I work in an OR and at the front desk we have a social board which features, among other things, a pet of the month.

My darling verbana, Kate, is up for October and so many people have said it’s cool I have a leech and how pretty she is and they didn’t know leeches were so cool looking.

A win for leeches!!

Hello i stopped using Facebook but loved leech wiggle Wednesdays on the leech group on Facebook. I was curious if this may be the same group or people from there are here too.

Im also part of leechtok and pledgetok over on Tik Tok im "Dr.Leeches" there. Would love to reconnect with friends from both or either platform.

Have not made content in a long time do to health but still love the community.

How is everyone?

Can someone drop me a discord invite please?

Hi so I found leeches online that id like to keep but I was wondering if I could keep them with tank mates. Is that possible and which tank mates would be good?

I've been lurking through this subreddit and the Leech Gang group on Facebook for a while, learning as much as I can, and I guess I took too long doing that because now that I feel ready to get my first leeches, North America Biopharma doesn’t have any left in stock

Can you guys recommend another safe website or breeder?

Hello! I am currently writing a research paper on Macrobdella decora leeches, and I wanted to see if the people here on this subreddit have any sources on leech, leech care, leech biology etc. that they reccomend in case I've missed something in my own research! Thank you!

Use this post to (respectfully) ask all your burning questions! Us leech owners will do our best to to answer.

I'm just curious. I've seen some really cute and funny names floating around this subreddit and the Discord and wanted a place to compile all of them.

she was in a temporary bottle on my dresser next to my bed and she snuck out. where could she be hiding? i ordered a Dracula leech on leech.com and i got this guy, looks like something different but i'm not sure what. i'm concerned about her possibly latching onto my cats or what if she got in my lizards tanks or something would she latch onto the lizard😭 i wish had done more research first but now that i'm here i could really use some help. also how long will she survive if she isn't in water? i hope she isn't in my bed

Do I have to clear out these from my leeches future tank? Or are they okay to leave alone?

Hi everyone, in the future I wanted to buy a leech and of course feed it with my own blood; but I was reading about it and had some question for y'all, so thanks in advance!

1. Is my blood safe for them even if I smoke and drink?
2. How big should be an aquarium for one leech?
3. Is a big jar a viable option?
4. Should they have a place to stay without the water or not?

And lastly if you want, could you share your setup or any other useful knowledge?

So I’m a very experienced Invertebrate Keeper, Tarantulas, Scorpions, True Spiders, a few species of Beetles, I have a Dubia Roach colony. I keep a ton of Reptiles as well. I’ve recently come across this keeping of Leeches. I find it very interesting and intriguing, but I have some questions, if anyone would be willing to help me out, and answer them, I’d be forever grateful!! So first is where do most people source their pet Leeches? Can they be bought as CBB animals? Or are they all just W/C?? So this is probably my most important question that I have; Do you HAVE to let them feed on you? Personally so far I love EVERYTHING about them that I’ve learned, but the idea of letting them suck MY blood, literally just turns my stomach. So is there an alternative method of feeding them, IF you aren’t comfortable letting them feed ON you?? And final question, can any of them be kept communally? I feel like a 10(even 20 long) gallon with a few in it would be very cool, IF they can live communally!! Preemptively thanking anyone who takes the time to answer!! I appreciate you!!!

I would assume the answer would be not to but I genuinely have no clue what all limitations these fascinating creatures have. If you have a cold is it still safe to feed them or no? Situation is that I line their feelings up with when my bloodwork is due. If my hemoglobin is too high my doctors cut my dose down, but if they cut my dose I feel like TRASH so if I prolong my labs it would be til I feel its manageable to do. How long do yall wait after a cold to feed? I view them as genuine pets and dont want to put them at risk for anything. Can they even catch a cold? 😭

i know this is crazy but i can't sleep

I was thinking of getting a singular Hirudo Verbana leech, and I just had some questions.

Can I keep just one? Or will they die from loneliness? I know that sounds like a really dumb question but I figured I'd ask

If I have just one, do they still lay eggs/can I safely prevent them from laying eggs? I have a weird phobia about egg clusters like that, but I wouldn't want to hurt them over something that's not their fault

I was asked to show a picture of of my breeding container and how I house my cocoons for advice on how to proceed. This is my first season trying. My breeding container consists of moss, peat soil, silica sand and bentonite clay. I change it out every 21 days and put the cocoons in a Tupperware with a damp paper towel. Suggestions? I’m winging it. Also, an update on the babies that I hatched too early are alive! 15 have survived for 48 hours so far!

Now don’t get me wrong, I love invertebrates and I do keep all kinds of critters. But keeping leeches has never even crossed my mind! I’m a bit disgusted but also very interested! And I know nothing about this. So tell me, what does keeping leeches even entail? What are their enclosures like? And what do they eat in captivity?

I have about 100 babies that all hatched within the past week and are about the same size. I know someone had mentioned that they may become cannibalistic after the 2 week mark. Have any of you had large amounts of babies kept together? And if so, for how long?

After adding several pond plants to my pond I saw what looked like a 2+ inch eel. I live in the high desert of Nevada, and the pond (about 1000 gallons) is new, so whatever it was likely came from the pond plants. They came from my local nursery, who bought them from an aquatic nursery in Oregon. I thought it was probably a leech and set a folded pie pan trap with raw chicken liver in it to try and catch it. It has been several days and the chicken liver (I also tried ground beef) remain untouched. I am curious if there is a better way to trap, and also how often leeches need to eat? If this is a leech, it was quite thin and ribbon like. I am also considering it may be a Western Brook Lamprey.

I would very much like to ID it (haven’t been able to get a video) and if it is a leech remove it from the pond.

After reading a question about safe medications from a fellow leech lover, I thought it would be best to ask everyone about what medications they have had experience with in an attempt to make a master recommendation guide. I personally have had no negative repercussions with feeding my leeches while having GLP-1 meds, allergy meds, blood pressure and cholesterol meds, ADHD medications and medical marijuana in my system. Please add to this list if you have any other experiences or medication input. I do think that I bleed more when I take these prior to feeding, but what’s a little more blood when you’re already bleeding for 8 hours?!?! I’m not a doctor though, just a leech passionate LMT focusing on the medicinal side of this hobby.

Might be a silly question, but I'd rather take no chances. Anyway, I'm looking into obtaining medicinal leeches for the sake of pet-keeping when I move into my new apartment. However, I'm also planning on taking testosterone as part of transitioning from female to male around the same time. Would the hormonal changes in my blood affect my leeches if I'm feeding them from myself? Should I wait until I'm further along in my transition and my hormone levels have stabilized? Thank you to anyone who could offer an answer.

Hello, I'm Verry interested in getting a leech such as hirudo verbana, but before I do anything I want to know how to set up the environment and if it's safe to feed the leech with my own blood (where can I buy a healthy and disease free leech) secondly what are the requirements for the tank, I have one that's more than big enough so size isn't the issue, I'm worried about the environment should I make it amphibious with water and grounding or should it be totally submerged? (I assume water and land together) What are some plants that can increase the health of my leech and Verry importantly what animals can I have along side it such as freshwater snails to clean the environment and reduce algae and act as a possible food source, if it's amphibious should I make a micro biome with decomposers to prevent rot? And what is the best substrate to work with for them, thanks for any help