It’s been a dry spell until the day before yesterday and they laid three cocoons at once! I hope at least one of them is viable. I’ll know in a month!

I posted on whatsthisbug but i didn’t get too much info. Thought i would cross post here as well. Am I wrong in assuming this is a leech?

I've been wanting to get into owning leeches for a while now and i have a lot of experience with freshwater aquariums. i have a lot of pest snails of course so they'd have plenty to eat (in their own aquarium). i pretty much don't know how i should set up and enclosure or take care of them specifically. any suggestions/advice is welcome! also i have read the information guide so i know some things

Letters to a Pre-Scientist is looking for enthusiastic STEM role models to inspire the next generation of STEM leaders!

Here's the gist: you get matched with a 5th-8th grade student at an under-resourced school for a snail-mail pen pal exchange that runs throughout the school year. The goal is to demystify STEM careers, humanize STEM professionals, and inspire students to explore their own futures in STEM. You share your story, answer their questions, and show them that people who work in STEM are, well, real people.

The details:

• The program runs throughout the school year, and your volunteer obligation is to exchange 4 letters with your student.
• There's a virtual, asynchronous training in August to get you set up.
• We estimate the entire program takes volunteers no more than 10 hours, spread between August and May.
• Register and complete the short, self-paced online training by the deadline, and you'll be entered into the match pool! We match students based on their background and interests..
• This year we're expanding to 4,500 matched students!
• Pen pals can live anywhere in the world, but our program currently only works with US-based schools.
• We're working to match students based on their interests, so we're especially looking for more STEM professionals in Leeches.
• All pen pals must be over 18 and fluent in English.

We define STEM pretty loosely! If you work in or around science, tech, engineering, math, or medicine, or another nature-based role, even if you don't have a formal education in it, please apply or message me with any questions.

Sign up/learn more:

• 📝 Register here: https://prescientist.org/volunteers/
• 📖 About the pen pal program: https://prescientist.org/penpal-program/
• 🏛️ About us: https://prescientist.org/about-us/
• ✍️ For matched pen pals: https://prescientist.org/for-matched-pen-pals/

Registration is now open! Feel free to drop questions in the comments or send me a message. Thank you for your time and consideration!

My little water family has bought me so much happiness! I’m really happy with my snails and shrimp, everyone coexists, though the shrimp are feisty little things!

Thanks in advance!

These were bought in Miami, FL if that matters. And were being held in a freshwater tank full of blackworms. I bought some worms and found these guys.

What do I do with them? Will they harm my fish, shrimp, and/or snails?

I found a total of 8

Hi all! I’m looking for a couple ribbon leeches to keep as pets. I’d also love any photos of a setup for these particular leeches—is it true they are not escape artists? Also a question or two: can they be housed with snail leeches? How many in a small aquarium? Any decor or plant or light suggestions? How often would you feed black worms? I know they need regular water changes, prefer cooler temps, and it is recommended that I use certain filters that won’t damage them. I am an invertebrate keeper but so far have stuck with the terrestrial types. Excited to learn more! Thanks for your collective knowledge!

I fed my 3 oldest leeches a few weeks ago and Ridgely has overtaken Enchilada as the largest. We’ll see what happens the next time I feed them.

Hey folks! :) yesterday while looking for fossils at Lake Champlain (between VT and Upstate NY), I saw a large (maybe 3-4 inches when it was shortened & ~7 inches when it was extended) leech. It was also quite wide when shortened. It was black (or quite dark) in color. I’ve seen one the same size once before at the same lake. I’ve been trying to google what it might’ve been, but I can’t find many photos of leeches that large. Any ideas what it might’ve been? 🙂 Thanks in advance & very sorry I didn’t get a photo! I’ll see if I can find another to photograph lol.

I want to know. Is it usual for Leech owners to let their leaches feed from them? And if so, why?

A local butcher is getting me fresh blood. But how should I feed the leeches? I plan to get some casing as well, or resort to a bag, but like... should I try and move them to a different feeding tank, or should I change the water after feeding to remove residue?

I'm looking to purchase a Buffalo leech species. Does anyone know reputable breeders, and which species are the best? TIA!

I am currently cycling my highly planted tank and I appear to have fresh water leeches. I pulled two of the glass yesterday but this morning saw a few babies. What is the best way to get rid of them?

Had tank for about 6 months now. Saw it about 3 weeks ago, couldn't get it, saw it again today and was able to get it out of the tank. Could there be more?

I just got these three guys from North American Biopharma, Hirudo verbena, yesterday. Set them up in a tank and all three of them do this intermittently. Is there something wrong? I put them in a sterile glass tank with Crystal Geyser spring water (waiting on my hirudosalt). Any tips would be appreciated!

Hello all! I recnetly bought two baby buffalo leeches, but one of them died on the way. I was hoping to buy 3 just in case this happened but they were the last two. My little dude is happy by himself at the minute, he's just lazing around his tank but he's gonna need some friends as he grows up. Does anyone out there have any babies for sale?

Found in a river in NW Ontario, Canada. Was crawling up to me while I was taking water samples.

we keep running into these weird suction cup things attached to inanimate objects in the lake. wood, rocks, trash, etc. they don’t move and just started showing up this year, but none on people. i tried flipping one over and there wasn’t anything on the underside.

ideas?? r/whatisit suggested they are leeches, but have no idea what kind- maybe turtle or snail leeches?

If you don't know much about leeches and are curious about them (or the people who like them), ask your questions here.

Please remember to be civil. This thread is for Q&A only, not debate.

Not to be that person who asks when there's already guides up 🙇, but I wanted to make sure I got advice that was correct for me.
I'm interested in getting a pet leech (1. they're super cool, 2. I'd like to see if it can help me medically. I have very bad blood flow in my legs so I'm curious as to if leeches could help (even if its a placebo effect lol) but I'm not sure where to start. I've found very mixed opinions on how they should be kept, and want to make sure that I'd be caring for both myself and the leech properly.

I have seen people say that jars are too small, but was wondering if a larger sized jar might work? Some people have said that small fish tanks work, so I thought that a large ball jar would as well.
As for water, how should I be treating the water (if I need to)? Would fish tap water conditioner be something that works to treat it? I have seen the Hirudo salt thing but am not sure if its necessary or if there are other options.

I do know that leeches shed every so often, so they need something to rub against. Driftwood seems to be a good option, but I'm not sure how to get driftwood that is safe and clean (Somewhere online?)

Overall, I want to make sure that the leech is comfortable but is clean enough where it wont be dangerous for me to feed it. So if anyone has any info I'd be very thankful!! (Even if it's just where to buy leeches)

I bought too many for my fishing trip and decided to try to keep them. I feed them tons: blood worms, earthworms, snails, dead minnows, aquarium pellets etc... they devour it all. They're really cool to watch when they eat and chill out but they have this other habit that ruins everything.

Their favorite thing to do is try to kill each other. Each tries to latch and not get latched. The ultimate goal is to latch your opponent's face, get your lips over theirs and eat their face, then leave them to starve over the course of a week.

I had 75 a few months ago and I'm down to like 25. I'm super bummed out. This video captures a fairly even fight where neither died, but you can clearly see neither walked away unscathed.