puka777 puka777
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  • Posted on: 4/3/2008 7:44
Leeches!! #1
hi ive got leeches in my turtles pond i was cleaning the pond yesterday when this wormy things stuck to my skin i tried to brush them off but the wouldnt come off so i guest they were leeches.
i then checked hte canister filter part and found two slug things scrurming aorund in the water they were leeeches also and big ones.
LHG warned me that water birds would bring them but really want to kill them.
ive checked the turtles and they seem alright eating well but i cant let anyone put there hands in the pond(dont ask me why anyone would do it)and i just want to get rid of these worthless pest.
i got rid of the small ones on my hands by putting my hands in pure vinegar which instantly killed them but is vineggar bad fo turtles if i tried putitng it int he pond to kill the leeches.
so my question is that and how do i get rid of them is any pest control thats not harmful to turtles or is there any fish that i can put in my pond that well get rid of them.
jewi-lewi jewi-lewi
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  • Posted on: 4/3/2008 21:05
Re: Leeches!! #2
i havent got a clue mate ive never come up against them yet
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puka777 puka777
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  • Posted on: 5/3/2008 6:57
Re: Leeches!! #3
ok thanks
fredrick_more fredrick_more
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  • Posted on: 5/3/2008 7:58
Re: Leeches!! #4
Unforntely we dont have any real leechs capable of attaching them self onto human skin. Did they draw blood at all?

Are you able to drain the pond out at all? Move the turtles to a paddling pond or something, drain the water, disinfect for a quick solution (but make sure its cleaned and flushed through) or allow the sun to just kill them off (1-2 weeks depending on how much sunlight your getting down under at the moment )

However unless you find the cause i suspect they will just come back.
puka777 puka777
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  • Posted on: 5/3/2008 9:49
Re: Leeches!! #5
yeah thanks for the advice i know where they come from because i find feathers in my pond everyday and theres no way from stopping that im afraid though i cant during this terrible droughts were having over here that i can do a full water change ill just look through the net if like i said vinegar kills them maybe some safe vinegar that wont hurt the turtles ill put in the pond(i know its a crazy idea)

tansk for the advice and also i forgot to say they were on me for a few seconds and didnt seem to suck much blood but i did feel a sting i freaked out quickly and ran inside washing myself with vinegar.but later like i said before i looked into my filter canister and there was too big slugish things that to me looked like leeches.

thanks for you help and advice.
cathie cathie
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  • Posted on: 5/3/2008 10:03
Re: Leeches!! #6
I read that you can set bait for leeches with fresh pieces of meat tied to a string and then pull out bait and get rid of those attached.
You would probably have to do that inside some sort of makeshift cage though wouldn't you, otherwise turtles wold just eat it.
Can't think vinegar will be good for turtles somehow.

Just found a whole discussion about leeches in pond on this gardening forum, might be some ideas there:
http://www.gardenbanter.co.uk/showthread.php?t=37704
[url=http://www.bigfishcam
puka777 puka777
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  • Posted on: 5/3/2008 10:13
Re: Leeches!! #7
thanks cathie that website help heaps im going to try the strawberry basket idea ill sticky tap it with some sort of water proof tape so the turtles cant get to it but ill have to keep doing this for my whole time i have the pond due to the fact as soon as i get rid of them i might have more once a annoying bird wants to swim in my pond, i dont like birds anymore.
furiousferret furiousferret
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  • Posted on: 5/3/2008 13:40
Re: Leeches!! #8
i got little red horrors in my tank not so long ago and i discovered that a fairly high (similar to treatment for whitespot) concentration of aquarium (and table) salt kills them fairly quickly. dont know how much use that will be but i do know that for the ones i had, anti - crustation is useless. doesnt kill them unless your experimenting in the kitchen to see what kills them... lol
anyways i found that salt of any kind kills the red ones, and nat geo on the telly says that salt kills the big black horrors they were looking at. dont know about salt v turtles though so info could be useless.
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puka777 puka777
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  • Posted on: 6/3/2008 6:54
Re: Leeches!! #9
thanks for the help ill check up on the net about turtles and salt i dont think they mix though.