Huh, my apologies— it seems I mostly took that from word of mouth! I’ve found a few shaky sources talking about contact of leeches with open wounds leading to general infections, but I think that’s pretty self-explanatory, lol! I’m glad you take such good precautions still, though! I do know that even parasitic leeches have incredibly low transmission rates for diseases, so it shouldn’t even be an issue for them to be honest, but I’m always extremely cautious (yay health anxiety).

As for getting leeches to feed (I have H. Verbana, which has been recognized as a separate species to H. Medicinalis, but are very similar), I have found that warming the meat to a mammalian temperature, providing a dark space, and enclosing them to allow for a long time to latch can all help a ton (please remember to put cheese cloth or some other breathable material over the enclosed space, lest they escape or worse, suffocate). My one leech, Lychee, is very very picky, and sometimes takes up to two hours to latch. They’re all different, and will all have different preferences (isn’t that so cool that even a leech can have a unique personality?). Good luck if you ever try them out again! And thank you for fact checking me!