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posted by chromas on Monday July 22 2019, @01:11PM   Printer-friendly
from the fight-disease-don't-share-leeches dept.

Humans will make pets of nearly anything. Unbeknownst to most of us, giant leeches are kept not just by hospitals, but also by loving pet owners who care for and feed them.

"They're amazing, curious creatures that grow like crazy and make wonderful pets," leech keeper Ariane Khomjani told ScienceAlert.

He explained how individual leeches have their own unique personalities, with some being more adventurous and others more shy.

"Some like to try and sneak a feed more often than others, haha! But once they're full, they're content to sit and rest for a bit out of water if handled gently," he said.

Giant leeches of the variaty Ariane keeps (the massive Hirudinaria manillensis or 'buffulo' leech) need only be fed once a year, although it is recommended to feed them 2-3 times that often.

The UK has one commercial Leech farm, and the U.S. has several (complete with sales, coupons, and at-home kits), In addition to making wonderful pets, leeches have medical uses as well.

"Leeches are used post-operatively in patients who have had digit reattachment or muscle or flap surgery," nurse Julie Smolders from South Western Sydney Local Health District told ScienceAlert.

"The leeches are applied to the site and suck away the congested blood to allow for blood flow to the peripheries to keep the surgical site viable."

Unfortunately for the leeches, which could be considered 'used needles that can walk', they are classified as 'single-use only' by the FDA and are promptly disposed of after they do their job and drop off. (Humans can be an ungrateful lot.)

If the idea of keeping one of these little Draculas intrigues you, but you've no interest of offering yourself up as a meal, there are various accounts online of pet leeches being fed raw liver or heated blood from the butcher.

Feeding this way potentially allows the little guys to Liv Moore places than if they had to feed exclusively on the living.


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  • (Score: 2) by VLM on Monday July 22 2019, @02:08PM (3 children)

    by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 22 2019, @02:08PM (#869950)

    Isn't this a 4chan meme like supporters of illegal invasion for the purposes of demographic replacement are supporters of leach keeping as a hobby?

    Yeah yeah I'm well aware the political arguments for and against the above portrayal but I'm not trying to discuss the root issue of virtue signalling support of invasion and racial genocide, simply trying to focus on the aspect of this topic, as a topic, being a 4chan op.

    I'm pretty sure "lets promote leachkeeping as a hobby" was a meme discussion on /pol/ or /b/ a couple months ago.

    Either its a mere coincidence (no jokes about parenthesis plz) or the 4chan meme is successfully spreading in the wild and now we're seeing it.

    Every time a /pol/ or /b/ meme hits mainstream and gets massive coverage, I LOL.

    I suspect in a couple weeks we're going to be inundated with propaganda from google news, facebook, twatter, washington post on the topic of how talking about hobby leach keeping is a problematic triggering symptom of white supremacy and my soggy knees and all the usual rot.

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  • (Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Monday July 22 2019, @10:04PM (2 children)

    by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us (6553) on Monday July 22 2019, @10:04PM (#870101) Journal

    How dare you criticize my little honeybun Toothy! You're Leechist!

    But seriously, A Mirror story from 2015 about someone who kept a leech. [mirror.co.uk] And A Wikihow [wikihow.com] I didn't click on but apparently from 2010? And fictionally don't forget Into the Wild Green Yonder [theinfosphere.org] of Futurama, either.

    I suppose you name it, someone has tried to make a pet of it no matter how odd the idea.

    Last time I looked there was also still some medical usages of leeches as well for some very specific applications. Wikipedia says epicondylitis and osteoarthritis, extremity vein diseases (varicose veins and thrombophlebitis), and microsurgery post-care. Dunno how common that is either.

    --
    This sig for rent.
    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by VLM on Tuesday July 23 2019, @01:23PM (1 child)

      by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday July 23 2019, @01:23PM (#870310)

      Well yeah I don't disagree with anything in your response, but I was aiming at the 4chan guys promoting rather than inventing the idea.