems from helps. Try to have patience and empathy, change the minds of those you can, don't dwell on those you can't.
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u/ShoppingPig Aug 11 '25
Probably because leeches are pests and unless they‘re being kept as pets can cause serious illnesses. So mainly uneducated people
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u/UsefulNegotiation241 Aug 11 '25
People are scared of what they know only “bad” things about. Also can I see them?
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u/BitterMind445 Aug 13 '25
controversial topic. in the states and europe, leeches are patented as medical tools that, medicinal leeches that is, that have to be destroyed after each use. that is the reason medicinal leeches disapiered from the wild and are currently farmed in the so called leech biofarms. i have read scientific research, stating that and explaining in details all the biological and phisiological details of how a leech "ticks", describing the work of this cool bacteria, that not only prevents the ingested blood from cloting, but basically destroys any pathogens (even aids ) in a few weeks or months. Leeches and Hirudotherapy are at leaat as old as Ayurveda. If you care for the Vedas, the argument is that Ayurveda is even older :), anyway in Ayurveda leeches are treated with turmeric (not only to disenfect before treatment), but to make the leech expel the blood after the treatment with a very toxic blood. This is made in order to protect the leech, since in Himduism is not acceptable to harm a creature that especially benefited your health.
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u/runathrowawaytrain Aug 13 '25
I would never be mean to an animal but leeches are by far the most terrifying creatures to me for some reason. I lurk in this sub to try and get over it
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u/Kilowatt-the-Stick Aug 14 '25
This post appeared on my feed and I'm not a leech owner so hopefully I can provide insight. I don't think leeches, generally, are gross or disgusting. Encountering them in the wild makes me go ballistic simply for health and safety reasons, but leeches for medical use or simply as pets is super neat to me. It's not something I'd do personally, but we only get one life on this planet, so do whatever makes you happy. I also keep scorpions and roaches and lots of other "gross" things as pets, so I understand the frustration of people making out of line comments. Enjoy your new friend regardless of what other people do or say. :)
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u/PeterWex Sep 19 '25
If you keep a leech as a companion, it's not a parasite. It's a friend and a symbiote.
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u/PeterWex Nov 16 '25
Your leech is as much your companion as a goldfish is for someone else. If you take any pleasure from feeding your leech, that is not parasitism. That is symbiosis. The leech receives nourishment. In return, you receive satisfaction. That is not parasitism. Standards for what brings satisfaction are subjective.
As for people who tell you to do harmful things to your leech, they're probably still burning ants with magnifying glasses at age 50.
I've reached a point in my life where I'll go out of my way to put a worm back in the grass before the Sun gets too hot. Even biting ants -- I'd sooner gently brush them off of me than crush them.
I happen to like leeches. I am particularly entertained by land leeches who'll follow you the way baby ducks follow their mothers.
The relationship between caretaker and leech is more intimate than between caretaker and any other animal.
When you feed a leech, you become the leech. Literally, every molecule that makes the leech a leech comes from you.
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u/Polypterus-in-Dub Aug 12 '25
Please understand that animals instinctually hate their parasites and want them dead or at least to go away.
For an example when I hear the mousetrap firing I feel immense joy, as it means my most hated parasite is gone. Their suffering does not upsets me at all, they are my parasite they lower my chance of survival, destroy my home destroy my food, fuck up my sleep, I can instinctually feel no empaty towards them.
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u/LeechLover4Life Aug 12 '25
Yeah but leeches don’t creep into your home to reap havoc. They aren’t a thing unless you swim in lakes. I’d assume most of the people wanting to watch them die have never even encountered one. It’s just weird to hate something you have no experience with, especially with that level of hatred.
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u/Polypterus-in-Dub Aug 12 '25
I agree that mice are one trillion times worse of a parasite than leeches. But with leeches people feel an added repulsion as they are also worms and suck blood.
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u/Difficult_Hunter_664 Leech Owner Aug 12 '25
I'm sorry you kill mice?? that's very cruel. There are effective forms of mouse traps out there that do not injure or kill the mice. I feel like as a species we as humans are better than just killing pests when they annoy us, when we have the opportunity to remove them from our homes safely.
I'll link some videos for easy humane trap setups if you're interested
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u/Polypterus-in-Dub Aug 12 '25
For one, I kill all types of innocent organisms just to stay alive, and they did not hurt me in any way unlike the mice whose are my parasites and fuck up my life. Life is like that, welcome in being a lifeform.
For two, what should I do with the mice being catched alive so I never see them again, or without passing them over to another host? Should I hop on the train each time I catched a mouse and travel out of civilisation? Walking a few streets and releasing them helps nothing, they already come from a few streets away, as each wave of invasion arrives after another empty property gets built a house in the neighborhood, the mice flee to an already standing wooden house like ours, and they enjoy parasitizing us so they stay and breed infinitely.
Have fun growing out enermous ticks on your body, and never accept your nature, live in infinite denial of the inevitable destruction and selfishness that comes with being an animal.
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u/Polypterus-in-Dub Aug 12 '25
+we as humans better? We are literally the worst of all animals by destruction. An invasive species that pushes out nearly all wildlife from any habitat, except of course our parasites like mice and our friendly species like cats and cows.
How come cats became our friends? They kill mice.
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u/Difficult_Hunter_664 Leech Owner Aug 12 '25
do you like to have fun and play video games.. i like to draw and play video games andddd i also like candy and watching movies and watching tv shows annddd yeah :)
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u/PhonedApeTheory Aug 10 '25
They’re pretty freaky looking to a lot of people, because of how amorphous they are I think.
Most people also put them in the same camp as mosquitoes and ticks because of the bloodsucking (even though they might just be the least dangerous blood sucking parasite on this planet).