Breeding leeches. Breeding leeches as a business
Medical leeches are a very unique remedy. Its therapeutic effect arises as a result of the subtle, coordinated and rapid work of a whole complex of organs of this complex animal. And that's why it's important proper care for leeches so that they can provide assistance and so that there are enough of them for everyday use in medical institutions and in every family where there are patients who need them.
To preserve leeches, it is important that the artificially created conditions of their life correspond as closely as possible to the natural ones. Leeches can be kept indoors - in small containers - or in swamps, ponds and artificial planters in biological factories, where they are delivered for reproduction, caught in swamps, but better - living in fast and flowing waters. From the very beginning, the success of keeping leeches indoors depends on the containers used to store them. Various types of it are possible: glass (large and small jars), clay (jars, pots, large and small jugs). In the last century, even wooden utensils were used.
Judging by such a variety of containers for keeping leeches, the methods of keeping and storing them for medicinal purposes must also be different. But now it’s set out this way (judging by the available literature on hirudology), as the proverb says: “What’s a city, what’s bad, what’s a village, what’s a belief.” So we decided to bring everything to a common denominator. Doctors and all people who use leeches must clearly know and follow all the rules for the benefit of humans and the animals themselves that bring it. Keeping leeches for medical use does not present any particular difficulties; all you need is conscientious care and cleanliness.
You cannot put more than fifty animals in small containers (a three-liter glass jar), half filled with water, and no more than ten in a liter jar. The most important rule for protecting leeches from diseases is to keep them well, and if a leech gets sick, separate it from healthy ones, because one sick person can infect all the leeches in the jar. Young and lively leeches of medium size should be allowed into one jar, and those that move sluggishly and slowly curl into a ball should be kept in a separate jar until they recover. Leeches, placed in large numbers in one vessel, produce a lot of feces in the first days, turning the water green, which is a sign of their healthy condition. The container where leeches are stored should be half or 2/3 filled with settled (for 24 hours) ordinary water (of course, it would be better to use river, lake or rain water), but in no case boiled water, not spring water or well water - such the water contains calcareous particles, from which the leeches become restless, and then frantically rush at each other, injure one another, and, bleeding, die. IN optimal option Each leech should have from 40 to 120 cubic centimeters of water.
The guarantor of the health and constant activity of leeches is their neat and clean maintenance. The water should be changed regularly, and the new water should not be lower than the temperature in which the leeches were the day before; in winter this is done every seven days, in summer - twice a week, and in extreme heat every day and always when the water turns green, mucus with brown spots appears, floating from the skin of the leech. Changing water is always alarming for them, especially touching animals with their hands.
An ideal, but labor-intensive method is to remove old water from a container with a sponge or, together with the water, the leeches can be carefully poured into a colander (those attached to the wall can be left in the jar) and with the settled water you can easily wash the body of mucus, which, by closing the respiratory openings, leads to either to disease of leeches, or to their death. You can also carefully transfer the leeches with a wooden spoon from an old container to a new one with clean water, where it is advisable to have a little thoroughly washed sand, and to maintain the water for a long time in a fresh state and to prevent its spoilage - a small amount of well-calcined charcoal or animal charcoal (in this case, in the same water, without rotting, you can store a small number of leeches, about twelve, for a whole year). Thanks to sand and coal, leeches have the ability to wipe off mucus from themselves, which is impossible in clean water. Some plants introduced into the container also have the same properties: water trefoil (Trifolium fibrinum), several stems of marsh horsetail (Equisetum polustre) tied in bunches, containing an abundance of siliceous compounds (in addition, leeches rub against hard stems and cleanse their skin well of mucus), water copra (Myriophyllum verticillatum), water cabbage (Potamogeton natans), floating duckweed (Lem-na natans), etc.
A big mistake is adding sugar, honey, molasses and other similar substances, as well as blood, to the water where leeches are stored, supposedly for better nutrition of animals, preventing their diseases and reducing mortality. It’s the other way around: instead of benefit, it causes harm, because it leads to rotting of the water, especially in the summer, and kills the leeches. If dead animals are found in the jar, they should be removed immediately so that they do not spoil the water or infect healthy ones. Sick leeches are recognized by the fact that they lie stretched out at the bottom of the vessel and brownish mucus with white grains is visible near them. When you pick them up with your fingers, they tighten very little.
The jar should be rinsed well and under no circumstances should synthetic chemicals be used to wash it. The neck of the can must be covered with a layer of canvas and pressed, leveling, with an elastic band or connected by a rubber tube. You can cover it with a plastic cover, after piercing it with scissors in many places, mainly in the center, to allow air to enter, otherwise the leeches will suffocate. You can’t tie a jar with gauze - they will gnaw through it and crawl apart. The container should be kept in a cool room, where, if possible, the temperature is maintained within 12 °C and not lower than 3 °C, at which point they are in danger of freezing. Leeches can more easily tolerate a slow transition from heat to cold and back, rather than a quick, sudden heat, and can withstand even 38 °C heat and 6 °C cold. It is noteworthy that young leeches tolerate elevated temperature better than the old ones, which are not so sensitive to cold. In the hot summer season, the container must be stored in a cool place, taken out into the fresh air in the garden, and in winter - kept in a warm room.
The air in the room should be clean, especially in winter, and free of any odors or tobacco smoke. There should be no noise, because even the slightest sound can alarm the leeches and lead to their revival and slow contractions of the body; when repeated frequently, noises have a very adverse effect on hungry animals and contribute to their exhaustion.
To protect leeches from strong light, it is better to darken the room or cover the jar with a light dark canvas, periodically removed, or you can paint the lower part of it with black paint.
Blood-fed leeches should never be introduced into a container where fresh leeches are stored, nor should they be combined with those that have been cleared of blood.
Feeding leeches
Leeches feed on liquid food, and there is no doubt that more than just the blood of animals should serve as food for them. The embryos in the cocoons feed on the mucous membranes in them. organic substances, cubs and young leeches - mucus of aquatic plants, ciliates, larvae of aquatic insects, small mollusks, worms. Adult leeches are a completely different matter. They feed on blood, being gifted with the ability to bite through human skin with their teeth in all places of the body, and even more so the mucous membrane, as well as the hard integument of all kinds of animals. Leeches are so voracious that they can suck blood even when their stomach still contains a lot of undigested blood. Hungry leeches lose a lot of weight and become skinny.
As numerous observations have proven, adult leeches mostly reject other types of food. However, nature has adapted them to the possibility of waiting a long time for suitable food. Being in clean water, they lose more than a quarter of their mass in a year of life. But they can’t go their whole lives without food! And therefore, leeches are content with at least a little: nutrients, more or less contained in fresh water. Hungry, they pounce with incredible greed on the first object they come across in the water, hoping to profit from at least something, even rotten carrion (they also attach themselves to corpses, but soon fall away from them) or cling to well-fed leeches with full stomach pouches ( especially if the well-fed and hungry are in the same bowl).
And this is despite the fact that the blood sucked by the leech in its body changes and takes on a special nasty smell that repels even hungry leeches. The blood squeezed out of the sucked leeches immediately can be absorbed again and harmlessly by others. Moreover, completely hungry leeches are forced to attack their own kind, and the weak become victims of the strong, and the saturated ones become victims of the hungry. Cannibalism is inherent in leeches, especially horse leeches. Being hungry or insufficiently pumped, they attack larger animals that have had a good drink of blood, sucking it out from them, until the latter die.
The medicinal leech can suck the blood of representatives of all classes of vertebrates; it attacks cattle, horses coming to water, and people. By sucking a significant portion of the blood of their victims, in many cases they can cause their death. Therefore, leeches are predators. At the beginning of the century, there were reports that nine hungry bloodsuckers were enough to bite a horse to death (this may be an exaggeration). Fish and frogs are a secondary or, perhaps, necessary source of food for them, and reptiles play a very insignificant role.
Wise nature, appeasing leech gluttony, gave her wide spare stomach sacs as reservoirs, which, when filled under favorable circumstances, she lives in peace. A well-fed leech with unsqueezed blood requires at least six months to digest it. Of all leeches, the duration of the fasting period without causing death is the longest for the medicinal leech. It attracts the attention of researchers with a number of interesting features in metabolism, namely, the ability to tolerate long time hunger (from 1 year to 3 years) and digest food very slowly.
The number of times the blood taken can exceed three times the weight of its body also because the leech is able to suck blood even when its stomach still contains a lot of undigested blood, and it can even die from gluttony if it does not regurgitate. Blood is digested relatively slowly, which is associated with the presence of enzymes themselves that break down native protein in the stomach, partially in the intestines, as well as with a substance that has an inhibitory effect on them. But when the blood reserves in the intestines are already exhausted, the ability to continue to live for a long time without food is explained by the strong development of the connective tissues of the body of the leech, rich in reserve substances synthesized from the substances of the blood they suck. In general, this depends on the age and health of the leech, the degree of saturation with blood , time of year, etc. In addition, starving leeches grow slowly, and therefore they need to be fed in artificial reserves.
Breeding leeches at home
Various cases of growing leeches in artificial conditions have clearly shown (and this is important to consider when breeding them):
- the ability of leeches to go without food for many months, but at the same time their “long fast” after eating is not at all a necessity for them;
- even with frequent feedings, they greedily absorb large quantities of blood at one time;
- It is with frequent feedings of blood without restriction that leeches quickly reach a large mass;
- with this diet medical leeches not only do they not die, but also show all the signs of completely healthy animals
The sexual characteristics of leeches are very remarkable: they are bisexual, bisexual (hermaphrodites), and have organs of both sexes - male and female. The genital organs are significantly developed, very complex, located on the abdominal surface of the animal, along the midline of the body, closer to its anterior end. They are close to each other male organ(stem with foreskin, scrotum and testicles) is located in front of the female (uterine sleeve, uterus with oviduct and ovaries). A leech does not fertilize itself, but copulates with another leech, sometimes with two, thus fertilizing its partner and at the same time being fertilized by it.
Copulation can last from 15 to 18 hours. The period of sexual arousal (in the third year of life, and under artificial conditions leeches are capable of childbearing at about 22 months of age) is spring, summer, but it can be the end of autumn and even much later. Fruiting lasts from 30 to 40 days, after which eggs emerge from the uterus, wrapped in a thick layer of mucous substance, which soon hardens, turning into a cocoon similar to the cocoon of a silkworm. Inside its cavity there is water and from 15 to 30 eggs. Leeches bury cocoons in the ground, in the banks of their habitat, in conical depressions or between stones.
After 40 days, under favorable circumstances, especially in sunny weather, leech cubs hatch from the eggs; they crawl out of the cocoon through a small hole on its cone. The cub is so small that it is noticeable only when it moves, but it immediately reveals a greed for food. It is white in color and only after a few months it becomes faintly colored from the tail to the head and differs in color from the adult leech. The cubs grow slowly (especially the first two years), from five to eight years, and can live for twenty years. Under natural conditions, a leech reaches the size necessary for treatment no earlier than five years and is suitable for medical use from the age of three to four.
Under artificial conditions, a leech can be grown to a mass suitable for use in medicine (1.5 - 2 grams) within 12 - 15 months to 3 years. They live on average 3 - 4 years, rarely - up to eight years or more.
Five pairs of eyes, three jaws and two hundred and seventy teeth... A predator weighing from one gram and about twelve centimeters long, feeds on blood and replaces medicine... The medical leech is the most common species for breeding out of the five hundred existing in nature. And the only one useful for humans. Only a few farms breed medicinal leeches. However, at home you can also achieve the reproduction of these worms.
Natural healers
During hirudotherapy, leeches adhere to the body and suck blood. But the therapeutic effect does not lie in this process at all. What matters is not what leeches suck, but what they give. Hirudin is a unique enzyme that is contained in the saliva secretion of a medicinal leech. Through bites, this substance enters the human body, providing healing properties. In general, the leech produces sixty-four types of amino acids and forty types of enzymes that are beneficial to humans.
Experts managed to remove hirudin artificially, but it only works for three days, while the natural one is effective for three months. Hirudin and other enzymes of leeches have anti-inflammatory, analgesic, immunostimulating effects, and also normalize lipid metabolism in the human body.
Hirudotherapy is used to treat diseases of the endocrine and digestive systems, gynecological ailments, diseases of the joints and respiratory organs.
Leeches are a natural medicine without side effect. Their size does not matter; all individuals are useful and safe. Doctors usually prescribe nine sessions of hirudotherapy every six months. The interval between sessions should be three to four days.
Having sucked, the leech increases in size up to ten times. An individual weighing from one to three grams can suck about fifteen milliliters of blood.
Breeding leeches on special farms
In Russia there are hardly a dozen centers for growing medicinal leeches that operate legally. Their capabilities do not cover even 50% of the demand of hirudotherapists. A large farm for breeding leeches operates, for example, in the Moscow region. There is a large biofactory in the Saratov region.
Breeding of natural healers is carried out under the supervision of specialists - “leech breeders”. They monitor the process, create comfortable conditions for breeding and growth of offspring.
On farms, leeches live in ordinary three-liter glass jars of 200-300 pieces. The vessels are stored in rooms protected from sunlight and any odors. Medicinal leeches cannot tolerate aromas either during growth or during treatment.
Some individuals go to breeding stock. Leeches are hermaphrodites, in even numbers up to 16-18 they are placed in jars for reproduction. After fertilization, light rings appear on the body of leeches. After two weeks, the queens are placed in peat. Here they release their foam, forming a cocoon that will take about three months to mature.
The largest individuals are selected for reproduction. They are raised for almost two years and fattened to a weight that is five times the weight of a normal commercial specimen.
When the babies crawl out of the cocoon, they are fed for about five months. Then - three months of hunger strike, so that the individuals are ready to perform their medicinal function for sale.
In general, breeding medicinal leeches is an artificial cultivation, which sometimes requires introducing brethren from the wild. Because with each generation, farm leeches become weaker and smaller.
Before leeches are shipped to orders, they undergo a medical examination and activity test. A leech is considered good if it is ready to attach itself.
Business on leeches
Breeding medicinal leeches as a business - good option to generate income without major investments. You must register as an individual entrepreneur or legal entity. But the process of obtaining the necessary license from the Federal Service for Surveillance in Healthcare will bring more trouble. Leech is equivalent to medicine, therefore its cultivation requires the support of special documents.
A starting batch of leeches can be ordered from specialized farms. The selling price is usually from thirty rubles per individual.
If, when planning a business, you decide to save money and catch leeches in a pond, then most likely you will spend more than you receive income. Water leeches are not suitable for hirudotherapy.
Large organic farms can raise seven to eight million leeches per year.
Conditions for growing leeches
In the private business of growing leeches, the same conditions must be provided as on farms. For each stage of development of the individual you will need separate containers:
- Cocoon maturation in boxes with peat.
- Growing fry in glass jars or plastic containers.
- Aquariums, jars or containers for holding adult worms.
It is important to monitor the water in the vessels where the leeches are placed. In order not to miss the moment of contamination or mucus formation, it is better to use aquariums or glass jars. Some grow individuals in food-grade plastic buckets. Also an acceptable option, but transparent glass vessels are preferable. Jars or buckets should be covered with a piece of cloth or a perforated lid.
Without maintaining a certain state of water and microclimate in the room, leeches may die. Air humidity should be at least eighty to eighty-five percent, water and air temperature - twenty-four to twenty-seven degrees.
The water in any containers where leeches live must be changed at least twice a week. Aerobic filters will be required to circulate the water.
You need to feed leeches once a month. They feed on bovine blood.
Leech nutrition
The only suitable food for leeches during the rearing process is bovine blood. You can get it at meat processing plants, but watch the quality of the feed. The blood must be from a healthy animal.
Where to promote the product
Considering the medicinal properties of medicinal leeches, it can be assumed that they are in demand in medical institutions and among private hirudotherapists, as well as in pharmacies. This category of consumers should be focused on.
Transportation Features
To ensure that the leeches are delivered to the customer intact and in full readiness to treat, prepare the conditions for them. It is recommended to transport a batch of leeches in a glass container filled two-thirds with water. Only distilled water should be used.
During transportation, it is necessary to ensure a comfortable temperature and protect containers from sunlight and odors.
How to deliver leeches to the customer
If the distance to the customer is no more than one hundred kilometers, then leeches can be delivered in plastic containers covered with a perforated lid. For each three-liter container - two hundred leeches.
If the distance is more than a hundred kilometers, then it is more convenient to use fabric bags. To make them, it is better to use calico; the size of one bag is thirty by twenty centimeters. The bag can accommodate up to three hundred leeches.
The bag should be damp. You can tie it with a regular rubber band and wrap it in wrapping paper. It is better to transport bags in cardboard boxes. In such conditions, leeches will survive a two-day journey.
Keep in mind that leeches are very sensitive to changes in microclimate. At the slightest deviation from the conditions of detention or transportation, they may die.
No special machinery or equipment is used in the process of raising individuals. All transplanting and catching work must be done manually.
Breeding at home
Breeding leeches at home may seem labor-intensive for beginners. However, if you strictly follow the recommendations, then caring for pets will no longer be troublesome.
After delivery, place the leeches in a food-grade plastic container half filled with water. The water can be tap water, but allowed to stand for about two days so that the chlorine is removed. Typically, leeches tolerate transportation well if it is organized correctly. But sometimes there may be a sick individual in the batch. Recognizing it is quite simple: a non-viable leech will be almost motionless in the center of the container.
Once you are sure that only medicinal leeches remain, transfer them to a jar of water. Cover the container with a napkin. Work only with clean rubber gloves. Active leeches will contract in the muscles if you lightly squeeze the specimens in your palm.
What to feed leeches at home
Nothing. The only good thing will be from hungry leeches. They can live on a hunger strike for six to twelve months. During this time, they are usually already used in therapy. Therefore, do not worry about the nutrition of worms, and do not listen to ridiculous advice about the need to sweeten the leeches’ habitat with sugar. They don't grow thin.
But it’s worth monitoring the microclimate in the room. Room temperature should be maintained; jars of leeches are best stored in a shady room. The water must be changed every three to five days, well filtered and sufficiently oxygenated. Do not be alarmed if the water becomes cloudy - this is the result of the release of waste products from leeches.
Breeding leeches at home as a business
Medical leeches come in small, medium and large sizes. Breeding leeches at home begins with ordering large individuals that can bear offspring. As soon as you receive a delivery with a batch of leeches, feed them. Then place the individuals in the jars in pairs, with no more than 18 worms per jar. After a month, light rings should appear on the leeches - a sign of fertilization. Soon they need to be moved to peat.
In peat, leeches lay a cocoon in which from fifteen to twenty fry mature. From one hundred queen leeches you can get one thousand to two thousand individuals.
If you do not intend to grow leeches for sale, but want to use them for your treatment, then it would be correct to consult a doctor before starting therapy.
Today we will see a report from a leech farm. You will learn how leeches live in captivity, what they eat, and how they reproduce. For the first time, we were able to capture unique footage of the birth of a leech in natural conditions and in captivity.
Five pairs of eyes intensely watched the water column, all senses aimed at finding the victim. For more than three weeks now, in search of food, they have had to move from one corner of the reservoir to another. Even repeated forays onto land did not bring the desired result. Sad thoughts overwhelmed the vampire. Blood and only blood... “Okay, you can hold out for another three months, but if luck doesn’t smile, you’ll have to emigrate to a nearby body of water; they say that cattle come there to drink...” Somewhere there was a splash, another, a third - the steel muscles tensed.
The vampire identified the source of the vibrations and, with smooth wave-like movements, directed his body towards the victim. Here she is! Light, warm body, and so little fur, just not to miss. The vampire straightened his huge mouth, exposed three terrible jaws with sharp teeth and bit into the victim... A heartbreaking cry filled the water surface of the reservoir.
01.
02. Today we will tell you about the International Center for Medical Leeches, created on the basis of the Medpiyavka association formed in 1937, which was engaged in keeping leeches in artificial ponds in the dacha village of Udelnaya (Moscow region). 
03. At 2500 sq. m. there are production facilities for growing more than 3,500,000 medicinal leeches and producing cosmetic products. 
04. In total, science knows 400 species of leeches, which look approximately the same and differ mainly in color. Leeches are black, greenish or brownish. The Russian name for these nimble worms indicates their ability to “bite” into the victim’s body and suck out blood. 
05. Leeches live in three-liter jars. They couldn’t come up with anything better as a house for them. The leechkeeper must ensure that the vessel with leeches is constantly covered with a thick white cloth, which is tied tightly. 
06. Leeches are unusually mobile and often tend to crawl out of the water. Therefore, they are able to easily leave the container in which they are stored. Escapes occur periodically. 
07. A leech has 10 eyes, but the leech does not perceive a complete image. Despite the seeming primitiveness of the sensory perception of leeches, they are excellent at orienting themselves in space. Their sense of smell, taste and touch are unusually developed, which contributes to their success in finding prey. First of all, leeches respond well to odors emanating from objects immersed in water. Leeches cannot tolerate foul-smelling water. 
08. Slow, devoid of sharpness movements allow you to see the entire body of the leech. On the back, against a dark background, bright orange inclusions form a bizarre pattern in the form of two stripes. On the sides there is black edging. The abdomen is delicate, light olive in color with a black edging. The body of an ordinary medicinal leech consists of 102 rings. On the dorsal side the rings are covered with many small papillae. On the ventral side there are much fewer papillae and they are less noticeable. 
09. But behind the harmless external beauty of the leech lies its secret weapon - the front sucker, outwardly invisible. The large, intimidating rear sucker does not cause any physical damage, but in the depths of the front jaws are hidden, geometrically located according to the sign of the prestigious company of the automotive world - Mercedes. There are up to 90 teeth in each jaw, for a total of 270. This is deceit. 
10. The record for the maximum size of a leech grown in this center is 35 centimeters in length. The leech in the photo still has everything ahead. 
11. A leech bit - like a nettle stung. The bite of the same horsefly or ant is much more painful. Leech saliva contains painkillers (analgesics). The leech feeds exclusively on blood. Hematophage, that is, a vampire. 
12. The epidermal layer of the leech is covered with a special film - cuticle. The cuticle is transparent, it performs a protective function and continuously grows, periodically being renewed during the molting process. Normally, leeches moult every 2-3 days. 
13. Discarded films resemble white flakes or small white covers. They clog the bottom of the vessels for storing used leeches, and therefore must be removed regularly, and the water is also periodically colored from digestion products. The water is changed twice a week. 
14. The water is specially prepared: it sits for at least a day, and is purified from harmful impurities and heavy metals. After cleaning and passing control, the water is heated to the required temperature and enters the common network for leeches. 
15.
16. Leeches poop up to several times a day, so the water in the vessel where used leeches are stored periodically becomes colored. Clogging of water that occurs from time to time does not cause any harm to leeches if the water is regularly changed. 
17. The most important condition for the rapid cultivation of full-fledged medicinal leeches is their regular feeding with fresh blood, which is purchased from slaughterhouses. 
18. Large clots formed during coagulation of blood mass are used. To fully feed leeches, only the blood of healthy animals, mainly large and small livestock, is taken. The clots are placed at the bottom of special vessels, into which the leeches are then released. 
19. To make it pleasant for leeches to eat, a film is laid on them, which they, out of habit, bite through and suck blood. 
20. During growth, the leech feeds every one and a half to two months. 
21. After the leeches have grown and fasted for at least three months, they are collected in series and sent for certification, and then they go on sale or are used in the production of cosmetics. The Center has an accredited laboratory of the quality control department. 
22. During one feeding, a leech sucks five times its weight, after which it may not eat for three to four months, or a maximum of a year. After eating, the leech looks like a solid muscle sac filled with blood. In her digestive tract There are special substances that protect blood from putrefaction, which preserve it in such a way that the blood always remains complete and is stored for a long time. 
23. A leech usually eats its fill in 15-20 minutes. A sign that the leech is full is the appearance of foam. 
24. Well-fed leeches are trying to escape from the “dining room”. 
25. Yum-yum! 
26. After feeding, the leeches are washed. 
27. And put it back in the jar. 
29. And the dishes are washed. 
30. 
31. Leeches communicate with each other extremely rarely, only during the mating period. And then, most likely, out of necessity, so as not to die out. Suitable for reproduction, that is, carefully fed and reaching a given size, leeches are called queens. 
32. They are placed in pairs in jars filled with water and stored in special rooms where the optimal environmental temperature is maintained to maintain the activity of leeches and their reproductive abilities. Copulation and laying of cocoons with eggs occur in leeches at an environmental temperature of 25 to 27 °C. And although each individual carries within itself both the male and female principles (hermaphrodites), it cannot satisfy itself in this intimate matter and is looking for a partner. 
33. The mating season, during which mating occurs, takes about 1 month, after which the leeches are placed in queen cells - three-liter jars. Moist peat soil is placed at the bottom of the queen cell, providing a favorable environment for medicinal leeches and their cocoons. On top of the peat are soft moss turfs that regulate soil moisture. The queens move freely on the moss, in which they feel comfortable, and gradually burrow into the peat. 
34. Leeches practice different positions in which copulation occurs. There are 2 main positions that have a biological meaning. First position: the anterior ends of the bodies of copulating leeches are directed in one direction. The second main position: the ends of the bodies are oppositely directed, that is, they look in different directions. 
35. The peat is thoroughly washed so that the leeches are damp and comfortable. 
36.
37. You can identify a pregnant leech by the light rings and place it in a jar of peat. 
38. Breaking a shallow hole in the soil, the leech lays a cocoon in it, from which filaments are subsequently hatched - this is what the leech breeders of small young leeches are called. Their mass reaches 0.03 g at most, and their body length is 7-8 mm. The filaments are fed in the same way as adults. 
39. Each mother leech lays an average of 3-5 cocoons, each of which contains 10-15 fry. 
40. After a while, the cocoons become like soft foam balls. 
41. In the light you can see that the fry are sitting inside the cocoon. 
42. And here are unique shots of the birth. The leech leaves the cocoon through a hole in the end. 
43.
44. The first minutes of life of a small leech. 
45. And this is how they are born in the conditions of the center. The cocoons are simply torn apart. 
47. As shown laboratory tests, average duration The life of a leech is 6 years. Scientists do not know for certain how long wild individuals live, although it is possible that leeches have their own long-livers. 
Taken from varlamov.ru in Leeches - Life.
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Leeches, which can be bred at home, are used exclusively in...
Not everyone knows that several leeches can cure you of various diseases, for example, varicose veins and hemorrhoids; if a person has some kind of wound on his body, then by applying a leech to it, he will immediately forget about his wound and pain.
Leeches live both in aquatic environments and on land, but most often they can be found in water. They mainly live in lakes and rivers where there are reeds and frogs. There are cases when they move to another lake many kilometers away. In order to move on the ground, leeches use suction cups. They swim in water and make wave movements. All leeches have the ability to sense humidity and temperature.
Medical leeches feed exclusively on animal blood, using fish and frogs. A hungry leech can suck out 20 ml. blood, but only at one time, after she drinks the blood, it immediately increases 6-7 times.
Breeding leeches at home
A medicinal leech lives for a maximum of 3 years, but only if it is regularly fed and cared for. They breed only once a year, starting in June and ending in August. Their reproduction occurs on land, the leeches stick together and begin the process itself.
After fertilization, the leech looks for a place for itself, mainly on the shore of a lake or river, and sets up a cocoon. The leech develops 5-6 cocoons. After the leeches hatch, they readily find food for themselves, most often frogs, and drink blood from them, since they are not yet able to bite through the skin of other inhabitants of water bodies.
When you breed leeches at home, you must adhere to the rules and all norms of their residence. Basically, they are kept in three-liter jars, thirty pieces each; after the water becomes dirty, it needs to be changed.
How to be treated with leeches
Leeches attach themselves in different ways characteristic features. Before they suck, they carefully choose a place; most often they stick to places where there is some kind of disease or there is a wound. They should suck the blood for no more than twenty minutes; to detach the leech from your body, use alcohol or iodine. Alcohol is very effective on them.
If you think that leeches can transmit any disease to you through your blood, then you are deeply mistaken. There is no danger in this; medicinal leeches cannot transmit any infection.
Medicine and cosmetology have been widely used for quite some time. traditional methods. As for medicine, great importance is given to the ancient method - treatment with leeches.
There is also such a science as hirudotherapy. The direction of this science is the study of the medicinal properties of leeches. In a number of states (it was no exception Russian Federation) treatment with leeches has received official recognition. It is for this reason that breeding leeches at home began to be implemented by ordinary citizens, whose goal is their own business, which brings in a good income. Such farms are recognized as pharmaceutical production. Breeding leeches as a business is also reflected at the legislative level. However, to create your own business for breeding leeches, you must obtain a license from Roszdravnadzor, which is associated with some difficulties.
Let's take a closer look at this area of business. As mentioned above, there are some difficulties in this area of activity, but in turn this business is very profitable and will gain great prospects over time. At the moment there are not many farms engaged in breeding leeches. For example, in Russia there are less than a dozen of them. They began their activity in breeding leeches more than ten years ago. At that time, obtaining a license for this type of activity did not cause any particular difficulties. Speaking about informal leech farms, no one can name their exact number, but they exist and are very productive.
The process of growing leeches does not cause any particular difficulties, even at home. It is much more difficult to follow all the requirements and instructions. Regularly, the standards and requirements for breeding leeches are becoming more stringent. For leech farms, as for any enterprise that produces medicines, increased requirements and regulations are imposed, compliance sanitary standards. The difference between them lies only in the premises and equipment used.
So, in order to grow leeches you will need several special premises. These rooms must maintain a certain temperature, approximately plus 25-27 degrees, and a humidity of about 80 percent. Each room is designed for different stages of leech growth. For them, you can use aquariums or ordinary 3-liter jars as housing. The water for their homes must be purified by passing through special purification filters.
Feeding leeches
Regardless of the size of the leech farm (small or large), cocoons and fry are planted manually. Bovine blood is used as feed. It can be easily purchased at any meat processing plant. Only on fairly large farms can feeding problems arise. Sometimes you will need to travel to another city or regional center.
The premises were prepared and the necessary equipment was purchased. Now the question arises about purchasing the first leeches for your farm. Many people mistakenly believe that it is enough to find a body of clean water where there are leeches and take several individuals from there. These leeches are common and not suitable for medical purposes.
In addition, when using such leeches, there is a huge probability of introducing an infection into a person’s blood, which will have a detrimental effect not only on the patient’s health, but also on the reputation of your leech farm. Therefore, leeches for your farm must be purchased from leech farms. Under no circumstances should you buy leeches from private sellers who do not have a license. There is a possibility that you will buy wild leeches rather than medicinal ones.
Sales of leeches
Despite the fact that leeches are increasingly being used in medicine every year, it is quite problematic for a novice businessman to find a channel for their distribution. It is best to start breeding leeches with a small amount. Small volumes are always easier to implement. One of the points for receiving leeches is pharmacies in your city. The cost of leeches in pharmacies is almost twice their wholesale price. But pharmacies will not be able to accept large volumes.
This distribution channel is not suitable for large farms. The solution here would be to sell leeches to large medical center or a private clinic, hirudologist specialists (such people live not only in your country, but also in the CIS, in Europe), who will be able to purchase leeches in large quantities. In Russia, for example, one leech costs almost ten times less than in European countries.
In Russia, on average, one leech costs about 30 rubles, while in Europe the cost can reach 300 rubles (equivalent). Thanks to the Internet, you can find a permanent channel for selling leeches to Western countries at a good price.
The business of breeding leeches at home is a very complex matter. But there are also advantages here - there is practically no competition. Obviously, with the right approach and an established distribution channel, this business is very promising and brings in a lot of income. First you need to find cash, master growing technologies, find distribution channels, prepare premises and only after that start your own business of growing leeches.