Leeches

[-MARWOLAETH-]

I found out that the worlds biggest supplier of medical leeches is just a few miles from me LoL

Do you think they'd be worth a go feeding them to my garter?

[Foxrun402]

Young Garter Snake Eating Live Leech (They battle it out) - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS_LmyF-muI)

Check the sound its a bit loud, But I did a little research, Not sure of the nutritional content a leech would have for a garter. but apparently people do use them for a food source.

[Steveo]

I know they make great bait for fishing. I would kill them before feeding to a garter just to make sure they don't bite.

[guidofatherof5]

I'd investigate what species they are first.

[d_virginiana]

I really don't know, but I personally wouldn't. They produce enzymes that are serious anticoagulants. I imagine that could cause problems if a snake had a pre-existing problem (like some sort of stomach ulcer or something) that you didn't know about. Or maybe I'm just being paranoid, idk.

[-MARWOLAETH-]

They're the European medical leech (Hiduro medicinalis)

[Foxrun402]

Well like I said there are plenty of "other" sources out there that say they will and can eat leeches...

Wiki:
Garter snakes, like all snakes, are carnivorous. Their diets consist of almost any creature they are capable of overpowering: slugs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slug), earthworms (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthworm), leeches (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leech), lizards (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizard),amphibians (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphibian), ants (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant), frog (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frog) eggs, toads (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toads), and rodents (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodent). When living near water, they will eat other aquatic animals. The ribbon snake (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribbon_snake) (Thamnophis sauritus) in particular favors frogs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frog) (including tadpoles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadpole)), readily eating them despite their strong chemical defenses. Food is swallowed whole. Garter snakes often adapt to eating whatever they can find, and whenever, because food can be scarce or abundant. Although they feed mostly upon live animals (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal), they will sometimes eat eggs.

Then again I feel it more comes down to what you feel comfortable with and just doing some research on the species of leech around you and the parasites they might carry... Fish have a heavy parasite load and they swim around all over the place in sometimes cleaner waters then where leeches dwell, If they are used medicinally they might not have many parasites, but it also cannot ensure they are 100% free of them.

[guidofatherof5]

Hirudo medicinalis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirudo_medicinalis)

[-MARWOLAETH-]

They're only about 13Km away so I'll go ask them about parasites and how to breed them ect

[Selkielass]

Medical leeches are expensive, and they are a different species than bait leeches.
Medical leeches are active hunters who look to blood.
The leeches gathered for bait are scavengers that eat insect larvae and anything dead that falls to the bottom of the pond.

Bait leeches are caught by placing kidneys in a folded sheet metal envelope that is dropped into the pond in the evening, and picked up the next morning. They are sorted by size, large ones are sold, small ones are sometimes fattened up in man made ponds where they are fed scrap meat. It is a seasonal business and even farm fattened leeches are born and caught in the wild.

T.Butlerii love leeches. No, they LOVE leeches, but I haven't found a satisfactorily clean source- wild leeches cary quite a few microscopic parasites and diseases.

[Foxrun402]

Right, I'm sure they are often devoured in the wild too, but who really knows how healthy it can be. I would be really concerned for my snakes health when considering other food sources. Probably why you asked about them to begin with, and I admire that. It has really gotten me curious about them as well but I don't have but a few bait shops around here that sell them and they seemed weird-ed out when I asked them where they got them from, how big they where, and if anyone else had been purchasing them for snake food? (that sparked a whole conversation with the bait shop Wolfe Tackle who then made me upset saying they've caught fish on baby snakes! ugh!)

So my attempt to learn something new today only gave me a dormant nightmare waiting to happen. He also said no one had been buying them for snake food. sorry :(

[guidofatherof5]

I would also be interested in the cost of these creatures.
Might be since they are used in the field of medicine they are really expensive.;)

[Foxrun402]

Seems they can be ordered online in mass quantity...


Leeches - HIRUDO MEDICINALIS - $8 each
Shipping rates - $25 (flat-rate) for all USA customers, for any amount of leeches.

Expensive meal there... Yikes...

[chris-uk]

Eight dollars a leech, a few cents for a nightcrawler... I'd stick with the worms if I were you Steve. :)

[-MARWOLAETH-]

They sell some of their leeches as carp bait. As the Leech here is a protected species they've probably been raised the same way as the medical leeches.