For centuries, doctors used leeches as an actual medical treatment.

The practice was called bloodletting, and leeches were used because physicians believed removing blood could help treat illness.

What's fascinating is that modern medicine has actually brought leeches back for a few very specific purposes, such as helping restore blood flow after certain surgeries.

Something that sounds completely medieval is still used in hospitals today.

My wife keeps pet leeches, Hirudo Verbana, and is very concerned about an upcoming Cockroach treatment in our building. Every apartment in the building is scheduled to be sprayed and fumigated, but we're concerned that the fumes in the air may kill the leeches. As it stands, our plan was to cover spongy furniture (couches, bed), and take the leeches off-premises for a few days so our apartment can ventilate before bringing them back, but my wife's concerned that won't be enough for latent chemicals on surfaces and wants us to lock the door, deny service.

I would really appreciate the community's input on this. I would like to have my apartment treated if possible, but I also don't want to get our pets killed. Is there a middle ground we should consider? A post-treatment or preventative measure we should take? The internet makes it abundantly clear that leeches are sensitive to toxic chemicals but I don't see many examples of protocols. Thank you

Not sure if I'll be able to get an ID on this lil blob but I thought I might as well try!

Found this while gathering water in a freshwater pond/ lake in midcoast Maine

Hello all! I have four H. Manillensis, I've been keeping them for a few months, my biggest just had his thrid feeding yesterday and the others had their second. (They're named Vlad, Celestia, Lilith and Fatass, aka count Suckula, vlad is my favorite!). It's getting time to work on fully finishing up their adult tank, it's a 55gal paludairum, I have most of the work done, I just haven't added the water yet to give their terrestrial tank mates some extra room before I move my leeches in there. I have everything planned out for them, except for how to wire their equipment:
How do you wire heaters and filters into the tank without giving them room to escape? I was thinking of cutting through the metal mesh and rigging something up with nylon and I'd prefer to not have to use crack in the first photo, as I have a pretty good solution to sealing it (the current occupants have hard exoskeletons that can't fit through but the leeches will be able to), but nothing I've tried has worked yet.
What do you reccomned I do? I'd appreciate any feedback you have!

I just did a water change and the babies are enthusiastic. These guys are so graceful and elegant!

Hello! I’m looking to get leeches locally in nyc. I’m in the bronx. does anyone know a place that sells them?

thank you!

I finally got some decoras! I’ve been pining for them forever and I’m so excited!

I’m finally getting some decoras next week and I’m getting their tank ready. I’m so excited!

Hi! I read over rules, hopefully this post and flair is appropriate.

I'm writing something for a D&D setting (Toril, Forgotten Realms) and have a doctor character who carries captive-bred European medical leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) with her in her travels. Partly for medical purposes, partly because she loves them.

I was hoping folks here could give me ideas as to what transporting medical leeches by foot (or wagon) would look like, where they're safely contained and not too cramped, and what maintaining their health and stress would look like when you expect lots of stimuli from constant movement, loud noises from combat, etc.

1. Assuming she's transporting her leeches in a 1.3 gallon glass jug, roughly 2/3rds of the way filled with water, what would be a healthy amount of leeches? I'm expecting her to look after around 1-3, but the leech care guide provided said nothing about how much more space you need per leech so I'm hoping for some clarity.
2. This is fantasy, so we can hand-wave some things. Let's say the jug is enchanted so it muffles sound and stops their substrate/plants/hidey-holes from getting shaken around in the water. While this would REDUCE stress from motion and noise, they'd still feel some vibrations and be exposed to light. Would covering the jug be advisable?
3. This obviously isn't ideal for leech health and happiness: the character will be aware of this. What steps can be taken to try and make sure the leeches aren't miserable, besides what was listed above and making sure to feed, change out their water, provide adequate land, hidey-holes, etc.?

Thank you very much for reading, sorry if I'm not clear enough or I'm asking very silly questions.

another big stretch for the leech fans

I did a water change last night and I have happy leeches! One of my bigger adult buffs is doing the wave, and I don’t see this very often!

My baby sleeping in my hand. It’s awesome when an animal feels safe enough to nap in your hand.

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

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!

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!

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.