Does Anyone Keep Hirudo medicinalis, Medical Leeches?

[Dovey]

Sheesh, my research friends! One of my buddies had lunch with a colleague who is working on a project involving leeches, and is now looking for good homes for ex-study participants...the leeches, not the patients!

Knowing I'm a critter person, my friend asked me if I would be interested in keeping a pair of leeches. Do any of you all have experience keeping leeches? I don't mind the feeding issues. I'm not blood weird and don't mind a little nibble now and again. I hold to my original thesis that any dog or cat is going to do you far more harm physically than any spider or non-poisonous snake.

I just wondered if there were opinions and experiences among our users I could take under advisement. Apparently these guys can live 10 years and they're less than a year old, so I want to be sure I can make the commitment. They certainly are handsome creatures, I have to say. These are the Hungarian variety, and they are very beautiful.

 

[Tia B]

Sheesh, my research friends! One of my buddies had lunch with a colleague who is working on a project involving leeches, and is now looking for good homes for ex-study participants...the leeches, not the patients!

Knowing I'm a critter person, my friend asked me if I would be interested in keeping a pair of leeches. Do any of you all have experience keeping leeches? I don't mind the feeding issues. I'm not blood weird and don't mind a little nibble now and again. I hold to my original thesis that any dog or cat is going to do you far more harm physically than any spider or non-poisonous snake.

I just wondered if there were opinions and experiences among our users I could take under advisement. Apparently these guys can live 10 years and they're less than a year old, so I want to be sure I can make the commitment. They certainly are handsome creatures, I have to say. These are the Hungarian variety, and they are very beautiful.

I haven't kept em myself, but I know some people that do and am seriously considering getting some at some point. You don't have to feed them off your own blood, you can feed them congealed pork blood. They only need to feed twice a year and don't eat much even then, so care is not too difficult. They're one of the only pets you can actually keep in a fish bowl, they can't really live with a filter (they can get injured by it easily) and they don't need heating from what I've heard. A lot of people keep them with java moss. They will attempt escapes, so rubberband some cheesecloth over the top of whatever jar/container you're keeping them in.


My suggestion is don't let them feed on you for some time if they've been exposed to any other human blood. Most delis and sometimes regular grocery stores can supply you with pork blood. You can just get it cold and drop it in when it's jellied and they'll attach to it.

I'm so jealous! If there's extra, send em my way

 

[schmiggle]

I've heard you at least sometimes have to heat the blood first to get them to feed, but otherwise I agree with Tia. Do post pics if you decide to keep them.

 

[Dovey]

I haven't kept em myself, but I know some people that do and am seriously considering getting some at some point. You don't have to feed them off your own blood, you can feed them congealed pork blood. They only need to feed twice a year and don't eat much even then, so care is not too difficult. They're one of the only pets you can actually keep in a fish bowl, they can't really live with a filter (they can get injured by it easily) and they don't need heating from what I've heard. A lot of people keep them with java moss. They will attempt escapes, so rubberband some cheesecloth over the top of whatever jar/container you're keeping them in.


My suggestion is don't let them feed on you for some time if they've been exposed to any other human blood. Most delis and sometimes regular grocery stores can supply you with pork blood. You can just get it cold and drop it in when it's jellied and they'll attach to it.

I'm so jealous! If there's extra, send em my way

I so totally will! I'll ask!

And I feel really lucky. Someone in my background was actually a druggist in the early 20th century, and I inherited a lovely apothecary jar from that era. It's nothing special, you see reproductions of the style everywhere, but I love it and would love to set it on my desk. The very good news is it has a lid and it isn't particularly 100% airtight though it is heavy.

BTW, exactly what is it that you don't know?

 

[Tia B]

I so totally will! I'll ask!

And I feel really lucky. Someone in my background was actually a druggist in the early 20th century, and I inherited a lovely apothecary jar from that era. It's nothing special, you see reproductions of the style everywhere, but I love it and would love to set it on my desk. The very good news is it has a lid and it isn't particularly 100% airtight though it is heavy.

BTW, exactly what is it that you don't know?

Haha believe me, I'm not knowledgeable in a lot of areas, I just happen to be obsessed with animals and have way too much random information about them, most of which I'll never use.

You may still want to use cheesecloth in place of a lid if it doesn't allow for much airflow. They still need air, they just can't be trusted without a lid.

 

[Dovey]

I actually have a lovely linen handkerchief from almost exactly the same era as my jar. Sounds like it was meant to be.

In truth, I think what draws me to them is that leeches are such a mainstay of medieval medicine. I'm a Shakespeare scholar, and I specialize in the Medieval Era because of Shakespeare's history plays, most of which take part in that period. I got into rats as a result of a major research project on art contemporaneous to the Black Death. Leeches just fit in with that construct beautifully, don't they? Next to I'll be going in for bleeding and cupping. Oh come on, how different is that really from the rigours of the modern colonoscopy, for example? And what could be more painful in a really medieval way than a mammogram?!

Yep. We're a go on the leeches. I now have an artistic vision of my apothecary jar with perhaps 3 good sized moss balls bouncing around the bottom as the wee leechy inhabitants climb over and among them. Moss will help with the oxygen levels in the water as well as absorbing any ammonia or nitrates that might develop from their shed breaking down before I can change the water. Clearly a poop equals an immediate water change. No one likes to sit in their own yucky old blood.

Wow, there's an unpleasant sentence.

 

[Mirandarachnid]

I'm just popping in to say I can't wait for pictures and updates!

Congrats on your new critters!

 

[Dovey]

Natural habitat of Hirudo verbana, Eastern European/Hungarian medical leech:

Happily, I have a nice collection of floating plants that should rise to the surface of my koi pond fairly soon after the winter dormancy. I think unrooted plants would be the perfect solution to a jar that has to be emptied like a goldfish Bowl every week.

 

[Dovey]

Boyali Lagoon of Erirdir Lake:
https://bnc.lt/a/key_live_eifqPbvhI.../&install_id=1894f0a631b9463e87c7f65d3dac6528

 

[Dovey]

I was asked how the leeches are doing. They seem to be doing swimmingly with the water chemistry adjustments. Sorry, couldn't help myself with the word play. No denying these are tough little animals.

But, I've just got to share this with you. I got really curious after reading some more scholarly articles on leeches and arthritis. I have a serious derangement in my left knee as a result of a rock climbing accident that is going to require a joint replacement, but my right knee is fairly shot too, from basketball, age, etcetera--and the weight I have gained since smashing my left knee has sure not helped it.

Just on a lark, I contacted my friend last week and adopted his last six leeches. I fed two of them last night on my right knee. Today, I have virtually no pain in that knee anywhere. Now maybe I'm just having a good day, but I haven't had ANY good days, not in months! And the weather is precisely what it was yesterday, particularly where humidity and barometric pressure are concerned. I really do think it's something to do with enzymes in the leech saliva. I am not one for alternative medicine, but there is no denying a massive improvement in 12 hours. I would put it on par with a cortisone shot, which I have had several times in this knee. I'm not even going to think about the possibility of it lasting a month, as many of the studies indicate it could.

This is surreal. Tonight I'm going to feed two more on the left knee, which has additional injuries yes, but also has bone-on-bone arthritis. I'll let you know how it goes. So far, I can't tell you how impressed I am with this. Spooky good results, and these guys are really just here to be my pets. That they give back beyond the fascination of watching them just makes them all kinds of wonderful to me. I am literally in wonder at their effect on my poor sad joints.

 

[sasker]

Interesting stuff! @Dovey Can you give us an update on the medical experience on your knees? I would love to hear more.

 

[SonsofArachne]

Interesting stuff! @Dovey Can you give us an update on the medical experience on your knees? I would love to hear more.

Your post got me thinking that I haven't seen any posts by Dovey in a while. I checked her profile and she was last seen Oct. 8. I sure hope nothing's wrong, hopefully she'll answer your post.