Leech found with blackworms.

bugmankeith

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I brought black worms and I found a leech mixed in with them, it's alive and longer than a thumbnail, it's clear and has a line of green going through it.

I put a piece of romaine lettuce in with it to see if it eats.

1. I'm assuming it eats plants?
2. What species is it?
3. What type of water is it found in, and does it survive in warm or cold water? (summer only, or summer and winter)
4. Can it survive in captivity, can it live in de-chlorinated and de-chloraminated water? (aka "treated water")
 

Cirith Ungol

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It's not going to eat any lettuce. Instead, try sticking it between your fingers for a few hours and see if it "digs in". Or put a worm with it an see if it eats that. Even if providing a picture it might be very hard to ID (and not by me anyhow!). If you wanna keep it as a pet I'd try a shore setup because you can't be sure if it's a water leach or a land living leach. Moisture is needed anyhow.

Just pour the water you need into a bucket and let it stay for a day. The clorine will evaporate.
 

Cirith Ungol

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Wait, do you think it could be a flatworm?
You said it's a leech, so I assumed it's a leech :D . I have no idea what it is. But I'm no way good with leeches so if you take a picture I might be able to tell you it's not a whale or a bird. ;)

Leeches are those carnivores which are famous for latching on to verts and sucking blood (mostly).
 

myrmecophile

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Leeches are very common in blackworm shipments. I used to get numerous specimens when I bought the worms. I never did figure out just what they were using as a host but did my best to get rid of them when I cleaned the black worms.
 

Cirith Ungol

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Leeches are very common in blackworm shipments. I used to get numerous specimens when I bought the worms. I never did figure out just what they were using as a host but did my best to get rid of them when I cleaned the black worms.
Depending on the species they might even eat the black worms, since some leeches go for soft bodied invert prey too.
 

Hedorah99

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The ones we get in blackworms shipments at the zoo seem to like fish. They had no interest in us, well at least what we saw. There are hundreds of species of leech all having different host choices. One of the ponds at the zoo has a species that only goes after crayfish. As far as I know all leaches are parasitc and won't like the lettuce.
 

bugmankeith

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Ok, so where do blackworms come from? (what type of water?) (do they like the warm water or cold?) (pond or lake?)

Where are the cultures raised, indoor or out?
 

beetleman

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all leeches are carnivorous,and parisitic(spelling):wall: most if not all love cool,chemical free water and it must be very clean at all times,even though they come from areas that are stagnent,swampy.alot of leeches only feed on particular food items,but not all of them ofcourse,i used to keep the blood feeding ssp. aswell as the worm eating ssp. the one you have will mostly feed on the worms and bits of fish,it should be kept very cool,clean water hope this helps ya.:D
 

bugmankeith

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I'm guessing it does feed on soft worms or fish, and i'm also guessing it comes from freshwater ponds.
 

arachnocat

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Sometimes I see leeches for sale on science supply sites. How do you keep them alive though? Like the large medical leeches. What do you feed those?
 

bugmankeith

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Medical leeches eat blood. Who knows mabye drop enough bloodworms in to get the water filled with blood?
 

Cirith Ungol

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You'd have to take a saucage skin (also known as pigs intestines), fill them with blood, maybe even warm up the saucage a little (just enough, you don't want the blood to coagulate) and then put them in with your leeches. They'll attach themselves and start sucking.
 

Tleilaxu

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The ones we get in blackworms shipments at the zoo seem to like fish. They had no interest in us, well at least what we saw. There are hundreds of species of leech all having different host choices. One of the ponds at the zoo has a species that only goes after crayfish. As far as I know all leaches are parasitc and won't like the lettuce.
Thats not true several species of leech are plant and algae eaters.
 

AfterTheAsylum

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Now I want a leech. Thanks guys. You just expended my hobby. You had me at blood filled sausage.

ATA
 

beetleman

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Sometimes I see leeches for sale on science supply sites. How do you keep them alive though? Like the large medical leeches. What do you feed those?
ive kept the medicinal leeches,i kept them very cool temps,very clean treated water,and fed them frogs(i used to work in a petstore,any frog that would die i would use them the leeches went crazy over the frogs,it seems they prefer frogs in nature aswell)they lived for a couple of years. i also kept the giant horse leeches,ribbon leeches,same care as the medicinals but these leeches feed on earthworms,bloodworms,really cool animals in my book:clap: just make any container you use for them has very airholes because they can squeeze threw anything.
 

beetleman

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ive kept the medicinal leeches,i kept them very cool temps,very clean treated water,and fed them frogs(i used to work in a petstore,any frog that would die i would use them the leeches went crazy over the frogs,it seems they prefer frogs in nature aswell)they lived for a couple of years. i also kept the giant horse leeches,ribbon leeches,same care as the medicinals but these leeches feed on earthworms,bloodworms,really cool animals in my book:clap: just make any container you use for them has very airholes because they can squeeze threw anything.
DOE!!:wall: i ment very SMALL airholes........ahh that's better
 
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