#pet worm

[dragonheadskilax]

random leech things I love:

when their dot eyes dilate

their suction is done by voluntary action so even if you stuck your finger onto the sucker it wouldn’t stick

when they wrap and hold onto a small thing with their sucker like a hand

sucking in their face to sleep since they don’t got eyelids

my leech accidentally made a balloon with a bubbler air bubble and a skin shed

[diavolophone]

mob is here to show us his dimple worm, everybody! credit: @kit-katsuki edited out the vase ! (their instagram is @reigenfuckers_supreme and theyre all really cool :D look at their account or ill vore ur feet >:(  )

[unbreakable-red-riot]

i cant believe u stole a worm. that’s amazing

IM A CRIMINAL

[achingtentacles]

[dragonheadskilax]

Transcript: Leading up to the event, we’re running a “Leech Beauty Pageant!” Cast your votes now and find out which leech comes out on top at the talk. (Closeup photo of a lil blob of a leech) Photo by Evi Numen, courtesy of the Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

[dragonheadskilax]

leech toy unboxing. The anatomy of its shape is a lil funky but its cute and sticky

[dragonheadskilax]

Hey do you have any advice, or resources on hand for keeping leeches as pets? I have a lil predatory leech that came in with some black worms and I want to keep it, but all the resources I'm finding are short-term, like for keeping bait. Any tips? Your critters are adorable, and thank you

For non-bloodfeeding leeches the most knowledge I have for their care is from what other keepers post about them. Or the occasional scientific articles I’ve read in the past. Some people keep them in an aquarium set up and feed them a diet of fish food, an earthworm, blood worms (<— a common live food usually grown for fishes). Ribbon worms (Erpobdella obscura is a predator/scavenger) and are a common one to keep since, as you’ve mentioned, are regarded as a fish bait.

Unlike many leeches which are blood-suckers, E. punctata is a predator and scavenger. Among the invertebrates it eats are copepods, midges, earthworms and amphipods. This leech has been observed adhering to a salamander, thus being transported to a new location as well as benefiting from any food scraps discarded by the salamander. (x)

The success of the 2004 survey is attributed to selecting sites with abundant rocks and logs and vegetative growth which looked “good” for leech collecting. Five species were common to both surveys, with Alboglossiphonia and Theromyzon found in one of the surveys. (x)

The bait leech, Nephelopsis obscura, followed a 24-month life cycle in two natural ponds of northwestern Minnesota, Priem's Pond and Early's Pond. (x)

I’d recommend a freshwater (I’m assuming your worms are from a freshwater source) aquarium set up and keeping temperatures around 60 degrees F, like shown in these videos:

Colony of Haemopis sanguisuga, one having a buffet of blood worms - (X). I definitely recommend that instagram on about learning the care of many leech species

Someone’s pet ribbon leech tank - (X)

Thank you on the critter comment! And asking the question, since I’m always happy to share info out there on leech keeping facts that are otherwise not easy to find. I think leeches are the cutest things 🥺 it’s such a funny thing to have an animal regarded as horror and creepy when they’re in actuality timid, curious, simple, cute. All my leech does all day is sleep, yawn, hide if there’s vibrations or a shadow pass by, and wiggle.

[unbreakable-red-riot]

1. Whomo 2. Warm 3. Woody 4. West 5. Who

Oh, worm?